Cornelissen Makes Winning Come Back at 2014 CDI Arnheim After Nine Month Show Break

Shows

2014 CDI Arnheim

Adelinde Cornelissen and the 17-year old Dutch warmblood gelding Parzival (by Jazz x Ulft) made a winning come back at the 2014 CDI Arnheim, The Netherlands, on Saturday 7 June 2014. The pair has not been out to compete since the CDI Vienna in September 2013 and skipped the World Cup circuit in order to focus on the 2014 World Equestrian Games.

Coached by Johan Hamminga and supported by her partner Sjaak van der Lei as eyes on the ground, Cornelissen scored 77.860% to win the Grand Prix class well ahead of Edward Gal, who made his come back with Voice (by De Niro x Rohdiamant) and posted a score of 74.180%. Hans Peter Minderhoud and his new ride Flirt (by Florestan x Gauguin de Lully) were third with 73.260%.

The Grand Prix in Arnheim was judged by Jacques van Daele (BEL), Maarten van der Heijden (NED), Peter Engel (GER), Bernard Maurel (FRA) and Adriaan Hamoen (NED). IT was striking to note several major score discrepancies. Cornelissen's low score was 74.300 (Engel) and high score 83.00% (Van der Heijden), almost a 10% difference. Gal's Voice earned 69.600 fromMaurel and 75.900 from Van der Heijden. Flirt's marks ranged from 71.800 (Van der Heijden) to 77.600 (Hamoen).

Adelinde was pleased with her come back but is aiming for more. "The reason why I was absent from shows for so long is that I wanted to change a few things. If you compete, you keep riding in the same system. Now I took the time to try a different bit. The last few months I went back to the basics, to work from there to what we could show today," Cornelissen commented. "We're not there yet, but this show was necessary as preparation for the first WEG observation trial in Rotterdam."

Adelinde also disclosed that she has worked a lot with video review to improve her riding. Almost all her training has been recorded on tape. "Each time I looked back on what I had done and Sjaak served as mirror. Parzival knows all the tricks, only I just thought it was necessary, even more than before, to put all the pieces of the puzzle together. I'm succeeding at it better because I'm mentally and physically more sharp."

Gal was also very pleased with his return to the ring on Voice. "For me it was also a while since I've last shown Voice," Gal explained. "You always get a few hiccups the first time. Voice is a stallion and it shows when there is a warm up ring near the competition ring, even if the bleachers are in between. He can get distracted. It will be better in Rotterdam because Voice will have a better show rhythm and be more focused. This show was a nice practice for Rotterdam." Gal will be riding Undercover in the 5* and Voice in the 4*.

Hans Peter Minderhoud and his new Grand Prix ride Flirt de Lully were third. Hans Peter took over the ride on the 13-year old Swiss bred gelding (by Florestan x Gauguin de Lully) from Austrian based Dutch rider Marcel Schoenmakers. The pair made its national Grand Prix debut in Ermelo, The
Netherlands, on 25 May and scored 73,7%. In Arnheim they got 73.260 at their first CDI together.

"This is the second competition Hans Peter has started the horse," Minderhoud's life partner Gal stated. "There are many things which potentially look good, but the horse has to be able to execute it."