Met with some great weather and some fresh competition, the 2014 Brazilian Dressage Championships saw youngster Giovana Pass take her second consecutive Junior title and Victor Trielle Avila win the Young Riders division as sole rider. Rogerio Clementine took the small tour victory against a full field, while Sarah Waddell could have become Grand Prix champion had she ridden one more class extra at this CDI held at Hípica Santo Amaro in Sao Paulo on 28 - 30 November 2014.
Pass Goes for Second Junior Title
Taking the triple test victory, Giovana Pass and her ride of two years, the 8-year old Lusitano stallion Black da Prata, defended their title of 2013, earning themselves a 65.432% in the team test, a 66.632% in the individual, and a 68.950% in the kur, to become back to back Brazilian Junior Champions. The division started out with three riders but only two completed the necessary two Championship rounds (team + kur).
"The championships were very nice with a great atmosphere and lots of competition, as Brazil is already in Pan-American Games mood," Pass told Eurodressage. "Black da Prata has been my mount since 2013 and it was our second championship title at Junior level,” said Giovana. “This year he was much more solid and confident and as it was our last Junior competition I was very proud with the score we got, especially with international judges.”
Ready to start 2015 at Young Rider level, Giovana says her horse has been surprising her everyday and she is working hard to make him a Grand Prix horse. “He is a special horse, who tries to give his best everyday. My trainer is Paulo Caetano from Portugal, who comes every 3 months, as well as Marianne Van Cleef who is my home coach," Giovana explained.
Giovana is still a student in high school but plans to go to medical school. Horses are and will always be her passion.
Easy Win for Young Rider Trielle Avila
Placing first in the Young Riders team and Individual test with 64.553% and 67.250% as the only Young Rider entry, Victor Trielli Avila and his 13-year old Brazilian bred Lusitano Vencedor JB didn’t face much competition. Still he was delighted with the experience of participating in the national championship.
“The competition had a great atmosphere,” Victor told Eurodressage. “It was the last competition of the year and a very special one. Aside from the experience the competition it offered me the chance of taking a two-day clinic with international judge and trainer Marriette Whitages, which was a fabulous experience for me and Vencedor."
According to Victor, Vencedor JB is in top form at the moment and his test on the final day was a particular highlight. “He has a great heart and is a brave horse and a good worker. For 2015 I plan to upgrade to senior class (Small Tour) and keep my daily training process ongoing.”
Trielle Avila trains with his father at Haras do Castanheiro in Tatui near Sao Paulo. Victor is also preparing two other horses for competition, the Dutch warmblood mare Bewonder and the Lusitano mare Diamante.
"I hope to continue my job with the horses and to look for the opportunity to spend a year or so riding in Europe. I have just finished college and I would like to be a professional rider."
Clementino and Waddell Take Trophy but Not Title in Small and Big Tour
Rogerio Clementino and Zodiac dos Diamantes won the Prix St Georges with 67,974%, then dropped to sixth place in the Intermediaire I on 67.816%, but rose again to take the Kur with 71.825% for the overall small tour title. Sarah Waddell wo the Inter I on the experienced international Grand Prix horse Donnelly (by Donnerruf) and she took out the Grand Prix on her schoolmaster, the 19-year old Rhinelander gelding Livello (by Linaro), with a 64.149%.
There was no title to be given at Grand Prix level as Waddell pulled out of the Grand Prix Special and Kur to spare her horse. Futthermore the four Brazilian WEG Team riders have not yet returned to CDI competition on Brazilian soil.
Waddell's bos Dr. Jorge Ferreira da Rocha purchased Alice Bamford's Grand Prix horse Livello in 2006 as a 2007 Pan American Games hopeful. "I chose to just ride the one test because of his age," Waddell explained.
Sarah says this old timer is a very special horse, who had complications due to a tooth operation in 2008 and as a result almost died. “He fought his way out of it and had to be put in early retirement and stayed in the field for 5 years. He was miserable in the field, so my boss decided to bring him back into light work so I could learn the Grand Prix movements," she said.
Riding in Germany for the past 7 years, Sarah went to Brazil upon da Rocha's invitation to ride Livello. They never thought he would go back into the show ring.
“He is just such an extraordinary horse, a great heart, a super teacher, but hot and electric at the same time. He goes into the ring and shows off. He is so classical and doesn't accept mistakes, which for me is great, because he is really teaching me to learn the correct way of asking the movements, in a technical way yet with feeling. We decided to only ride the first day, so I can have him for a little longer in order to routine myself in the Grand Prix.”
by Sarah Warne - Photos © Antonio Monteiro - Ambar
Related Links
Scores 2014 CDI Sao Paulo
Four P.S.I. Awards for Four Extraordinary Personalities
Brazil Getting Ready for the 2007 Pan Am Games with Eric Lette
British Combinations Selected for 2000 World Young Horse Championships
Performance Sales International Presents 20th Auction