Fry Can Win on Any Horse, Captures 2023 CDIO Compiègne 3* Grand Prix with Lars van de Hoenderheide

The first day of competition at the 2023 CDIO Compiègne On Friday 5 May 2023 was a thrilling one with amazing competition in the main stadium for the 3 * Grand Prix, while rings 2 and 3 featured strong battles of in all youth divisions from pony level to U25.

Instant Karma

Compiegne's reputation as the wonderful French sunny spring show is getting nicked as rainy weather days have been pestering the venue for the past few years. Today was no different as the day started with a rather harmless drizzle that then developed into a massive downpour of rain, turning the arenas into a swimming pool. The all weather footing had to swallow a lot of water and while it dried up gradually in the sunny afternoon, the riders in the final class of the day, the Prix St Georges, were tested on being waterproof and resilient to yet another burst of torrential rain.

In my opening article I sang praise to the benign weather gods, who had blessed the show grounds with gorgeous temperatures on Thursday, but I also criticised a few trends at the horse inspection, meant rather tongue in cheek, but which some did not take with a grain of salt. They began lamenting about my lack of nuance and professionalism on social media. Ugh, I curse thee Facebook !! Irish Grand Prix rider Dane Rawlins made the rather fun joke that it was karma that the weather turned bad today. Touché

A Belgian Warmblood Impresses

The feature class of the day was the 3* Grand Prix in the main stadium and with 38 entries on the starters' list, judges Katrina Wüst, Magnus Ringmark, Maribel Alonso, Hans-Christian Matthiesen, and Lionel Du Tranoy had a five-course Michelin star dinner in front of them to digest and review. 

The horse that really made me prick my ears today was the winner of that class, the Belgian warmblood Lars van de Hoenderheide. I wrote an introduction to this sympathetic 12-year old chestnut (by Negro x Layout) in October 2022 and after having watched videos of him, this was the first time I saw the gelding live. And what progress has he made !! His first Grand Prix score was a 70% in October, by January he was scoring 73% and now in May he posted 75.783% for the victory. Lars showed great, cadenced trot work with very good balance and self carriage. The trot extensions had real uphill expression. The passage was sometimes tilted to the right, but very smooth in the rhythm and soft footed. The second passage could have been a bit more regular. The walk parts were good. The piaffe is still the biggest issue with this horse, aside from the rider strong bridle contact which makes him mouthy. In piaffe he does not really sit, but keeps the hindlegs rather straight and out. The extended canter and flying change were the highlight of the test as well as the superb one tempi changes. In the zig zag there was some loss of ground cover to the left and the final piaffe at X was hesitant.. but boy, what an interesting horse and that coming out of Belgium, a country where dressage breeding is as popular as curling in Morocco (disclaimer: this is a joke).

Improvement

Another horse that showed improvement from the last time I saw it was Matthias Rath's 10-year old Oldenburg stallion Thiago GS (by Totilas x Warkant). A year ago at the CDI Troisdorf, the licensed stallion still struggled with his nerves and the collected work, but a year of maturing has done him good. In the trot he still is a bit too flashy in front with not enough engagement under from the hindlegs (hardly any overtrack in the extensions), but the half passes were regular and the first piaffe-passage had a good rhythm. Especially the piaffe showed improvement with the horse closing himself more. Now the back needs to come up. Today there were a few bobbles in the flying changes and the rhythm in the extended walk underwhelmed.

The judges rewarded the ride with 73.500%

Lusitanos to Keep an Eye On

Former Spanish team rider Claudio Castilla Ruiz brought two horses to Compiegne and placed fifth and sixth with them. Aboard the 12-year old Hanoverian stallion Lario de Adama de Susa (by Locksley II x Rotspon) he was fifth on 70.956%. Their signature movement was a fabulous extended walk.  Claudio's second ride, the 11-year old Lusitano Hi Rico do Sobral (by Rico) placed sixth with 70.783% and is one to watch. 

Maria Caetano's Lusitano stallion Fenix de Tineo (by Rubi x  Oheide) was screaming in the warm-up, but in the test he was all business and showed solid form with also a bit more strength than before in the canter work. They were 7th with 70.674%

The 9-year old Lusitano crossbred James Bond de Massa (by Bon Bravour x Xaqiero) showed tons of talent and potential with very nice mechanics in piaffe. The horse looked very green at Grand Prix and was carried through the test by his rider instead of relying on his own self carriage, but this is an exciting horse. He was 10th today with 70.109%

Quick Notes

Belgian Under 25 team rider Nico Nyssen premiered the 14-year old KWPN licensed stallion Expression (by Vivaldi x Vincent) and did a very good job in piloting the bright bay through the test after the horse's 3-year absence from the CDI ring due to injury. Expression has a very expressive silhouette in passage, lots of potential and leg lift in piaffe (but needs more suspension). Unfortunately in all three trot extensions, he was off in the rhythm to my impression and therefore I wondered the bell was not rung. Expression looked very unsettled at Compiegne, away from home, and this tension probably affected him. Let's hope the stallion finds a better form soon as he makes a very exciting combination with this young Belgian rider leading up to the 2013 European Championships. 

British Olympian Fiona Bigwood has given the ride on her Grand Prix horse Fame to Carl Hester, while she's focusing on the tall 12-year old Oldenburg Daytona Platinum (by Dante Weltino x Charon). Boy this horse can move and those one tempi changes were mega! He was very spooky in the corner at F and this led to too much overall tension. Today it was 65.391% for 30th place. 

Reflections

I shared a couple of photos of rainy scenes in Compiegne on social media and those prompted quite a bit of reactions like "typical Compiègne". It's amazing how personal experience affects the perception of a show. For some reason, I do not link rain to Compiegne, even though we've had a few wet days over the years. Overall this show to me is one set in the sun, with people having wine, foie gras, cheese and baguettes while watching dressage. 

It was a very long day for me as photographer. After having posted my article at 2h30 past midnight, it was a short night because I got up at 7h15 to begin shooting three arenas, non-stop at 8 AM. By 6 PM I had reached my saturation point and needed to sit down in peace for 30 minutes before I could do the final stretch and photograph the last riders in the Prix St Georges. 

I then drove back to the hotel, had a bite to eat in a very mediocre Italian restaurant, to return to the computer to organise pictures, send out some first photos to clients, and to write this story. I wonder at what time I will go to sleep tonight. I hope before 1 AM.

- Text and Photos © Eurodressage (this article expresses Eurodressage's' eye-witness account and opinion about the competition).

Photos © Eurodressage - NO Reproduction ALLOWED / NO SCREEN SHOTS !!!!
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