A trio of Scandanavian riders took hold of the 2014 Hamburg Dressage Derby held at the CDI Hamburg on 29 May - 2 June 2014. Danish riders Lars Petersen and Mikala Gundersen, and Swede Minna Telde battled it out in the Derby Finals with horse change, testing the riders' talent and assets.
During the Derby the three highest scoring riders in the CDI Grand Prix class ride each of the top three horses and in a short Grand Prix which serves as a test of skill, as they have to adapt to a new horse, quickly finding the Grand Prix buttons, in just a short warm up session.
None of the riders rode their number one Grand Prix horses in the Derby Finals. Lars Petersen swapped Mariett for Williano, Minna Telde swapped Santana for Deinhardt and Mikala Gundersen borrowed Capri.
“The Derby was a fun challenge and a great experience," said Lars Petersen, who took the gold spot on 3694 points. “I chose to ride Willano, my 12-year old Danish warmblood. He is very new to the Grand Prix and so I was happy that the other riders got along with him. I brought him along for the experience and training possiblities.”
Petersen scored 1237,5 points on Capri, 1250.5 points on his own Willano and 1206 points on Deinhardt.
“Mikala's horse was fun to ride in the piaffe and passage,” Lars told Eurodressage. “I had the last ride on Minne's horse and so I felt he was tired and a little strong.”
Enjoying the experience, Lars felt the most difficult part of the derby was finding the aid for the two tempi's on Mikala's horse, but loved that it was a Scandanavian trio that reached the final.
“It was nice to all be Scandinavian riders and Denmark was happy," he said. "We didn't have much time to talk between rides with the other riders, so my strategy was to figure out how the horses were off the leg, and with only 5 minutes to warm up, I just tried to feel out the horse and make the best of it.”
Finishing on 3658 points Mikala Gundersen felt amazing to be part of the derby final, and as she used to live in Flottbek near Hamburg, she still remembers the show's popularity.
“It’s a big deal in Hamburg, and my husband showed in the Jumping Derby and in 1996 he was placed 8th on his horse, Seiko's Robin, so this brought back memories from that time," she told Eurodressage. "I have never seen so many people at a horse show before. The dressage stadium was packed as was the jumping. There wasn't even room for everyone to watch."
Her ride for the Finals, the 13-year old gelding Capri (Corvalon x Cannonball),was ridden by his owner Klaus Thormählen in the GP and the Special. Mikala says Klaus bought that horse as a jumper and showed him in jumping until he decided to make a career change.
"I rode Capri because we have the Danish Championships this week and I wanted to save My Lady, who came in second in both the GP and the Special. My Lady is stabled at Britta and Klaus Thormählens' stable where I train with Ernst Hoyos while I'm on tour in Europe and Klaus was kind enough to offer me the ride on his horse.”
Mikala feels it is very difficult to get on a horse and only have 5 minutes to get to know it before you go down the centerline in a Grand Prix test. She said she didn't really connect with Minna Telde's horse right away, so she didn't have time to find the buttons on him before she went in.
“On the other hand I connected with Lars's horse Willano the moment I got on and we also ended up having the highest score of the day. He was so much fun to ride!”
With very little time to practice on her own horse Capri, Mikala had practically three new rides in the final and says that because Capri is very talented in piaffe, passage, and one tempi changes, he ended up being the highest scoring horse of the day.
“In general the hardest movement to ride on a strange horse is the tempi changes as it is such a personal and sensitive movement and every rider does it differently," Gundersen explained. "The horse can easily get confused by the new rider's pressure and placing of the legs.”
Mikala felt super cool to be in the top three with two other Scandinavians and although agreeing there was really no time to talk to the other rides between the rides during the Derby, Mikala, Lars and Minna had all closely watched each other's horses during the weekend, so they could get an idea of what the different horses were like.
“When you get on a horse for the first time and you only have 5 minutes to prepare for a GP test you have to stay very focused as you have only one time to try each movement before the time is up," Gundersen continued. "On Minna's horse Deinhardt I did some half passes in the walk to get a feel of how he would take my aids. On Lars' horse Willano I only walked 10 metres and that was enough to feel the connection. I quickly tested the movements and we were ready to go. It is so different from horse to horse how you have to prepare and you just have to trust your feel and go with it.”
In the bronze spot with 3590 points, Minna Telde chose to ride her 14-year old gelding Deinhardt because he is such a gentleman and always does his best. He is owned by Suzanne Brodin who also had one jumping horse in the derby final a few years ago.
"Suzanne comes and rides him in between, but as she will now move to Portugal, Deinhardt will be sold," Telde explained. "This is sad but I'm glad for the person who will get to ride him. He works for you every time.”
Minna felt that it was quite difficult to ride the other horses and that she had a tough draw with only one horse in between every start in the Derby.
“Since I'm quite a bit shorter then the other two riders I had to change stirrups in between and they got stuck so then there was just one and a half minutes left to ride the new horse before we entered the arena," Telde explained. "I got too tense and the horse felt that. Not my best performance but it was fun to try.”
Text by Sarah Warne - Photos © Melissa Taylor - LL-foto
Related Links
Scores 2014 CDI Hamburg
Fabienne Lutkemeier Wins the 2013 Hamburg Dressage Derby
Fabienne Lutkemeier Sparkles as 2013 Hamburg Dressage Derby Winner
