For French Grand Prix rider Constance Menard-Laboute the 2005 Sunshine Tour CDI must have meant her international break through. Riding Lianca, a Gelderland bred mare by Tourist x Oran
, Laboute claimed fame by winning the Grand Prix Special with 67.720%.
Laboute and Lianca rode an outstanding piaffe and passage tour, which are the combination's trademark. The quality of Lianca's piaffe and passage is international caliber and can make the mare contend with the best dressage horses in the world. At the Sunshine Tour, the pair's score for the Special halted at 67.720% because of two main problems: the pirouettes, in which the horse is unable to really sit and turn, and the flying changes every single stride, which are too short and too much up in the air.
Nevertheless, Laboute's victory in the Special was a dream come true for her. The French rider was over the moon with her win and did not hide her excitement. During the award ceremony, her huge group of fans sang the French national anthem as the organization did not have a CD with the Marseillaise on it. It was a very emotional and exhilarating experience to hear the French anthem a cappella.
In the Kur to Music, Laboute rode a freestyle based on a wide variety of musical themes. The piaffe and passage were ridden on very bombastic tones suiting the horse, but the extended trot was performed to "Flight of the Bumble Bee," making the movement look too choppy and quick. The walk was executed on a very spacey theme, the canter work was done on music from the opera Carmen. The pirouettes showed slight improvement, but the single tempi's still lacked ground covering. Her kur score of 71.500% put them in second place.
"My mare was tired, but she didn't make any mistake," Laboute told French equestrian magazine L'Eperon. "I'm now giving her a 36 hour break before returning home. We have done seven Grand Prixs in three week-ends. At home she'll get a break before picking up work again for the CDIO Saumur."
All judges were thrilled to see this "different" kind of dressage horse in the ring. Lianca is Gelderland bred and descends from a cart horse bloodline. Judge Mariette Withages labeled Lianca as "a phenomenon" and praised the horse for its "impressive energy in the piaffe and passage." Uwe Mechlem is convinced that Lianca will stand at chance against the top warmbloods at the really big shows, such as Wiesbaden and Aachen.
Constance was very thankful to her trainer Michel Autram who drove by car from France every single weekend doing an 11-hour journey back and forth to support and help his student.
Laboute has marked the CDI's in Saumur, Lipica and Barzago on her calendar. Her goal is, of course, capturing a place on the French Dressage Team for the 2005 European Championships in Moscow.
"Everything will be decided last minute," Laboute told L'Eperon. "The four riders in the best shape will go to the Championships. My priority is doing the best Grand Prix I can in order to qualify for the Special. We have to focus on being to qualify two or three team riders for the Special. At the moment, Karen [Tebar] is scoring 70%, Odile [van Doorn] is going strong and Julia [Chevanne-Gimel] is making her come back soon, so we'll see..."
Canadian Christilot Boylen withdrew her Lucky Lemon for the Special and Freestyle and opted to ride her second horse Gachino in the Kur.
Aboard this black gelding, Boylen dazzled in the trot tour with Kodo music (Japanese drums). Gachino is a very refined horse with a beautiful face and graceful movements and his trot tour was refreshing. Gachino has a lovely passage, but does not sit in the piaffe and becomes very peggy. The tempi changes were nice, but the extended canter could have been more uphill. They got 70.326% and ranked third.
Text and Photos copyrighted Astrid Appels/Eurodressage - No reproduction allowed without permission
