The 2019 outdoor competition season has officially kicked off at the CDI Nieuw en St. Joosland which is located at Equestrian Centre de Kroo in a small town on the Zeeland island in The Netherlands. Swedish Malin Wahlkamp-Nilsson edged out Belgian Laurence Roos in the Grand Prix which took place on Thursday 11 April 2019.
The CDI Nieuw en St. Joosland has been a fixture on the FEI calendar for the past few years and draws a massive field of competitors from pony level to Grand Prix. Always hosted the first weekend of April, the weather at the time is not so predictable but competitors can be sure of one thing: it will windy ! With the North Sea not far off and massive cargo ships sailing the Easther Scheldt, a major river leading to the Antwerp harbour, but hidden by an ocean of grass, Nieuw en St. Joosland is a picturesque Dutch farmer and fishermen's town that normally attracts little attention.
This year the Grand Prix was set in the most beautiful sunny weather. The sun shone brightly all day long but in the afternoon a chilly wind picked up and it made spectators freeze to their seats. The flags flying disturbed the concentration of some horses but overall the Grand Prix with its 35 entries was fortunately quite eventless.
The battle for the victory turned out to be Swedish-Belgian affair. Swedish Malin Wahlkamp-Nilsson overtook Belgian team rider Laurence Roos with a marginal point difference. The judges panel, which included Lehrmann, De Wolff van Westerrode, Halsall, Schwennesen and Baarup, was fairly unanimous in their scores on the winning ride, but Laurence Roos' marks had a 6% point difference between the five judges.
Laurence Roos and Fil RougeMalin and Masahiro Kosaka's 10-year old Dutch warmblood gelding Eddieni (by Johnson x Negro) topped the board with 72.043% (marks ranging from 70.109% - 73.370%). The chestnut Eddieni is such a sympathetic horse to watch. Ears often forward, a nice little Dutch pinch of knee action to the ingredients, and four white stockings make the gelding an eye catcher. His "Dutchness" is his strength but also his weakness. The horse knows how to pick up its legs, is uphill in the tempi changes, has a nice side silhouette in piaffe and passage and is an eager worker. but because of all this upward power, ridden in collection, he lacks stretch in the frame which limits his scope in the walk, trot and canter extensions. The professional rider Nilsson does a good job on the gelding and rides him with much feeling. While in piaffe and passage he still needs to learn to take more weight on the hindquarters, the rider waited patiently not to disturb the horse's rhythm.
Belgian Laurence Roos and her 14-year old Belgian warmblood Fil Rouge (by Stedinger x Argentinus) had the best starting position as last rider to go in the Grand Prix. Trained by Jeroen Devroe, the combination is known for its accurate test riding and strong trot extensions. While the bay gelding could have been a bit softer in the contact with less curb, Fil Rouge produced very nice tempi changes and is overall smooth from movement to movement. They lost their victory when the horse made an unscripted flying change in the extended canter. In the big Joosland field of professional riders, Roos is a dentist by profession but has been a steady member of the Belgian team at major championships since 2017. In 2016 she represented Belgium at the inaugural European Under 25 Championships.
Marlies van Baalen and Ben JohnsonMarlies van Baalen and the 13-year old Dutch warmblood Ben Johnson (by Johnson x Ferro) slotted in third with 71.217%. The sympathetic bay gelding was one of three Johnson offspring placing in the top five of the Joosland Grand Prix! Like Eddienie also this compact horse is very expressive in front and has a beautiful side silhouette, but the lengthening in the body could be better. This shows in the rather limited extended walk and the collected walk that appeared slightly short-long. The horse does have a lovely sit in piaffe, but gets narrow in front. A mistake in the one tempi changes pushed the score down.
Thamar Zweistra and Hexagon's Double Dutch (by Johnson). The compact chestnut gelding is such a hard worker and almost an over-achiever, giving a bit too much in the ring which makes him hectic at times and croup high.
Emma Hindle and the 13-year old Westfalian mare Romy del Sol (by Romanov). Hindle is training with Carl Hester and Rudolf Zeilinger and the hot mare is finding her stride more and more in the arena. She has a stunning passage
Patrick van der Meer on the Kruininger family owned KWPN stallion Chinook (by Vivaldi). The gorgeous black is 12-year old but still needs more time to gain a better balance and self carriage in the piaffe and passage work. The extended canter was really uphill.
