Von Bredow-Werndl Concludes Roller Coaster Week with 2023 CDIO Aachen Kur to Music Victory

Reigning European and Olympic champion Jessica von Bredow-Werndl concluded a roller coaster week at the 2023 CDIO Aachen with a third victory of the week in the Grand Prix Kur to Music on Sunday morning 2 July 2023.

Riesenbeck Fever

For many nations the 2023 CDIO Aachen was a team selection trial for the 2023 European Championships in Riesenbeck later in September so performances there carried much weight and the atmosphere was electric as usual in a sell out stadium of 6,000 fans clapping and cheering for every rider that entered, but a little bit more the Germans on home turf. 

It was a drama filled week for the Germans with Sönke Rothenberger and his very young, 9-year old Kjaerholm's Fendi, now able to pull the same stunt he did in Balve and beat Von Bredow-Werndl in the Grand Prix. The horse was overwhelmed by the challenge and the partnership crumbled in the first ride, but made a strong recovery in the Special to a 74.830% and a team nomination.

Roller Coaster Saturday

In the Grand Prix Special, Von Bredow and Dalera did not bring the same perfection to the table that is expected of them. The 16-year old Trakehner seemingly developed a new habit in Aachen not to stand square nor immobile in the halt at entry, but she lifts her right hind leg high. In the Special the judges still scored thid flawed halt between 6.0 and 7.0 (!!). The transition into the first piaffe  as well as the rhythm was hesitant (6.5 - 8.0) and the one tempi changes on the centerline didn't work out (4.0 - 5.0). Too many small imperfections tainted a test with many highlights. Only judge Maria Colliander had her glasses on and scored the ride 77.979% (3rd place) while the others were between 80.31% and 82.660% (1st or 2nd).

And then came the drama of the earpiece. Werndl rode her Special test with a black earpiece in her right ear. "I didn't realize I still had it in my ear," Werndl stated at the press conference after winning the Special and the Nations Cup with team Germany. She showed the piece to the media.  "They (the stewards) realized it when I came back, that was the point that I realized it too," she added. According to Werndl, it was only the rubber of the earpiece that was still stuck in her ear, and not the electronic part to transmit audio.  

Wearing an earpiece is forbidden by the FEI and results in elimination. However, Werndl was not eliminated and seemingly no national federation filed a complaint to insist on the strict application of the FEI rule. It led to a lot of speculation and debate behind the scenes with murmurs of favouritism and speculation of weak FEI stewarding. However, one can argue it was just rubber (and no electronic advice) similar to riding with ear plugs or cotton wool to muffle sound. Werndl went on to show the next day and sweep the Aachen Grand Champion's title.

Padam Padam

As hot favourite for the victory on freestyle Sunday, von Bredow-Werndl made hearts beat faster in the Deutsche Bank stadium as she produced another exceptional ride. Performing her strategically chosen Edith Piaf freestyle with Paris on the horizon, the pair scores with elegance and harmony. The start was not the greatest as once again they began with a halt and right hind leg lift, but after that no real flaws crept into the test. It all looked easy, light, smooth. Big extensions, a piaffe turn slightly forward and with a floorplan made to measure, the walk parts were ridden in such a way that they weakest gait of Dalera (by Easy Game x Handryk) did not attract too much attention (collected walk on the far side and on a half volte, and a short diagonal of extended walk). It all looked very easy with minimal aids and that's Werndl's forté. They finished with very rhythmical final piaffe-passage work. 

A freestyle rarely offers big surprises in the ranking and riders who dominated the first two rounds of the competition are usually also the winners in the Kur. It was no different for Jessica and Dalera who scored a winning 90.820%. All five judges (Eduard de Wolff van Westerrode, Isobel Wessels, Ulrike Nivelle, Raphaël Saleh, Kurt Christensen) ranked her first. 

“I was very emotional, as everyone could see,” Werndl said at the press conference. “It is because of this incredible mare. She leaves her heart in there for me.  It is the arena that affects me, it such a pleasure to perform there and she always listens to me. Yesterday I had big mistakes because I made the wrong decisions, today I didn’t take any wrong decisions so we had no mistakes, because she just listens to me.” Once again her eyes welled up with tears. “I just wanted to add that it has always been my childhood dream to be on the winners’ board.“ 

Werndl concluded a highly charged week in Aachen with the Aachen Grand Champion's title, which was immediately engraved on the Wall of Fame near the show jumping stadium.

