Markus Graf became the surprising new Swiss Grand Prix Dressage Champion at the 2011 Swiss Championships held at the beautiful equestrian centre Russmatt in the small village of Deitingen on 24 - 26 June 2011. Russmatt provided excellent possibilities for riders, horses and visitors alike.
Seniors: Another impressive Gribaldi
A new year, a new location. After two years of having Marcela Krinke-Susmelj a Swiss dressage champion, a new winner arose. Former young rider Markus Graf is not unknown to the Swiss dressage scene. He competed at CDI Compiègne earlier this month riding and only weeks later in Deitingen he rode himself in the spotlight in the Grand Prix and more so in the freestyle. His four-legged partner Ronaldo, a most beautiful grey with Arab-like eyes, showed convincing and expressive movements in which the horse's nose should have been more in front in the trot extensions.
Sired by Gribaldi out of a Pion dam Ronaldo II carries best dressage blood Holland had to offer and should be a strong addition for a Swiss team if he continues in this form. An almost 76% score in the freestyle on Sunday put this pair on the highest step of the podium and giving them their first national title.
Marcela Krinke-Susmelj and her 15-year-old Oldenburg gelding Corinth were the 2011 Swiss dressage reserve champions in Deitingen. Though Krinke, a qualified veterinarian surgeon from Ebikon near Lucerne, rode her new Grand Prix mount Molberg successfully in the Inter II-warm-up class on Friday she relied on her longtime partner Corinth in the Grand Prix and freestyle which counted for the Swiss Championships. In the Grand Prix the cute bay moved with lots of expression and he has his highlights as usual in the cadenced and expressive piaffe-passage- tour. However he made a mistake in the one tempi's. In the freestyle Corinth placed only 3rd which cost him a third consecutive title.
Olympian Hans Staub, one of the country's professional dressage trainers, presented his new horse Warbeau. The elegant dark bay Hanoverian is only 10 years, but has already proven his quality by placing 4th in the freestyle class at CDI Neuhofen and 6th in the Grand Prix at CDI Munich this year. Though the Wolkenstein II-offspring appeared quite mature and showed good movements, his piaffe is prominently on the forehand. Despite being placed 2nd in both Grand Prix and freestyle Staub and Warbeau ended in the bronze-medal position.
1988 Olympic silver medalist Daniel Ramseier, a well known horse dealer from the Zurich region, showed consistent form on his Oldenburg bred Ferro daughter Ferra who came 6th in the Grand Prix; remarkably one judge placed her 1st while another saw her in only 8th place. In the freestyle the mare came 4th which was also her overall placing.
O-judges Eric Lette from Sweden and Beatrice Bürchler- Keller from Switzerland, Christian Umbach from Luxemburg, Peter Engel from Germany and Christian Froidevaux from Switzerland judged the field of 17 in which two riders (Patricia Bottani and Daniel Ramseier) presented two horses.
German based Elisabeth Eversfield-Koch and the sympathetic Brandenburger gelding Rokoko N landed fifth place overall. Eversfield- Koch, whose late mother Claire had been a multiple Swiss championship rider in the 1970s and early 1980s, presented the successor of her 2010 WEG mount The Lion King with lots of sympathy. Rokoko showed a nice piaffe-passage-tour, cadenced and in rhythm. In the trot extensions he has to swing more through with his hind legs. In the freestyle both placed 6th to finish in 5th position of the championships.
The 2011 Swiss Grand Prix Championships featured two major surprises: Besides Graf another surprise came from Melanie Hofmann on the Swiss bred Cazzago C (by Campari M), bred and owned by Hans and Sandra Grunder from „Grunder Horses“. The former international Young Rider and the 14-year-old black gelding have been a pair for a long time now and performed a classy Grand Prix- test with no serious weak spots to come 4th in this 1st class with exactly 68%. Overall they were sixth.
