Kikkert-Van der Linde, Van Dalsen, Schelstraete, Luiten, Van Liere Win 2024 Dutch Dressage Championships

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2024 Dutch Dressage Championships

Children rider Britt Kikkert-van der Linde, junior rider Dominique van Dalsen; young rider Micky Schelstraete, Under 25 rider Marten Luiten, small tour rider Diederik van Silfhout, and senior Grand Prix rider Dinja van Liere won their respective divisions and title at the 2024 Dutch Dressage Championships in Ermelo, The Netherlands, on 22 - 26 May 2024.

The entire, extended weekend weather conditions were volatile going from lovely spring sunshine to torrential downpours of rain.

Seniors Big Tour: Van Liere Supreme

The Dutch Grand Prix Championship served as first Olympic team qualifier and observation event and this brought afoot Holland's best without exception. A few horses were pulled out of the race (Desperado, Electra, Invictus) and Kirsten Brouwer's come-back with Foundation RR after a one year break due to injury did not go as planned as the stallion was behind the aids and pulled the tongue over the bit in the Special. The rest of Holland's creme de la creme battled it out in an exciting competition over two rounds, the Grand Prix Special and the Kur.

The gold medal went to a consistently performing Dinja van Liere on Joop van Uytert and Jan Anker's 12-year old KWPN stallion Hermes (by Easy Game x Flemmingh). The bay is not always as secure and reliable in the arena, but in Ermelo he brought his A-game and led Van Liere to her second national title in two years (first one in 2022) with two winning rounds, earning 76.851% and 87.000%. Take note, the Grand Prix championship was judged by an all-Dutch panel of five judges, who were generously awarding some of their stars, particularly in the freestyle.

In their freestyle Van Liere and Hermes showed lightfooted passage with good transitions in and out of the piaffes. Some degree of technical difficulty was inserted in the line of trot half passes; passage half passes, followed by a piaffe turn and then back into half passes. The trot half pass left could have been more even, some of the trot extensions were quick and running, but there was a clear collectd walk, and very nice extended walk. The extended canter right was better than left one. The stallion got a bit sour and croup high in the canter extension when being collected back at the end of the line. The tempi changes were correct although one one-tempi change seemed shorter behind. In the piaffe pirouette at end, he pulled the right hock higher and the final halt was abrupt, ahead of her music.

Emmelie Scholtens and Ad Valk's 11-year old KWPN stallion Indian Rock (by Apache x Vivaldi) finished with the silver medal after placing third in the Grand Prix Special (74.532%) and second in the freestyle (83.840%). The gorgeous, chunky stallion with massive neck is very willing to follow his rider's aids and a lovely horse to watch although at times he drops in the poll and has the third vertebrae as highest point. The contact was always light and supple, but the stallion clearly bends better to the left than right. In the corners he was flexed to the left at times. The halt at entry was not immobile (6.9), but the half passes were floaty. Indian Rock shows lots of sit in the piaffe, but in the turns he gets a bit unbalanced. The passage was very expressive but at times a bit hectic. The tempi changes are a hurdle for him and could be more uphull, but he did not make mistakes. They rode to the Formula 1 theme track.

The bronze went to Marlies van Baalen aboard her 12-year old home bred KWPN gelding Habibi DVB (by Don Schufro x Johnson). The pair was second in the Special (75.255%) and fourth in the freestyle (80.390%). The pair was on best form in Ermelo and truly showed to be riding for that Olympic team spot. The large framed chestnut and Van Baalen showed more harmony than some of the other top five placed pair but Habibi's poor walk really affects the score, although the judges were very generous for it in the freestyle with 6.4 for the extended walk and 6.1 for the collected walk. As underwhelming as the walk was, as beautiful was Marlies' music. She rode to very fitting, etherial music that underlined her partnership with her home bred horse. The tunes were made by harpist Remy van Kesteren and singer and pianist Karsu, all arranged into a freestyle by Joost Peters. A mistake in the two tempi changes kept their freestyle score from not cracking the 81%.

Hans Peter Minderhoud and Edward Gal, the two men who dictated Dutch dressage in the late 2000s and 2010s alongside Adelinde Cornelissen, now are racing to catch up with the ladies. Minderhoud was smart to start his competition path with the 13-year old Hanoverian stallion Toto Jr (by Totilas x Desperados) one CDI earlier than partner Edward Gal on the 12-year old Hanoverian Total US (by Totilas x Sir Donnerhall). Minderhoud and Toto Jr did Tolbert and Exloo and have their MER scores in order, while Gal is gambling it all on the last possible show, CDIO Rotterdam, to achieve his second mandatory MER score. If things go south for Total US in the Grand Prix he won't even be eligible for team selection.

