Trainer Isabell Werth and student William Matthew swapped top places in the two Louisdor Cup classes held at the series' kick-off event at Horses & Dreams in Hagen, Germany on 21 - 23 April 2023.
Nursery
The Louisdor Cup is a German show circuit for Developing Grand Prix Horses, open to riders from all nations but with a German FN licence. It is considered the "nursery" of future (German) international Grand Prix horses as previous winners such as Weihegold, Total Hope, Dalera TSF, Diva Royal, El Santo, Dablino all made it to major championships after their victory.
Traditionally the first qualifier of the year takes place in Hagen and the largest field of horses usually gets presented there, but this year in Hagen the group was rather modest with 15 starters. Most likely more horses will be presented at the next qualifiers later in spring and summer.
Student - Master
Isabell Werth and her student and employer William Matthew ruled the roost in Hagen.
Werth, who had been flying with a private jet between the 100,000 prize money begifted CDI 5* Fontaineablue (FRA) and Hagen (GER), won "qualifier for the final qualifier" on Friday late afternoon aboard Thomas and Lisa Müller's Chuck Bass (by Cennin x Rosentau) while student William Matthew was second aboard Madeleine Winter-Schulze's Freischütz (by Foundation x Del Martino).
On Sunday, their places were swapped with Matthew taking the victory in the Short Grand Prix and Werth ranking second with Chuck Bass. Both have now qualified their horses for the 2023 Louisdor Cup Finals in Frankfurt in December.
Mumbling and Grumbling
So what happened? The 9-year old black Westfalian Chuck Bass is certainly a gifted mover and a talent for the future, but the dressage test was more a "training round" than a polished test and it looked like quite a "workout." The horse ground its teeth and there was a lot of "debate" going on in the corners before each movement. The horse has a lot of flash in front, but in the extensions there needed to be more overtrack. The extended walk was (close to) lateral. Both the piaffe and passage have plenty of potential for the future but he still sways in the hindquarters, which was visible in the final centerline. The highlights of the test were the extended canter with flying change, the small left pirouette, and uphill left extended canter. The horse dropped out of the canter before the two tempi changes and there was a mistake in the one tempi's.
as trainer AND groom for Matthew's Freischutz
Aboard Akiko Yonemoto's Deneuve (by Den Haag x Rocket Star), Werth presented a much nicer silhouette with a chestnut mare trying her best. The quality of her basic gaits is maybe less compared to Chuck Bass but the mare showed more willingness and rideability in the Inter II. She ended up fifth with 70.895%
Harmony
A totally different picture was painted by Australian William Matthew aboard Madeleine Winter-Schulze's 10-year old Oldenburg gelding Freischutz. The dark bay showed very good intent in the first piaffe, but in passage the hindlegs need to reach more under the body. The extended walk had two hooves overtrack but could be more marching. The pirouettes were well ridden, the extended canter and flying change were well executed and the tempi changes worked out. Only in the half passes, the horse did not show proper bending and there was a bobble in the downward transition fro canter to trot. the final centerline was nice, although the final halt lacked some finish.
The overall picture was much more pleasant and the score of 71.368% put them second in the Intermediaire II. On Sunday the pair won the class.
Matthew arrived in Europe in 2011working with Lusitano horses for Kate Mably in Cornwall, U.K, Then he started as a groom for Hayley Beresford before shifting his focus more on riding. He worked for Warwick McLean for five years, then Leida Collins-Strijk before landing a job with the Hödl family under Beatrice Buchwald. This opened the door to Isabell Werth.
Sunshine
Blomgren, who rents boxes at Monica Theodorescu's old base Gestüt Lindenhof in Fürchtorf, is rarely seen atcompetitions with her last being on Torveslettens Quattro (by Quaterback x Stedingern) in 2017. She returned to the arena with Sunshine and the ring rust showed as she entered the centerline after the 45 second time limit. The mare showed a very nice piaffe but could have been more closed in the frame in passage with the hindlegs tucked more under. The extended walk had plenty of overtrack, the collected was quite short. There was an issue in the one tempi changes but the canter half passes were well ridden.
In the Intermediaire II they were third with 71.210%.
- 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 ! - Eurodressage took photos of (almost) all competitors. If you are interested in photos for social media use, send us an email.
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