Werth Puts the Icing on her Own (Birthday) Cake Winning 2019 CDIO Aachen Kur to Music

Isabell Werth put the icing on her own (birthday) cake by winning  the Kur to Music and Aachen Grand Champion's title for the thirteenth time in her career at the 2019 CDIO Aachen on Sunday 21 July 2019, the day she also celebrated her 50th birthday.

The 2019 CDIO Aachen edition was a brilliant one. Although several of the super stars did not compete in the 5* tour (Cosmo, Cassidy) and two major American players were absent (Verdades, Dublet), at the end of the weekend one had the impression that they were not really missed at all. The quality of the field in the 5* tour was so incredibly good that it was total satisfaction watching each of the three 5* rounds. The high quality was prevalent as in the Kur to Music, no less than 8 combinations scored over 80%.

The judges panel for the 2019 European Championship in Rotterdam at the end of August (Halsall, Maknami, Eisenhardt, Foy, Baarup) had their dress rehearsal in Aachen and by Sunday they were warmed up and their scores soared to generous proportions. The judging of the freestyle, no matter how experienced the panel is, still raises eye brows as a limited set of scores is given, which allows for more fluctuation between individual marks. Gaps of 5% between the judges for the technical part are no oddity.

While the freestyle should be the highlight of the week, combining technical skill with an entertainment factor, the music in many freestyles is drab. Several riders are stuck in the 1990s and 2000s with their choice in music and so few are willing to come up with something, fun, original and new. The majority rides to boring elevator music that absolutely does not support the choreography or present a story with a crescendo that takes the audience on a journey and emotionally carries them away, like in a multiple-act opera that finishes with a bang. To prove my point, beaten-to-death Queen was featured twice out of fifteen rides (Schneider, Dufour). And the sound track of LaLa Land was also used twice (Bateson, Werndl), but fortunately these kurs were fresh and interesting. When an American enters, there is usually something good in store and one can sit on the edge of the seat. It's striking that American dressage riders are braver to bring something new and bold to the stage, while Europeans stick to these filmic instrumental arrangements that have no point and meaning for the floorplan.

Isabell Werth has a whole discography of freestyles, many of them are really cool productions (remember her fun Bratwurst kur, her magical Montserrat Caballé Kur, or the David Bowie one). Her latest release for Bella Rose is a kur based on 19th century opera music.  Her kur arranger Michael Erdmann drew back on proven classics, which is not very inspiring nor original, but at least rider and composer understand the component of playing to the emotions and bringing a musical piece to a crescendo finale so the heartbeat rises and one knows when to clap. To grab her 13th Aachen Grand Champion title, Werth rode Bella Rose to tunes of Puccini's O Mio Babbino Caro", to Verdi, and some Rigoletto.  For the umpteenth time Erdmann resorted back to Beethoven's Ode to Joy to give it all some German flair and magnitude. 

Werth and Madeleine Winter-Schulze's 15-year old Westfalian mare Bella Rose (by Belissimo M x Cacir AA) didn't have the strongest start. The mare began with an immobile halt in which she kicked the hind leg to the belly, something she also did repetitively during the award ceremony. The first piaffe pirouette was really nice as the mare really attempted to take the weight behind and climb in front. The half pass left was great, the right one a bit quick. The trot extensions had one hoof overtrack, but were spidery with no swing in the back. The extended walk had better overtrack but the rhythm was not entirely clear. In the collected she lost the 4-beat rhythm and ambled, making a tense transition to the next piaffe. Bella Rose is a very expressive mare, but her weakness is that she never really collects behind and shifts the hindlegs under the body. This is also obvious in the pirouettes. they are tiny small, but quite flat as there is no real lift in the forehand because behind she is not truly sitting . The extended canter left was excellent though and in the tempi changes she does have much scope in the forehand, though there is little ground cover. The judges loved it and rewarded the birthday girl with 90.450%  for the victory. 

Aboard Gabrielle Kippert's 13-year old Hanoverian gelding Showtime (by Sandro Hit x Rotspon), Dorothee Schneider was the bridesmaid the entire week, even though she deserved to win, for sure in the Grand Prix, possibly also in the Special and it's up for discussion if she was the best in the freestyle as well. The pair showed big trot extensions, floating passage half passes. Maybe Showtime was sometimes a bit more engaged with the right hind in some of the passage, but overall it was very regular. The horse is so nice in the bridle, maybe sometimes slightly short in the neck, but he is truly accepting the bit and chewing.  One of the double pirouettes could have been more round the inside leg and the left extended canter was slightly flat, but the right one was better. The two tempi changes lacked some ground cover but were clean and the 19 one tempi changes were all well executed. By the end of the test, Showtime ran out of steam a bit in the piaffe fan and pirouette, but at least he approaches the piaffe in a correct way with the lowering of the haunches. Pity that that final bit of energy was lacking in their kur, but overall it was certainly a winner's ride. They scored 89.660% for second place. 

Another stellar performance came from Jessica von Bredow-Werndl on Beatrice Burckler-Keller's 12-year old Trakehner mare Dalera BB (by Easy Game x Handryk). The dark bay really grew into this competition and while most horses looked a bit tired on Sunday, Dalera was fresh and ready for more. She showed super passage work, strong half passes and a beautiful piaffe, even though she still needs to get more off the forehand. The extended walk was nice, but in the collected walk she got a bit short. The two tempi changes were correct but a bit flat. In the canter work the mare is not as strong as in the trot and pi-pa work. It lacked a bit of flair, like for instance in the double pirouette to the right where she needed to take more weight behind. Nevertheless she was very correct and produced strong one tempi changes. Von Bredow made a very graceful final halt and salute which suited her LaLa Land music well. 

For Cathrine Dufour's Tokyo star Bohemian, the just 9-year old Westfalian gelding by Bordeaux x Samarant, the final day in Aachen was probably a bit too much on his plate. The horse was consistently behind the vertical, even though Dufour kept a very light contact and the horse tried his heart out. There was  a lovely passage-piaffe transition at the start followed by an extended trot. The left half pass was lovely and Dufour rode a very controlled, clear extended walk. The exit from the right double pirouette was tense and there was too much swing in the body in the two tempi changes. Also in the extended canter the horse got croup high, but the ones were beautifully straight. The last piaffe pirouette and bit of passage were very expressive, but Bohemian was swinging the right hind leg out from under the body. The pair topped off their brilliant Aachen week with an 85.390% kur score and fourth place. 

Charlotte Dujardin and Sonnar Murray-Brown's 12-year old Trakehner gelding Erlentanz (by Latimer x Benz) finished their Aachen weekend with a fifth place in the freestyle. The bay gelding, who has shown tremendous rideability, was also a bit tired from his first real serious CDI, now at 5* level and on the European continent.  Dujardin rode to her "How to Train a Dragon" music which was made for Valegro and it did not conjure the same magic with Erlentanz.

Still, the pair entered with a perfect halt, followed by a hasty extended trot. The eager gelding last the rhythm in the passage and could not produce the same strength from behind in the passage half passes, but still he was willing and giving the best he could. Erlentanz also has a tendency to swing the right hind out when a movement is hard and in the half pass passage right he dragged the right hind. The extended walk had much overtrack and a double pirouette right was truly nice. The extended canter was uphill, just like the one tempi changes but he swung too much in the body. They finished on a brilliant 83.995% for fifth place. 

Text and Photos © Astrid Appels - NO REPRODUCTION ALLOWED

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Related Link
Eurodressage Coverage of the 2019 CDIO Aachen