It was the VIIIth edition of the Dressage Festival in Madrid, for the first time ever celebrated at Madrid's oldest and finest family club, where the perfect facilities for Sport & Leisure are only 10 minutes away from the downtown shopping areas, in the green outskirts of Spain's capital.
During the last weekend of May (23 - 25) there was wonderful quality in several classes - at the Grand Prix definitely and in the Young Horse classes as well as some Young Riders and Juniors. A new record in participation was close and in the CDI3* Spanish and Portuguese long list combinations showed their best.
Who was on the scene?
The Festival is one of the selection trials on the road to the World Equestrian Games in Caen at the end of this summer. José Antonio García Mena did it again: he was in the winning mood with all 5 horses he presented with 7 first places and 2 seconds achieved during the competition.
Carmen Naesgaard, Claudio Castilla, Cristobal Belmonte, Juan Antonio Jimenez Cobos, and José María Sánchez Cobos were part of the Spanish representation that joined the Festival, among Portuguese riders María Caetano and Manuel Veiga. Once again the format gathered almost each and every dressage competition rider in the country and the audience, new riders and beginners, could come closer to their idols. Dressage shined bright this time in a perfect frame.
CDI3*
Lusitanos were at the top in all CDI classes. This was undoubtedly once again their show as there were horses with great quality. José Mena and Batuta exceeded expectations winning the Grand Prix and the Special with a 73,171%. The results of the combination have only been rising.
Mena, since recently sponsored by Bates, stated humbly “we are living a sweet momento! But we can't rush, I am a worker, every day I do my job and the horses improve every time.” He does have amazing horses, no doubt. He also presented Spain's current Dressage Champion, the PRE Norte Lovera (by Cortesano VII x Aquiles III), his first choice for the World Championships. The grey stallion was in very good shape.
Carmen Naesgaard and Ricardo showed an irresistible Kür for which they received high marks, a 76,625%. It was a real joy for the audience, and she said afterwards in the press conference: “I had a wonderful feeling. Today was one of the days when Ricardo said to me 'Carmen I'll do anything you want!'." There was such expression and beautiful movements, the pair made us dream, their music from Carmen suited Ricardo just as well as it used to do with her previous GP horse Ciowa.
Hierro (by Ferro x Babieca) and Lauro Aguiló were confirming their results from the BCN Dressage Tour in March, with a 4th place in the Grand Prix close to 70% and a 3rd position in the Kür. Lauro was really excited: “our goal is of course Normandy, we are working towards a spot on the team.”
Claudio Castilla, team rider at the WEG in Kentucky, is back with several new PSL stallions at Grand Prix level. Unicornio do Retiro became 5th in the GP and Alcaide (8th in the GP) from La Perla Stud was the winner of the Consolation Grand Prix. María Caetano improved on Xiripiti (6th in the GP) in the GP Special as she showed a beautiful test and became second with a 69,384%. Her fellow country rider Manuel Veiga, from Veiga Lusitano stud, rode Ben Hur da Broa to a 3rd place in the Special.
María Caetano's Small Tour horse Coroada, a grey son of Rubi, the Olympic mount from Gonzalo Carvalho, is another PSL from the Spanish Lusitano stud farm Yeguada Finca Tineo. The beloved horse won the Prix St. Georges which was sponsored by the Equestrian Federation of Madrid. The couple represented the breed at the World Championships for YH in Verden in 2013. here they won the St. Georges and the Intermediaire I.
Francisco Cancella, international judge and trainer, and long time advisor for the breed society, confirmed “we have seen amazing horses, here the quality is very good.”
In the class there were several combinations with great quality, Sandra Peña and Sabattik from Barcelona were breathing down their neck, José Manuel Lucena and Wilou, Tomas Caudet and Andes, José Galvez and Fiederglanz, all of them promising newcomers. The Swedish rider Josefin Gyllenswärd and her Don Angelo won the Inter I Kur with a harmonious presentation.
