Helen Langehanenberg and Christian Becks' Westfalian stallion Damon Hill continued their winning streak on Saturday 29 June 2013 by claiming victory in the CDIO Grand Prix Special at the most prestigioius dressage show of the year, the CHIO Aachen. Besides the fact that Langehanenberg is playing first violin in Aachen, an equally interesting fact is that the top five of the Special are all Donnerhall offspring. Three direct Donnerhall sons and two grand sons via De Niro and Don Frederico scored above 75%.
Helen Langehanenberg was 26th to go in a class of 30 riders. She was able to control the energy in trot more than in the Grand Prix. The trot extensions and half passes were lovely even though the stallion regularly opened his lips despite the soft contact. The passage was elastic and especially in the beginning of the test the horse stayed better up in the bridle. The extended walk was excellent. The onset to the first piaffe from the collected walk was difficult, the second piaffe was much better. The two tempi changes were big but could have been more uphill. The extended canter was so powerful that Langehanenberg almost took on a two-point seat. The was a slight hesitation in the left pirouette, the right one was better but quite big. Damon Hill truly floated in the final passage on the centerline and the piaffe at X was good in rhythm, though the horse leaned a bit on the forehand.
The judges' panel for the Grand Prix Special included Dietrich Plewa (GER), Leif T örnblad (DEN), Francis Verbeek-van Rooij (NED), Isabelle Judet (FRA) and Susie Hoevenaars (AUS). They awarded Helen a score of 80.667% and all ranked her first.
The surprise ride of the day came from Danish Anna Kasprzak on the Finnish warmblood Donnperignon (by Donnerhall x Mozart) who exceeded all expectations and rose above herself with a fantastic ride. Anna maintained quite a high tempo in trot and showed big ground covering extensions and energetic half passes. The passage work was solid. The extended walk was a bit limited with only one hoof overtrack and Donnperignon could have more longer strides. The first piaffe was better than usual, the second stayed a bit small. Also in canter Kasprzak maintained a very high level with ground covering two tempi changes, even though the horse could have been more open in the throat latch. The extended canter was big, the pirouettes super, the ones smooth but tight in the neck. There was a bit more left hindleg activity in the first bit of passage on the centerline but it evened out. The piaffe at X was moderate. Kasprzak scored 77.354% to become the runner-up.
Fellow Dane Nathalie zu Sayn-Wittgenstein has been competing her 16-year old Danish bred Digby (by Donnerhall x Sandro) sparingly this year and the 2013 European Championships will be the last major championship of his career. This "economic driving" of Digby paid off as the elegant dark bay gelding defied his age with very powerful piaffe-passage work and a trot which was more expressive than usual. The first extended trot was secure and Zu Sayn-Wittgenstein rode flawless transitions to passage. The piaffe was fantastic and the canter work overall high class. The tempi changes were secure and the entire canter tour was faultfree. Princess Nathalie received 76.437%
German Isabell Werth and the Hanoverian gelding Don Johnson (by Don Frederico x Warkant) tied in third place with the same score. Her bright bay gelding is owned by sponsor Madeleine Winter-Schulze who celebrated her 72nd birthday the day before. The trot extensions are very expressive in front and the hind legs track up sufficiently. While the half passes were ground covering, "Johnny" opened his mouth regularly and overall could have been more quiet in the mouth and steady in the contact. The transitions passage-extended trot were fluent. The onset to the first piaffe was difficult, the second was more rhythmical. The two tempi changes were good but in the ones Isabell was swinging visibly in the saddle.
Anabel Balkenhol and her Hanoverian gelding Dablino (by De Niro x Wanderbush II) slotted in fifth with 75.708%. Balkenhol rode a convincing round on her mega talented chestnut gelding, but it all looked slightly more laboured than in the Grand Prix. The Olympian regularly made the horse's head go left-right in order to keep him in check and focused on her. There were a couple of lapses in the rhythm: once in a trot extension and once in the transition from the left passage to the trot extension. The passage itself was superb. The half passes were floating. The extended walk had only one hoof overtrack but the relaxation was reasonable. The transition from the collected walk to piaffe was hesitant and the first piaffe was quite small, the second much better. The one and two tempi changes were world class and the pirouettes good. The end passage on the centerline was brilliant but only put scores from 7.5 - 8 on the board. The last piaffe was ok.
Making quite a rise in the ranking was Danish duo Andreas Helgstrand on the 11-year old Danish bred Akeem Foldager, which is owned by a syndicate including Patricia Florian, Andreas himself and Hanni Toosbuy Kasprzak. Helgstrand moved from a 24th place in the Grand Prix (68.426%) after a very tense test to a 7th spot in the Special with 73.958. The pair rode wonderfully powerful trot extension. The half pass to the left was too passagey, the one to the right much better. The super expressive and lofty passage was sometimes uneven with more left hind leg activity, the piaffe had major sit and lift in the legs. The extended walk had two hooves overtrack but in the collected walk, Andreas was half-halting the horse too visibly making the horse's wag from left to right. The transition from passage to canter was mediocre. Helgstrand seems to have the most problems with the tempi changes. While the horse is very scopey, the two's were totally crooked to the right and in the ones the horse became tight in the neck and made a mistake. These errors pushed the score down considerably. Akeem has unlimited potential but it seems that it needs to be nurtured with patience and calmness. The more relaxed the gelding is, the more he actually shines. The Special was already a big step forward.
Text and Photos by Astrid Appels - No Reproduction Allowed
Eurodressage photographer Astrid Appels took photos of all combinations competing at the CDIO Aachen. Contact us if you are interested in prints of your photos!
Related Links
Scores 2013 CDIO Aachen
Eurodressage Coverage of the 2013 CDIO Aachen