Minderhoud has a very talented mover in Toto Jr with an outstanding extended and collected walk. His freestyle music was cool and not too overpowering but it had a rather simple floorplan. The pair showed nice, elastic trot half passes. The trot extensions were mediocre, the horse being held in front and little overtrack achieved (6.9), but the left double pirouette was small, the one tempi changes nice, the two's ok. He gaped in the canter half pass right and overall the horse was fussy in the mouth and busy with his tail. There was good engagement in the canter extension. He lost the final passage a bit before the end halt. They were 7th in the Grand Prix Special (73.191%) and moved into third position in the Kur (81.110%) to land fourth overall

Edward Gal and Total U.S. made their show come back after an almost three year break at the CDI Exloo, where they immediately re-earned the favour of a cheerful home crowd as well as the judges, albeit with scores almost 4% lower than what they were getting in 2021. At the Nationals the pair finished fourth in the Grand Prix Special with 74.489% and in the freestyle they got 79.415% to land fifth place, which put them overall in fifth place in the Championships.

Gal rode to Totilas' music - again (!) - a freestyle now almost 15 years old, which makes one wonder why this fabulous horse doesn't merit its own composition. Both in the Special and Kur Total U.S. did not come across as very established in the Grand Prix work for his age (12). There is no doubt that the horse is an impressive appearance and his unlimited freedom in the shoulder catches the eye, but he looked very green and rather overwhelmed in Ermelo. The horse did not show the required self carriage and was consistently bopping his head like a rocking horse, even more so in canter. The trot extensions showed front legs flying, but a hollow back and not enough overtrack. The trot half passes, on the other hand, were scopey with lots of crossing and reach. The ones to the right were the best ones. In passage the horse has tons of lift in the legs and pulls them up very high, but at times he got uneven and needed the full support of his rider who often shook his hands while half halting. The extended walk had huge overtrack, but Total takes peacocky steps in front. In the piaffe he stays on the spot and picks up his feet, but leans on the shoulders. The lack of competition routine showed and particularly in canter he often lost the 3-beat rhythm. The tempi changes all worked out, but were laboured. The final transition down to trot/passage needed a few tries and by the end of the test Edward was blowing his cheeks, confirming the impression viewers had: this was not an easy, effortless ride. Let's see if they can find more harmony and ease in Rotterdam to coax the judges into higher scores and convince the selectors to give him a coveted spot on the Dutch Olympic team for which Gal ended his sabbatical.

Youth: Kikkert-Van der Linde, Van Dalsen, Schelstraete, Luiten

For the Dutch youth riders the Nationals were an important observation trial for team selection for the 2024 European Youth Championships in July in St. Margarethen (AUT) and Opglabbeek (BEL).

In the Children division the title went to Britt Kikkert-Van der Linde aboard the 10-year old KWPN bred Jerenzo Texel (by Enzo Ferrari x Jazz). The pair reigned supreme, winning both rounds with 79.925% and 77.047%

At junior level Dominique van Dalsen made a surprise push for power and climbed to the top of the board with her 10-year old KWPN bred Just Johnson Foret (by Johnson x Florencio). After a second place in round one (71.364%), they won the Kur with 76.792% and had the highest total for the title.

At Young Riders level Micky Schelstraete rode new horse Venecia OLD, an 8-year old Oldenburg mare by Vivaldi x Don Frederico owned by Carol Hweijan Lee, to victory. She won the first round with 71.412% and the freestyle with a personal best of 76.392%.

In the Under 25 division Marten Luiten reclaimed the title aboard Willeke Bos' 14-year old KWPN mare Fynona (by Ampere x Gribaldi). He also scored a double victory in the two rounds with 71.667% and 79.817%. This is Luiten's fifth national title aboard Fynona. He already won in 2019, 2021, 2022, and 2023.

More Champions

In the small tour the national title went to Diederik van Silfhout aboard the KWPN breeding stallion Las Vegas (by Ferdeaux), while Grade IV rider Demi Haerkens scored the gold medal in the Dutch para dressage championship aboard Daula.

Show Results
Scores: 2024 Dutch Dressage Championships