The final day of competition at the 2016 CDI Frankfurt celebrated Grand Prix dressage sport at top level. Dorothee Schneider and Sammy Davis Jr won the Lousidor Cup Finals for developing Grand Prix horses and German B-team rider Jan Dirk Giesselmann claimed top honour in the Grand Prix Kur to music on his home bred Real Dancer.
Dorothee Schneider (Framersheim) and smart Sammy Davis Jr (by San Remo x Wenckstern) trotted to victory in the young horse Grand Prix with a score of 75.44%.
His rider and trainer was very pleased with the victory and how her horse coped in the environment: "He has a great deal of charisma, a real aura. He is a very imaginative horse, he has real spirit - you need that in this sport.” The horses’s charisma keeps everyone in Framersheim “on their toes”, as ten-year-old Sammy likes opening doors, having a good nose around and making his own decisions about the work in hand. “He loves being on the move," said Schneider, “but sometimes you have to remind him that he actually needs to go left now rather than right…”
Giesselmann and his 12-year-old dark bay Hanoverian gelding Real Dancer topped the board in the small Kur to Music CDI class on Sunday afternoon. The 33-year old began his international Grand Prix career on Real Dancer in August 2015 at the CDI Verden and concluded his 2016 show season with the freestyle win in Frankfurt. With a score of 76.62 percent, Gießelmann and Real Dancer even surpassed team Olympic champion Sönke Rothenberger (Bad Homburg), who was competing the 17-year old Favourit (by Fidermark x Worldchamp).
Gießelmann remained modest, however, reassuring colleague Sönke Rothenberger that he wouldn’t be appearing in a t-shirt saying “I beat an Olympic champion,” any time soon. Third place went to Polish rider Beata Stremler, who lives in Duisburg, with 13-year-old Rhinelander gelding Rubicon D.
On Saturday night, the top three ranked combinations of the 2016 Nurnberger Burgpokal Finals (Developing PSG Horse Championships) rode a Kur to Music to contest the "Winner's Prize", which is a bit of a show element to thank the audience. The second placed pair, Ingrid Klimke and Franziskus, demonstrated after their freestyle that good dressage horses also known how to jump. See Barbara's photo evidence.
Photos © Barbara Schnell
Related Links
Scores: 2016 CDI Frankfurt
Sammy Davis Jr Wins the 2016 Louisdor Cup Finals for German Developing Grand Prix Horses