The class everyone has been looking forward to was the Grand Prix CDI-W test in Den Bosch on Thursday evening. It was the first head to head confrontation between Isabell Werth and Anky van Grunsven with their number one horses since the Olympic Games.
It was also the first heavy weight match in which Dutch shooting star Adelinde Cornelissen could test her position in relation to the two dressage diva's. And boy, what a competition it was!!
Anky van Grunsven came in the ring right after Isabell Werth and Satchmo. The German duo had made no major mistakes and scored 77.149%. Was Anky going to beat this at her home show in Den Bosch? Yes, with 78.255%
It was Salinero's international come back after half a year break since the Olympic Games in Hong Kong. Current day top-level competition means making no mistakes. The candidates for a top place all score so closely to one another that riding an errorfree test has become a strong guarantee for the victory.
And that's what Anky did. Salinero looked fantastic! He entered and halted, quite immobile until Anky grabbed the reins again after her salute and Salinero went trotting onwards. Superb trot half passes followed, very steep with legs crossing to the maximum. Good halt for the reinback. The first piaffe-passage was beautiful. The second part of the first passage could have been more forwards.
The extended walk had two hooves overtrack, the collected walk was good. The second passage as well as the final one on the centerline were a bit too "piaffy," too much on the spot, lacking some forwardness. Salinero was also regularly opening his mouth. The two tempi's were good though at the beginning Salinero almost geared into extended canter, the one tempi's started out slightly croup high but they went well. The left pirouette was nice, the right one could have been more round the leg of the rider. On the final centerline, the transitions between piaffe and passage were outstanding. There was no immobile end halt.
Anky had ridden a very flashy, beautiful, energetic test which clearly excelled Werth's in expressiveness and power.
One judge had scored Anky a 10 for the first halt, definitely an exaggerated overcompensation as the Grand Prix test Queen of the Halt was without a doubt Heike Kemmer on Royal Rubin (with three absolutely perfect square, immobile, long lasting, balanced halts). Nevertheless, Salinero had shown gorgeous movements and he stood out as undisputed winner of the day.
"I'm incredibly happy," Van Grunsven said at the press conference. "He stayed nice and quiet, he's getting a day older."
Anky and Salinero took a long holiday after the Olympics. "We both needed a break," she said. "The drive was gone after the Olympics. Everything is so relative once you've have become Olympic champion. But then after a while the hunger comes back."
Taking a break meant that Salinero was still ridden daily to stay fit. "I just rode him quietly, outside. It went quieter and quieter and then it got boring, so I started picking up the exercises again."
Anky admitted that the pressure never goes away. "The pressure stays because you are the one to beat; but then I think to myself, "I've got it all.""
Olympic silver medallists Isabell Werth and Satchmo placed second in the Grand Prix with a very conservative test. Satchmo was swooshing his tail quite heavily in trot and piaffe. The trot and walk extensions were lovely. The piaffe, which is Satchmo's weakest point, looked a bit "dangerous". The bay Hanoverian tends to step on his own hind legs while piaffing and he occasionally lifts one leg higher because of this, though he never seems to loose his rhythm. The highlight of their Grand Prix was the brilliant transition from walk to passage. Satchmo's collected walk is pure and rhythmical and the transition is so seemless, while most other horses tend to shorten the gait considerably and get totally tense anticipating the piaffe.
The contact with the bit is also delightful. At all times it is light, soft and easy with no stressful opening and closing of the horse's mouth like with several other combinations. The one tempi's were easy though could have covered more ground. The pirouette left could have been more rounder in the bending, the final passage lacked some power and the horse could have been more closed in his frame. Werth and Satchmo were not at their best but they were definitely good enough to finish high up in the ranking.
"I'm quite satisfied," said Werth afterwards. "It was not a brilliant test but it was a safe and concentrated one. I wanted to test the atmosphere for Las Vegas. It was a bit in between: a good and safe test."
Adelinde Cornelissen and her Dutch warmblood Parzival finished third. Everyone was curious to know where she would rank amongst Werth and Van Grunsven. The 29-year old scored 74.978% and finished third, but there was more in store had the duo not made mistakes.
The half passes were nice, the extended trots ground covering, but twice there was a double beat in piaffe. The piaffe-passage transitions were great and so were the one tempi changes. In the pirouettes, Parzival really put the weight on the hind quarters and made lovely canter turns. On the final centerline, the horse lost impulsion during the piaffe at X.
