British based combinations impressed with placings across the leaderboards at the 2015 CDI Saumur on 25-28 September 2015, held at the legendary ‘Cadre Noir’ venue, the prestigious French military riding academy in the Loire area. British based Dane Anders Dahl won the Grand Prix, German Stephan Koberle topped the Special and Brit Carl Hester aced the GP Kur to Music.
In the big tour, a huge field of 37 riders rode Grand Prix in the indoor arena on Friday evening with Fiona Bigwood's husband - Denmark's Anders Dahl - topping the leader board on the Hanoverian bred Wie Atlantico (by Wie Weltmeyer). The Surrey based duo scored 70.920% to edge out Spanish Morgan Barbançon on her new ride Girasol and German Bernadette Brune on Spirit of the Age. The evergreen Wie Atlantico did his 54th international Grand Prix in Saumur and has not lost his winning ways.
Carl Hester partnered Coral Ingham’s chestnut Hanoverian gelding Wanadoo (by Wolkenstein II) to place best of the Brits in the Grand Prix in fourth place, scoring 69.66%. Carl has been unbeatable on home soil with Wanadoo, his new grand prix ride for this year, and they looked quite on form at their first European show together.
Going forward to the Grand Prix freestyle, the music inspired the riders to up their game. Carl and Wanadoo claimed victory with an excellent 76.75% just stopping Anders Dahl and Wie Atlantico from taking the double. Though Carl admitted on his Facebook page, “my one tempis were ‘Lost in France’”, he was “very pleased with a much improved Wanadoo” who was “a little anxious” in his first test.
The Grand Prix Special was won by German Stephan Koberle on the chunky bay Darjeeling (by De Niro) with a score of 70.784%. Brit Anna Ross on Jane Sewell’s black mare Die Callas (by De Niro) were also well placed in the Grand Prix with a seventh spot (68.48%) but the pair raised the ante in the Special and finished second (70.53%). Anna Ross stated on Facebook that she was “over the moon with Cassie!”
Top photo © Jon Stroud
Related Links
Scores 2015 CDI Saumur
Bourne Hill House: A Home for Happy Horses