A sextet of ladies took highest honour in the youth riders classes at the 2014 CDI Drachten on 3 - 5 January 2013. Dutch pony queen Lisanne Zoutendijk made the hat trick for her division, while Dutch team mates Jeanine Nekeman and Jasmien de Koeyer swapped for first place in the junior division. In the young riders' category German riders Bianca Nowag and Petra Middelberg led the field alongside Belgium"s Jorinde Verwimp.
Holland’s Lisanne Zoutendijk and her 10-year old pony Champ of Class (by Champion de Luxe x Dornik) scored 72.906, 75.487% and 78.041% in the team, individual and kur tests for FEI pony riders. Zoutendijk has been on a winning streak since the CDI-P Roosendaal in the beginning of December and has been undefeated since, also at national pony shows.
Lisanne told Eurodressage that Champ of Class did a great job in Drachten and that she is very proud of him. “All three days he felt very fit and very concentrated," said Zoutendijk. "He is an amazing pony and my trainers Coby Van Baalen en Jeroen Okkema were also very happy with my tests."
Lisanne added that ICNN Drachten is a great international show and she enjoyed meeting lots of nice people at such a well organised competition. "It is nice to see all the different levels, from ponies, to juniors, to young riders, and the small and big tour. The horses build up a lot of experience in such a professional show arena.”
Happy to take home the triple gold, Lisanne’s highlight was the freestyle that she won with 78,041%, particularly as one judge gave the pair 87% for artistic presentation!
Dutch winner in the Junior division, Jeanine Nekeman and her 12-year old gelding Vlingh (by Flemmingh x Donnerschlag) led the team and individual tests with 72.882% and 71.754%, beaten only in the kur by 2013 Dutch European Championship team mate Jasmien de Koeyer on Take it Easy, who took the musical victory with 75.000%.
"I was very happy to notice that Vlingh has improved since the European Championships where I was very successful,” said Jeanine. “Vlingh was working with me all weekend. He hardly made any mistakes and he felt perfect from the moment I started the warm up in Drachten.”
With her show highlight being her team test, which Jeanine won with a personal record, Nekeman feels that Vlingh has improved most especially in the canter.
Going in to Drachten with a lot of confidence, Jasmien told Eurodressage that it was absolutely fantastic to compete at such a big show and she enjoyed some lovely comments from the judges as well as her top kur score of 75%.
“We were the first competitors in the kur, but we rode a fantastic test and everything went as it must go," De Koeyer explained. "I’m so proud of my horse, he is my everything!”
Trainer on the ground in Drachten Tim Coomans was also pleased with Jasmien’s results and he felt that the horse was really with her during the weekend of competition. "The atmosphere in Drachten was also really good. It was a perfect venue and the entire organisation was complete," Jasmien added.
The Young Rider field was dominated by three lady riders, with Germany’s Bianca Nowag and her 10-year old mare Fair Play RB (by Fidermark × Brentano II) claiming gold in the team test with 73.7% and her team mate Petra Middelberg on her 9-year old by Belissimo M offspring Barclay taking the individual test with 71.535%. However, Belgium’s Jorinde Verwimp and her 14-year old gelding Tiamo (by Lester x Hemmingway) snatched the kur victory with 75.3%.
“I am very happy and proud about these results and I feel that Fair Play RB did a fantastic job," Nowag told Eurodressage. “I felt that she is also very happy and motivated to do her best. She is a very positive horse who is always very happy to work together with me. Drachten is a wonderful international show,” Bianca added. “You could see a lot of talented horses and riders and the atmosphere was super.”
Fifth on the first day with a few errors, Petra rocked up on day two much more relaxed and was pleased to take the individual test at a “super nice” show. “The second day was a lot more relaxed than the first and he put in a great test effort and as a reward we won and were very happy,” Petra stated. “On the last day in the freestyle Barclay was a bit wild and unfocused, but I suppose I can not blame him as this was his first big indoor tournament and only his second time during the freestyle test. And he is still young!”
Describing Barclay as her dream horse, Petra enjoyed matching him up in an atmosphere with so many great horses and a lot of good riders for that matter!
The first show of the year, the CDI Drachten is one of Jorinde's favourite. Despite some interesting score discrepancies from the judges, Verwimp is very happy with her effort and end result. "It's a super nice arena in Drachten and a very well organized show," she said. " My horse felt really good the first day, going as well in the test as he did in the warming up . There were no mistakes but one of the three judges must have seen another test because I got two times 75% and one time 67% with a 72% as the final result. Our freestyle in particular was much better and we won that test with 75.3% which ended my weekend in a great way!"
Now concentrating on making the transition to Grand Prix U25 level with Tiamo, Jorinde hopes to make her national debut on 2 February. “It’s going to be very exciting," she exclaimed.
Text by Sarah Warne - Photos © Digishots
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