Dinja van Liere Makes an Impression in Under 25 Classes at 2013 CDI Roosendaal

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2013 CDI Roosendaal

Twenty-two year old old Dutch rider Dinja van Liere and her dark bay mare Hexagon's Roumada made an impression on their international debut, taking out both the Intermediate II and Short Grand Prix in the Under 25 classes at the 2013 CDI Roosendaal on 25 - 26 May 2013. The combination posted winning scores of 69.184% and 68.442% on the board to earn two trophies.

"I was very happy with my results in Roosendaal," Dinja told Eurodressage. "I won both the Inter II and Grand Prix, even though I still had mistakes in the one- and two-time tempi changes."

Not expecting anything more than experience from her debut, Dinja was very pleased to receive such positive feedback about where she stood in competition. "It's great for me to know that if I can do a mistake free test, we could push our scores up above 70%," she said.

The test highlight for Dinja was certainly her piaffe-passage tour, which she says Roumanda can do very well. "I had nice marks for that in particular. However, this time, as I said, I had some troubles with the tempi changes; which surprised me as normally we can do that quite well."

Dinja was lucky that the Roosendaal CDI is located very near to her home and offered nice stables, nice people and a nice camaraderie amongst riders who are her rivals as well! "My greatest competition in Roosendaal was, I think, Mara de Vries. She has, like me, a really great schoolmaster to compete on: a horse who already has a lot of experience."

Dinja's own wise competitor, Hexagon’s Roumanda, is a 15 year-old mare by Rubiquil x Matador which had already gained experience at Grand Prix level competition before Dinja took her on. The mare was previously competed at Grand Prix level by her trainer Leunis van Lieren and assistant trainer Thamar Zweistra. "She has a really nice character and wants to work very hard for you," Dinja explained. "On the show side she does her ultimate best to perform well for you and that, in my mind, is really her greatest quality.”

Dinja and Roumanda Working for the past two years at Hexagon stable, Dinja has had the ride on Roumada for the same amount of time two years and was excited to finally take the international stage. However Roosendaal was not Dinja's first taste of glory. In 2012 she claimed the spotlight by earning bronze on the 5-year old Capri Sonnne at the World Young Horse Championships in Verden. She aims to return there this year to contest the 6-year old division.

At the stables between 8am and 6pm every day, Dinja is lucky to have found a barn that really pairs the horses and riders to get the best out of everyone. "The matching of horse to ride is really just about how everybody feels about a horse when a new horse arrives on the stable. We discuss the horse together as a team and so decide together who would be best suited to ride it.

Trained by Leunis van Lieren, Thamar Zweistra and Laurens van Lieren, Dinja gets to ride alongside all three of them each day, benefiting from the constant help of her stable masters. In her daily training, Van Liere focuses on making the horses loose and supple, ""so that they can do the tricks more easily and I try to make them react to really light aids so that it's also easy for me to ride the test. When I'm riding I'm always trying to make the horse react on smaller aids, so that's what I'm constantly working on and it helps that I ride a lot of different horses.

Winning in Roosendaal on her eldest horse, Hexagon’s Roumanda, Dinja also has a small tour horse Hexagon’s Variety and a 7 year-old who will start small tour this year, Hexagon’s Banderas.

Mara de Vries Returns to Become Under 25 Runner-Up

Mara de Vries on Ojay Named as Dinja's biggest competition, dual runner-up and fellow Dutch rider Mara de Vries was second in the Intermediaire II with 66.053% and just 0.4% behind Dinja in the Short Grand Prix with a score of 68.047%. De Vries saddled her trainer Coby van Baalen's schoolmaster Ojay (by Jazz) for the job.

"Roosendaal was my first international competition at Grand Prix Under 25 level and it was just one month ago that I made my debut in the U25 Future Test, which also went really well," said Mara. "Overall the Roosendaal tournament was very nice and the organization was super!"

Mara felt the Inter II went well, although she did have a mistake in the flying changes of leg every stride. "That was a pity but I really need to get more routine at this level to get more consistency in the test but I received a score of 66,05% and was very happy, she said.

Following on with the Under 25 Grand Prix, Mara felt the test was very advanced but was pleased that her passage lines went really well. "Also my canter pirouettes were much better and the score of 68,04% made my day," she exclaimed.

Due to the difficulty of the test and the fact it was her first time at this level, Mara did not expect such a rewarding score for her second ride in Roosendaal. She feels she has a lot more to learn with the talented Ojay, who was previously competed at GP-level by Coby and Marlies van Baalen. Marlies and Ojay won bronze at the Dutch Dressage Championships in 2010.

Offered the chance to learn everything from Ojay, Mara is extremely grateful to Coby and Marlies and enjoys her "perfect partner, both as a schoolmaster and mentor" very much. "I’m very grateful to Coby and Marlies for giving me this wonderful chance," said Mara.

Mara and Ojay Standing in the stables of Dressuurstal Van Baalen, Ojay is trained by Mara everyday under the supervisor of Coby and Marlies, and as she lives very near to the stables which is the ideal situation. "I have only been riding Ojay for 2 months but I already have a great connection with him. He looks like a black giant but he has a heart of gold. This year he is turning 17 but is still very fit and he loves to work for me, going to competitions. In addition to Ojay I have Annevanck PP (by Munchhausen x Donnerhall) who I’m going to compete in the small tour level and two other talented youngsters!"

Currently working hard on completing her graduation internship and final thesis for her study into Human Resource Management, Mara has spent almost 14 years at Coby's stable and fits study around her long term dressage dreams. "Coby is an expert in making excellent combinations between young riders and experienced horses, so I’m a very lucky girl to get the chance to ride Ojay! Furthermore Coby is a very passionate trainer, who is excellent in managing her pupils so that they peak at the right moment! I hope that Coby and I can continue this way of working, because I know it is going really well!"

Eurodressage photographer Astrid Appels took photos of all combinations competing at the CDI Roosendaal. Contact us if you are interested in prints of your photos!