Blue Hors Zepter Wields the Axe of Power

Critical voices believed that Danish duo Nanna Skodborg Merrald and Blue Horse Zepter (by Zack x Wolkentanz II) should have won the Special, but instead they were third. They climbed the ladder to second place in the freestyle and showed that they are definitely a pair to watch for Riesenbeck as a new king in town could wield the scepter.  

Riding to Andrea Bocelli's Con Te Partiro, the tall 15-year old chestnut produced superb piaffe-passage work, with a true piaffe sitting behind and lifting in front. Beautiful half passes were ridden, correct walk work, and a difficult line of pirouettes and canter half passes. Merrald rode with a lot of concentration and gave a very balanced image . If only she would loosen that curb rein a bit and let the horse does the work on its own, will there be even more room for higher scores on the board. They received 88.415% and finished second. She ranked between second and fourth place with the five judges. 

"He has a big heart and always want to fight for you," Merrald said. "That is what makes him so special. I now just have to figure out how much I can ask of him and what is too much. I actually found some new buttons here in Aachen. No, I don’t think we have reached the limit in his potential yet.“

Exceptional Piloting Skills

Former double Olympic champion Charlotte Dujardin has proven time and again that she is no one-hit-wonder. After Valegro she rode Mount St. John Freestyle to WEG bronze and Gio to Olympic bronze. Now she has Carl Hester and Coral Ingham's 10-year old KWPN gelding Imhotep (by Everdale x Vivaldi) as her next medal magnet. 

In Aachen she rode him to Valegro's "How to Train Your Dragon" music from Rio but promised that the liver chestnut would get his own customized tunes for Riesenbeck. The pair delivered a very fluent trot - piaffe/passage tour in which the rhythm was outstanding, but the engagement from behind in passage could be better. The collected walk was short and a bit tense, but the extended walk was much better although the nose could come out more. This should also be more the silhouette in canter as he got slightly strong in the contact in the tempi changes and extension. The double pirouettes were small and the one tempi changes to the right seemed shorter behind, but overall it was the flow of the test which was very convincing. They finished on a very difficult piaffe fan which looked slightly unco-ordinated but the quality was there and just needs a bit more nurturing. Let's see in two months. 

“Pete is a very young, inexperienced horse, so I am delighted with the result. But there is more to come," Dujardin stated. As a youngster "Pete" was so wild that Dujardin and her trainer Carl Hester decided it would be best for him to live out 24 hours a day. “He bucked everyone off,” said Charlotte, confirming that he still lives out in the field round the clock together with a friend.

Like Father, Like Son

While Imhotep was third, sire Everdale finished fourth. Petite Charlotte "Lottie" Fry is the master at taming dragons. She often rides temperamental, testosterone fuelled stallions but with her number one in the barn, World Champion Glamourdale, she seems to have a special rapport. It all looks easy and in unison. With some of her other boys from Van Olst stable, she needs a firm hand to control their power and energy. This is the case with 14-year old Everdale (by Lord Leatherdale x Negro) who is consistently tight in the neck and has the nose behind the vertical, even though he appears less argumentative and more established in the work this year.

Fry seems to have very similar sounding freestyles in her drawer as Everdale's one is the default version I remember her riding to all the time. As Everdale was her team ride for the Olympics and European Championships in 2021, it has done its job at several CDI's and Championships. The music is based on Kygo's Higher Love and Rihanna's Diamonds and the tunes are super catchy and fun. The trot half passes were a highlight as well as the tempi changes. The extended walk was good, but the collected hurried. In the piaffe he got a bit wide in front and once backstepped a bit. The pair scored 87.515% for fourth place. Interesting the spectator judging had them only at 82%.

Fry is on form, no doubt. The apex of the season is going to be the confrontation between Dalera and Glamourdale in Riesenbeck and now with Zepter and Imhotep thrown in the mix and Sönke Rothenberger's Fendi who could surprise, there will be a handful of horses competing for the medals in September. 

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

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