"He thought he was done already," said Adelinde. "I lost a couple of points there. I'm happy because in Amsterdam I couldn't finish the test and here I could keep on riding him."
Talk about a happy looking horse. Monica Theodorescu and Whisper are such a beautiful pair. The 11-year old Baden Wurttemberg bred gelding by Welt Hit I x Weltstar is owned by Ann Kathrin Linsenhoff, but has been trained and competed by Monica from young horse level up to Grand Prix. The contact with the bit is so steady and light. The horse is foaming, the position of the head never changes and it just looks so good.
They scored 74.127% to finish fourth. The rein back was a bit hesitant and in piaffe the horse can move more off the ground. Whisper still widens the hind legs to keep his balance but he does maintain a lovely suspended rhythm in passage.
Kyra Kyrklund aboard Yvette Conn's Swedish warmblood Max (by Master). Always good for a high place on the score board. They placed fifth with 73.617%
Hans Peter Minderhoud and the Dutch Trakehner bred mare Nadine (by Partout) slotted in sixth with 73.446%. This liver chestnut mare is showing great improvement in piaffe having found her rhythm and taking a bit more weight on the hindquarters.
Danish Princess Nathalie Zu Saeyn-Wittgenstein aboard her own bred Digby (by Donnerhall). Lovely piaffe-passage in this horse and great one tempi's. Only the trot extensions could have more push off the ground. They were seventh with 72.425%
Zu Saeyn's Olympic team bronze medal winning team mate Anne van Olst landed eighth place in the Grand Prix aboard Clearwater, a Danish bred gelding by Carpaccio owned by the Dutch businessman Ton Kies.
The extended trot and passage are Clearwater's forté. This friendly looking horse could have covered more ground in the one tempi's and the transition from canter to collected trot at the end of the test went difficult. The pair got 70.638 %
Nine horses scored above 70% in the Grand Prix and ninth placed Christa Laarakkers achieved 70.255% aboard her Dutch bred Ovation (by Cabochon x Apollonius xx). Unfortunately Christa forgot to do the reinback and lost many points with this error in program.
Swedish Minna Telde rode her own Hanoverian stallion Don Charly (by Don Gregory x Inschallah AA) to a 69.787% score. Mistakes in the tempi changes and some unevenness in the trot extensions prevented the score from exceeding 70%
British Laura Bechtolsheimer showed some beautiful things on the Hanoverian Andretti H (by Aarking xx) but tension throughout the ride was the biggest factor that reduced her score. They placed eleventh with 69.191%
Belgian Stefan van Ingelgem on a mission to qualify his Belgian Warmblood stallion Withney van 't Genthof (by Ferro) for the World Cup Finals. In Den Bosch he placed 12th with 68.170%. The highlight gait of this horse is the canter. Withney shows lovely straight, ground covering tempi changes.
Jeannette Haazen and the Dutch branded Nartan (by Jazz x Le Faquin xx) became the reserve Dutch Indoor Grand Prix champions two weekends ago but in the Den Bosch CDI-W Grand Prix they finished thirteenth with 68.042%. The horse was often too tight in the neck in his very impressive, powerful trot. In piaffe he came too tight and too deep and in passage there were loss of rhythm. It wasn't their best day.
American Catherine Haddad is hoping for a wild card to compete at the World Cup Finals in Las Vegas. In Den Bosch she showed her up and coming Grand Prix horse Cadillac. The Danish bred son by Solos Carex x Ragtime achieved 68.000%. They showed three perfect halts, by the way. Why not give that a 10, judges?!!
They were German team members at the 2007 European Championships, but Ellen Schulten Baumer has been unable to keep her mare at such a high. The contact with the bit was very unstable and there was a mistake in the one tempi's. The chestnut Donnerhall mare goes croup high and seems fixed in the hips. She has a nice technique in passage though and the extended walk was very good. Score: 66.680
Heike Kemmer and her rising Grand Prix horse Royal Rubin (by Rubinstein) received 65.702 % from the panel of judges. In halt, the horse stood still like a statue. The massive liver chestnut gelding still lacks some power which shows in the loss of impulsion in piaffe. The two tempi's should have been more uphill and there was a mistake in the one tempi's.
Aat van Essen and the 11-year old Jazz son Premier closed the ranks with 64.893 %. A lack of ground coverage and lengthening in the extended walk as well as several mistakes in the flying changes made the pair drop to the bottom.
Back to the 2009 Den Bosch index