Sönke Rothenberger made his CDI Grand Prix debut on a new ride, Santiano R (by San Amour). The pair produced a very well ridden round with lovely passage work, but the piaffe was too forward and not enough steps. Unfortunately the walk is very limited and the horse ground its teeth. Work in progress but promising
Finnish Mikaela Lindh is now riding under her married name Fabricius-Bjerre. With the Danish bred Skovlunds Gamin G (by Gagarin x Saint Cloud) she was 10th. The stallion was for sale at Helgstrand Dressage for a long period, but is now back with Mikaela. They scored 68.804%
Christa Larmoyeur and Aston Martin NL. Their path is like the walk to Santiago de Compostella. The 14-year old KWPN gelding by Uphill x Cabochon lost an eye and then sustained a career ending injury, but made a miraculous recovery and they are now back at international Grand Prix level.
Australian Mary Hanna made her come back on the 12-year old KWPN mare Calanta (by Johnson). Their 2018 WEG campaign got interrupted because the mare sustained a hoof injury last year. They are now back but the horse lacks some ring mileage. Her piaffe and passage are wonderful but were still tense and uneven. More is in the tank
Ryunosuke Kuroda on his second Grand Prix horse, Christoph Koschel's former ride Rostropowitsch. Named after the most famous cello player, the bay gelding by Rockwell x Coriograf B hasn't been in the CDI arena for almost two years
Juliette Ramel and the 12-year old talented Wall Street JV (by Wie Weltmeyer x Starway xx). The chestnut was a bit too tense in the windy and chilly atmosphere at Joosland
Juliane Burfeind (née Brunkhorst) and Peter Brenske's 10-year old Holsteiner Devanto (by De Chirico x Lorentin) were first to go. Lovely horse with a very good rhythm in piaffe and passage
Jordi Domingo on his second Grand Prix horse Dolman, an 11-year old KWPN registered Lord Leatherdale. Funny enough, Domingo's coach Rudolf Zeilinger also rode a Grand Prix horse named Dolman a decade ago
Jana Kun on Gabriele Kiefer's 11-year old Rhinelander bred Larry Labond (by Lord Loxley x Ehrentusch). Cute horse and will definitely be more competitive if he gets more engaged from behind and taking the weight in piaffe and passage
German based Australian Warwick McLean showed much improvement the 11-year old Westfalian Sir Heinrich M (by Sir Donnerhall x Ferragamo). A mistake in the one tempi changes reduced the score
Japanese Ryunosuke Kuroda on the 13-year old KWPN mare Bellatre D.E.S. (by Serano Gold x Rubinstein). Wonderful horse with a spectacular piaffe and passage but still too hot to trot. Hopefully in time the lid will stay on the cooker.
Italian Valentina Truppa on her number one Grand Prix horse Ranieri, a 14-year old Danish gelding by Romanov x Leandro. The passage got uneven at times and the piaffes are still timid, but the horse has a good extended walk. Pity that he sways so much in the tempi changes.
Lynne Maas on the 10-year old KWPN bred Eastpoint (by Westpoint x Negro). The stallion was very distracted and spooky on the short side at C but Maas kept her cool
British based Finnish rider Niina Nilosaari on the 15-year old Finnish mare Kom Ragdoll (by Playboy x Tolstoy). Finnish Grand Prix riders are very actively competing in 2019 and seem eager to qualify a team for the 2019 European Championships in Rotterdam
Valentina Truppa on her rising Grand Prix horse Sauvignon, a 10-year old Hanoverian gelding by Scolari x Wolkenstein II. The horse lacked in elasticity in the body and Truppa was not able to fully ride him through the collected movements. It was the chestnut's first CDI at GP level and second CDI in his career.
Dutch Maxime van der Vlist in her senior CDI Grand Prix debut on Bailey (by Negro). Their last international was the 2018 European Under 25 Championships in Exloo in August.
Agatha van der Lei on the 12-year old KWPN bred Caron (by Florencio x Goodtimes). The pair was eliminated as blood was detected at the tack check after the test
