The 14-year old Semmieke Rothenberger unsurprisingly claimed individual test gold at the 2014 European Pony Championships in Millstreet, Ireland, on Saturday 2 August 2014. Rothenberger edged out Holland's number one pony rider Lisanne Zoutendijks and British team rookie Alexandra Hellings for the top podium spot.
Rothenberger is a medal routinier, competing at her fourth European Pony Championships, winning team gold since 2011. With Golden Girl she won individual test silver and kur gold in 2012 and with Deinhard B she won individual test silver and kur bronze in 2013. It was her challenge from the start to get an individual gold with Deinhard B as well, just like her brother Sönke did at the 2008 European Pony Championships in Avenches. The stars aligned well for young Semmieke and with a faultfree test and gracious scores from the judging panel, Rothenberger steered to a well-earned victory with a 78.341% test.
The judges panel for the individual test included Victoire Mandl (AUT), Ulrike Nivelle (GER), Annette Fransen-Iacobaeus (SWE), Jo Graham (GBR), and Christoph Umbach (LUX) and throughout the class they saw different presentations. Only for Rothenberger's test they were on the same wavelength and all placed the soon to be 15-year old at the top of the leader board.
Semmieke's experienced 15-year old palomino stallion Deinhard B (by Dornik x Golden Dancer) executed a textbook entry and halt at the start of the test. He showed decent differentiation between medium and extended trot but the halt for the rein back was not square. In the collected walk he was slightly bent to the right and the extended walk was well ridden with two hooves overtrack, which seemed the limit of the pony's walk potential. The canter work was accurately ridden, flawless with correct simple changes. The overall point of remark would be that Deinhard never has the poll as highest point and could be softer in the bridle. He tries to cross the jaws, but Semmieke is very subtle with her hand aids and makes the best of that contact in the test.
"I'm so happy that it actually happened (winning individual gold)," Semmieke commented at the press conference. "I always dreamt of having gold, just like my siblings and now it finally happened," she added, seemingly forgotting Golden Girl's kur gold. "Deinhard is wonderful. He's such a character. Whenever I compete him he sparkles and shines."
Dutch Lisanne Zoutendijk won individual test bronze at the 2013 European Pony Championships in Arezzo, but in Millstreet she climbed one step on the podium and ended up with silver after a 74.976% earning ride on her 10-year old buckskin gelding Champ of Class (by Champion de Luxe x Dornik).
Zoutendijk rode her pony with much energy and forward expression, but there were a few minor issues that meddled with the score. The halt at entry was slightly progressive, the halt for rein back not square, and in the trot extensions Champ of Class lengthens the frame and does cover more ground, but he gets hasty. The shoulder in right was excellent and the half passes were nice, even though the pony slows down in the rhythm. In the canter work, Lisanne had to spur the pony quite a lot to keep him active, but the gelding willingly did his job and produced very clean canter work with only the simple change before K in need of some clear striding in walk. The end halt was 2 meters before the marker though. The judges scored her test from 73.293% (Fransen-Iacobaeus) to 77.561% (Mandl).
"He was really nice today," Zoutendijk commented."Ireally tried hard to get a better colour of medal than last year and went from bronze to silver. My pony can sometime be tense, like in the team test, but today he was better. I'm very pleased with my test."
Zoutendijk stayed only a fraction ahead of surprise rider of the show, Alexandra Hellings on Clare Williams' 7-year old Der Kleine Lord (by Der Feine Lord). Trained by Sonia Webster-Baines, Hellings had an excellent season this year but really stepped up to the plate in Millstreet, saving British honour for an individual medal when 2013 European Pony Champions Phoebe Peters and SL Lucci dropped the ball in the individual test after a few mistakes.
Hellings rode on Friday and was the overnight leader in the individual test with 74.756%. She only saw two riders move in front of her in the ranking and claimed bronze. With the kur to music finals on Sunday, Hellings will get a second opportunity for another medal, her last chance on Der Kleine Lord as the young FEI pony has been sold. Luckily for Great Britain, the pony won't move far as he has been retained for a British pony rider.
"I don't know what will happen next year," said a very proud Hellings at the press conference. "I do have a horse, but I don't know yet," she added about her future as a British team rider.
The second group of riders competing in the individual test on Saturday was much smaller so the ranking was not changed dramatically. Nadine Krause landed fourth place with her 73.951%, Demy Kurstjens became fifth on Ciske with 73.439% and Lea Luise Nehls on De Long slotted in sixth with 72.854.
Three Danish riders rode themselves into the top 15 today with Karoline Rohmann and her delightful 8-year old Adriano B (by De Angelo x Flying Dream) finishing seventh with a 72.829%. The pony could easily have scored a bit higher with the quality work that he showed in the ring. The chestnut gelding is a gifted mover with an active hindleg, a beautiful front leg and a nice cresty neck. He delivered lovely, flowing trot work in which the traversal movements were excellent. The pony showed a good difference between medium and extended trot but overall the pony could be a bit more up in the bridle in trot. Rohmann rode a small turn on the haunches in collected walk and a superb extended walk. In canter there were a few small issues with the simple changes, in which the pony loses impulsion and stalls. With more forward flow in the walk part, Adriano B can certainly improve on his score. In the extended canter the pony could have stretched the frame more.
Eighteen riders qualified to compete in the Kur to Music on Sunday morning 3 August 2014, starting at 8.45 AM.
Text and Photos © Astrid Appels - NO REPRODUCTION ALLOWED
Related Link
Eurodressage Coverage of 2014 European Pony Championships