German Anna Christina Abbelen won the individual test gold medal with a beautiful ride on her 9-year old Rhinelander gelding Furst on Tour at the 2014 European Junior Riders Championships in Arezzo, Italy, on Saturday 12 July 2014. Norwegian Alexandra Andresen grabbed silver and Dutch Jeanine Nekeman finished with the bronze medal.
Even though Anna Abbelen's trainer Heiner Schiergen was forced to stay home due to a broken leg, his student was able to show case her training and knowledge perfectly in the Arezzo show arena without her home trainer at her side. Assisted by team trainers Hans Heinrich Meyer zu Strohen and Oliver Oelrich, Abbelen excelled in the individual test with lovely, soft riding. Her black gelding was soft and smooth in trot, always up in the bridle and light in the contact. There was a slight loss of clarity in the collected walk and the horse blocked in the left walk pirouette but the extended walk had good relaxation and overtrack. The second collected walk part needed a bit more impulsion. Also in canter, Furst on Tour remained well balanced with self assured flying changes and uphill canter extensions. The pair scored a golden total of 78.447% and placed first with all five judges (Leyman, Ardu, Matthiesen, De Wolff, Holler).
Norwegian Alexandra Andresen and her Westfalian licensed stallion Belamour (by Belissimo M x Weltmeyer) stood out with acurate riding, but her liver chestnut was fresher and quicker behind in the team test. Still, the pair produced smooth traversal movements, even though the horse could have generated more power from behind. The poll was always the highest point and the contact was soft. Andresen rode strong canter extensions but the horse was slow in the flying change at F. They posted a score of 75.763% reclaiming individual test silver, just like they did at the Europeans in 2013.
Dutch Jeanine Nekeman also fought her way back on the podium like last year. With her 12-year old Dutch warmblood gelding Vlingh (by Flemmingh x Donnerschlag) the Dutch duo had a clear ride in which a lack of suppleness was the point of criticism. The halt at entry was no immobile and the horse was slightly irregular in the rhythm on the right volte, but in trot Vlingh is overall very lightfooted and electric behind. The trot extensions were lovely and also in walk the gelding was clear in the rhythm. The right walk pirouette was the better one of the two turns. In canter the horse is active and engaged but loses the suppleness in the top line, which becomes clear in the stiffer rhythm in the counter canter. All flying changes were correctly ridden though and Nekeman was able to score 73.684% which earned her bronze. The Dutch judge at M (De Wolff) was a bit of a helping hand with his 76.316% assessment compared to the 72 - 73% scores of his colleagues. In general the judging was good with only few very puzzling discrepancies amongst the individual judges.
Danish Alexandra Sorensen fought her to earn a place on the podium and literally lost a medal by scoring 0.5 points less than Nekeman. The Dutch rider earned a total of 1400 points, while Sorensen finished on 1399.5 points and 73.658%. Alexandra and her 11-year old Danish gelding Camiro Mandoe (by Future Cup x Alfarvad Champion) rode powerful trot extensions and generated a good rhythm in the trot work, even though the bright bay could be a bit more electric behind. The collected walk was a tiny bit hasty, the extended had just two hooves overtrack even though this big horse should make longer strides. The pair rode correct flying changes, but the walk got edgy in the simple change. The horse was nice in the bridle throughout the test.
Dutch Rosalie Bos and her 8-year old Dutch warmblood mare Bolita (by Uptown x Flemmingh) rounded out the top five in the individual test. Their trot was fluent but the horse could be bent more on the half voltes. Bolita did not stretch well into the contact when she was given the reins. The extended walk was active and the canter work extremely solid, though in the simple change the mare should have walked more clearly. In the collected canter Bolita loses some suppleness in the back. Bos rode a very clean proper test that earned her 72.895%.
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Eurodressage's Astrid Appels was on the scene taking photos of all riders in Arezzo. Contact us if you are interested in photo prints, collages or albums.
Related Links
Eurodressage Coverage of the 2014 European Junior/Young Riders Championships
Scores: 2014 European Junior and Young Riders Championships