A refreshing new pair which delighted the crowds on the three championship days were Antonella Joannou from Geneva and the huge Swiss bred Wantino CH. Having represented Switzerland at the CDIO Saumur at the end of April Joannou again impressed with her fine riding style and harmony she displayed with the strikingly marked liver chestnut with blonde mane and tail. Wantino CH, owned by Philippe Marmet, is bred by Grand Prix jumper Wandango, undoubtedly one of Switzerland's most popular sires of the past decade. Wantino CH won the Inter II warm- up class on Friday, to the complete the surprise conquest of his rider: „I never expected to win, but my horse really listened to me. I am so happy with him!“
After a rather disappointing 8th place in the Grand Prix the crowd-pleasers came 5th in the freestyle.
2000 Olympian Patricia Bottani who had trained with Ulla Salzgeber for many years and has now set up her own training stable in Bad Wörishofen, Germany, competed the Danish horses Heslegard's Lord and Pacito Vedstedholm. The latter is a flashy light-footed mover with good extensions and talent for piaffe and passage, but he needs to take a lighter bit contact. Bottani was trained at the show by Oberbereiter Andreas Hausberger from the SRS in Vienna.
The Youngsters: Winnewisser, Ramseier and Ackermann
Like in 2010 Naomi Winnewisser won the Swiss Pony championships. The pony division had expanding compared to a year ago. Eight pony combinations contested each other over two days. Winnewisser rode the 14-year-old liver chestnut stallion Diamant NW, winning both classes as well as the warm-up class on Friday. Closely on her heels had been international dressage rider Marie-Line Wettstein's daughter Estelle on the gorgeous black mare Nice Blue Eyes who has blue eyes indeed! The bronze medal went to Sharon Höltschi on Pegasus B, a 10-year-old albino owned by the famous Bönninger Stud in Germany.
The junior riders' division only had a meagre six riders. Three young ladies fought for the three medals: last year's champion Leana Joannou, daughter of Antonella, on her trusted partner Orlando, Sonja Ramseier with the Saxonian Flying Boy and Miriam Gasser on the experienced Danish gelding Der Tempelstar (by the renowned thoroughbred Temple Wind xx). While Ramseier won the first class ahead of Joannou and Gasser, she was only 4th in the 2nd class which was won by Joannou. Finally the freestyle on Sunday was deciding: Sonja Ramseier got 71,8% while Joannou had 66,9% which means the new Swiss dressage champion in the Juniors’ division is Sonja Ramseier, followed by Leana Joannou and Mirjam Gasser in third place.
Nine pairs competed in the Young Riders' division. The quality of the rides in general was joyfully good and the placings changed almost with every class over the three days.
The impressive black stallion Danzas, competed by Dominique Tardin, had already shown good rides at the CDIO Saumur at the beginning of May and not surprisingly won the first class, followed by the Trakehner Konradi TSF under Philine von Bremen and the Westfalian chestnut Flint Star ridden by Sabrina Ackermann. Last year's silver and bronze medalists Sophie Aiko Müller with Laser and Simona Aeberhard with her recently purchased Active Private Dancer came in behind. The second and third class were won by Ackermann and Flint Star who became the new Swiss dressage champions at the Young Riders. Danzas won silver after a second place on Saturday and fourth in the freestyle. Sophie Aiko Müller, who trains with Silvia Iklé, managed to earn the bronze medal on her Saxion gelding.
Three days of national championships generated hope that Swiss dressage is growing again.
Spectators and judges could see some classy performances in all divisions. And the horses? Some of them had the luxury of living in spacious permanent paddock boxes during the show, provided by the organisator. Social contact over the paddock fence like fur-fondling and nose rubbing with their neighbour made sure that the four-legged partners could relax at the competition as well.
Text and Photo by Silke Rottermann for Eurodressage.com
Related Links
Scores 2011 Swiss Dressage Championships
Corinth Did It Again at the 2010 Swiss Dressage Championships
Veronika Marthaler, 2007 Swiss Dressage Champion