In agreement with the Dutch A-team members, chef d'Equipe Bert Rutten has decided to appoint Marlies van Baalen as reserve rider for the Dutch Aachen/Olympic Grand Prix dressage team.
Marlies van Baalen has to keep herself on "stand by" if any of the A-team members has to withdrawn from the competition in Aachen or Athens.
The Dutch A-team travelling to Aachen next weekend includes: Antoinette Falandt (Jarwo), Anky van Grunsven (Salinero), Edward Gal (Lingh) and Sven Rothenberger (Barclay II).
Bert Rutten chose to select Marlies van Baalen as Olympic reserve rider and not Imke Schellekens, who has lately been scoring much higher than Van Baalen. The past two years, Marlies and Idocus have become a solid 70% scoring combination with more experience than Schellekens and her new Grand Prix horse Lancet.
Image copyrighted: Astrid Appels/Eurodressage - No reproduction allowed