“Yeguada de YMAS Prize” for 5- and 6-year olds
In the YH classes there was a lot of potential. There was the Spanish bred highlight with young Juan Matute, Jamaicano de Ymas (by Estanquero de Ymas x Jamaicana IV), from the Ymas stud farm. They achieved 83,600% in the Final. The BCN Dressage Tour with the National Championships is their next stop on the road to Verden, a qualification for the YH World Championships in Verden taking place at the beginning of August is their objective. José Antonio Vargas and Struppie won the preliminary 5-year old test and Ruben Arrabé was up mingling with the winners each day with the PRE Ules VDOS (by Impaciente II).
Two days in a row the winner of the 6-year old Yeguada de Ymas Prize was Doctor Encinasola, owned by the Baselga family. His outstanding trot and canter received a 9,5. The stallion, who is a son of Scandic, earned 88,600% and we will see them in Verden. “We did see very good quality in the YH classes,” stated Christoph Hess, the experienced young horses judge from Germany.
And as this was a Festival we saw all kinds of riders in different classes: wonderful PRE Curioso XXV (by Dominante XVI) and Victor Alvárez from Gerona won the national Grand Prix and the Copa ANCCE once again.
Junior and Young Riders
Antonio Laíz and Levin were slightly ahead of the two young ladies and won the team test, while the young polish rider Alexandra Kosubska came third with S Rappe. Mios Moncayola and her Zchufro C, winner of the Individual, was 2nd in the team test.
The Festival went very well for them, Mios was pleased and told us, “I am learning so much from Zchufro. He is my best master and we are getting better every time.” Only Laura Mangado and Tempo, her KWPN stallion, caught the lead in the Kür.
The young Russian rider Timofei Rusakov loves winning and loves competing, both he does quite well, with his new horse Freixenet he dominated the Junior test. But in the Individual and the Kür, Carlos Torrell’s pupil, Kevin Roegele and his mare Wieske climbed up to the first place.
Behind the scene
Dalia Saliamonas, the Director of the Festival stated, “the Festival de Doma Clásica is actually "the show" of the Spanish dressage market. It is a format that embraces everyone. The venue will be a turning point in the dressage world. This new location opens amazing possibilities to the Spanish dressage competitions and particularly to the Festival. Space and arenas are almost unlimited and our team is strong. Now we are working on the 2015 edition which will be better and better.”
Up to 8 competition arenas could be run simultaneously, with their corresponding warm up rings, a vast, century-old country club in the middle of a green oasis has already been host to European Jumping Championships. There were 11 international judges on the scene and 15 national ones, and they were unanimous: this is a place where one can dream of European Championships and bigger projects without a doubt! Not only Christoph Hess and Hans-Christian Matthiesen were enthusiastic about the venue.
Federico Padron from Topiberian, the show organizing committee, confirmed the possibilities for the future but also the pressure they had suffered due to short deadlines. “My team has done an excellent job, this was not easy to deal with but the CCVM was worth it and supported the Festival with its solid structure, we were able to attend the 280 combinations in 3 competition arenas.”
Sponsors supported this showcase, all of them are passionate about dressage, one of Spain’s important Lusitano studs joined again with the Yeguada Finca Tineo – Naviera EL CANO Trophy at Grand Prix level, as well as the stud farm Adama da Susa, an important player in the Spanish dressage world sponsored again.
The Yeguada de YMAS YH Prizes were donated generously by this stud farm, which breeds PRE on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean with San Julian – Wellington as the connection. Their bet on top sport horses, in spite of the breed, pays off with the young Matute dressage kids. Juan Matute Jr. was unbeatable in the 5-year finals.
Loewe is launching its Sport Perfume and what event could be more appropriate than an equestrian competition. Amongst partners and supporters of the Festival were Kingsland, Bates, Horseware, Jeep, Cavalian, Camper, Audevard, Hispano Hipica, Zona Equus, Horze, Ancce, Pinol, Ecoalf, Oomuombo, ZMS Saddlery who supported this venue generously.
So far the VIII Festival. Now Spain is heading towards its National Championship at the BCN Dressage Tour from 5 - 8 June 2014.
Text by Katharina Braren - Photos © Top Iberian
Related Links
Scores 2014 CDI Madrid
2013 CDI Madrid: The Essence of a Wonderful Dressage Festival in Spain
2012 Madrid Horse Week, a New Equestrian Event in Spain
The Dressage Festival R.A.C.E. in Madrid Writes History with Record Entries