Mass Exodus from 2021 CDI Oldenburg Puts Joao Oliva on Top in Thinned Out Grand Prix

Shows

2021 CDI Oldenburg

Brazilian double Olympian Joao Marcari Oliva and the Portuguese owned Lusitano Escorial HorseCampline won the 4* Grand Prix at the 2021 CDI Oldenburg on Saturday 30 October 2021 in a highly thinned out field of just five competitors.

Footing Debacle

A mass exodus from this event took place on Friday 29 October as the footing conditions at this indoor show proved to be below par on Thursday, with a slippery underground that did not provide enough grip for the horses.

Organized by Kasper Funke's Escon Marketing company, the CDI Oldenburg attracted a large group of high profile German and international Grand Prix riders as the event also served as qualifier for the 2021 Louisdor Cup Finals, the German Developing Grand Prix Horse Championships.

The entire show scheduled got reshuffled as a last minute effort to fix the footing was carried out on Thursday night through Friday. The damage, however, was done and the majority of riders did not want to risk the health of their horses, competing on Saturday or Sunday. They left the show.

"Together with the footing specialists, the organizer is making an effort to give the entire new footing from Footing Company Schmidt GmbG & Co the wished for quality," Escon Marketing communicated. "We found out that the problems arose from the mixing ratio of the sand that was used for the indoor riding arenas. Ground works started the night before (Thursday night) without making the necessary progress. With the approval of the exhibition centre company - and on the recommendation of footings specialists, lime was added to the footing to increase the consistency and strength (on Friday)."

Inter II Counts as Louisdor Cup Qualifier

Riders such as Dorothee Schneider, Hubertus Schmidt, Emma Kanerva, Lena Waldmann and Matthias Rath, Matthias Bouten, Kristy Oatley, Simone Pearce were all there and left the venue.

Schneider and Sisters Act win in Oldenburg on Thursday

The Louisdor Cup warm-up round with 14 pairs in it was ridden on Thursday. The Finals class on Saturday morning had only two of them left: Sophia Funke and Susanne Krohn.

Due to the bad ground conditions in Oldenburg, the responsible authorities, i.e. the Dressage Committee of the German Olympic Equestrian Committee (DOKR) and the 5* judge Dr. Evi Eisenhardt, as a member of the board of the Liselott Schindling Foundation, decided that the warm-up round, the Intermediaire II, will be counted as the final qualification.

That class was won by Dorothee Schneider on Sissy Max-Theurer's Sisters Act von Rosencarree (by Sandro Hit x Royal Diamond) with 75.184%, followed by Finnish Emma Kanerva on Gerd Saborowski's Oldenburg Mist of Titanium (by Millennium x Diamonit) wuth 73.447%.

Slippery

Footing being reworked at the CDI Oldenburg
(Photo © Escon marketing)

German Olympic gold medalist Dorothee Schneider stated that, "the footing in the warm-up ring in the EWE Hall was unfortunately extremely deep and slippery. Even though they tried to fix it to the best ability, it was possible to train yesterday evening after the last test in the show arena, but also in the competition hall the footing was on the limit (of acceptable)."

Dorothee continued, "This morning (Friday) there was no improvement to be noticed. I don't want to risk injuries to my horses. It's a great pity but the conditions have to be optimal for my horses. I don't compromise when it comes to health and welfare of my horses."

**Oliva Wins 4* Grand Prix**

In a field of five left-over starters, Brazilian Joao Marcari Oliva and the 12-year old Lusitano stallion Escorial Horsecampline (by Spartacus CSM x Edo RHE) topped the board with 71.065%.

"Another milestone achieved by Campline Horses' team," said Escorial's owner Thiago Montavani. "The 1st ever Lusitano stallion winning a CDI4* in Germany. The 1st time the Brazilian anthem is played in a 4* International Grand Prix. Our team is lost for words. The team’s hard work and vision are paying off. After beating records in Tokyo, Hagen and Aachen, they made history with the victory in the GP CDI4* Oldenburg. We are here to stay! We are here to make a difference"

German Elisa Prigge and her 14-year old Hanoverian gelding Dark Dancer (by Dancier x Hohenstein) were second with 70.696%, while Andrea Timpe and the 18-year old Oldenburg gelding Don Darwin (by Don Schufro x Warkant) placed third on 69.913%.

The other two competitors were Austrian Ulrike Prunthaler on Wenzel Schmidt's Quantum (by Quaterback x Paradiesvogel - 68.870%) and German Jurgen Höfler on Royal Flash R (by Riccio x Donnerschlag - 68.696%)

The class was judged by Elke Ebert, Patricia Wolters, Marietta Almasy, Lars Andersson and Ulrike Nivelle.