Lithuanian star pair Justina Vanagaite and her Belgian warmblood continue to roll from show to show and won again at the Central European League World Cup qualifier in Parnu, Estonia, on 25 - 28 May 2023
Three World Cup Qualifiers on the Same Weekend
It was truly remarkable and counter productive of the FEI to schedule no less than three World Cup qualifier in the Central European League area on the same weekend !
On the last weekend of May there was a CDI-W in Mariakalnok (Hungary), Lipica (Slovenia), as well as Parnu (Estonia). With two more National championships (Belgium and The Netherlands) as well as the CDI Wiesbaden happening on the same dates, shows saw their entry lists diminish as riders had a plethora of options to choose from where they wanted to compete.
The most Eastern Europe located Parnu in Estonia brought afoot riders from nations such as Lithuania, Latvia, Finland and Estonia for this celebrated two-week event which features dressage the first week and show jumping the second.
Globetrotter
Not shying away from going full throttle with her 10-year old Belgian warmblood gelding Nabab (by Sir Donovan x Krack C), Vanagaite is probably the dressage rider who puts the most mileage on her horse in the shortest period of time, alongside the Thai Vuntanadit girls who are seeking 2023 Asian Games' qualification and have been competing at 8 CDI's in 3 months time in Florida and Europe.
In 2022 Vanagaite competed her then 9-year old gelding at 11 CDI's, including the World Championships, in a period of eight months.
She kicked off 2023 with flying Nabab to Doha (QAT), followed by two more back-to-back CDI's in Lier (Belgium) and Herning (Denmark) all in three weeks time. A month later she flew to her first World Cup Finals in Omaha (USA) and wrote history for Lithuania by finishing 11th in the Kur Finals. In May she rode two World Cup qualifier CDI-W's in Olomouc (Czech) and Parnu (EST), winning both of them. That are seven CDI's in three months across three continents.
On Repeat in Parnu
Justina returned to Parnu for the third year in a row and was seeking to defend her title as winner of last year's World Cup qualifier.
In a field of just six riders from Lithuania and Finland, she placed second in the Grand Prix with 69.609% behind Finnish Ville Vaurio on G-Star, a 12-year old KWPN gelding by Delatio x Krack C. They scored the winning 70.522%. In the Kur to Music, however, the two swapped places and Vanagaite claimed the victory and World Cup win with 75.220%, while Vaurio was second with 73.765%.
"It's not a secret that CDI Parnu holds a special place in my heart," said Justina. "It was at this show last year that Kebabėlis (= Nabab) and I secured our first freestyle win in CDI-W. And this year, we repeated our success, placing 2nd on the first day despite a few mistakes, and then taking home 1st place on the freestyle day."
Justina continued, "I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to my incredible trainer Svetlana Snarskiene for her unwavering support and guidance throughout this journey."
Photo © Kylli Tedre
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