Photographers among each other agree, Renaissance 23, is one of the most photogenic horses in the international dressage circuit. The Westphalian black mare by Ramiro's Son out of a Pik Bube I dam has such a nice facial expression and is always fronting her ears. After every performances Renaissance's veins pops up all over her body showing her effort put into a good day's work. In the Special the mare maintained to be attentive to her rider's aids throughout the test resulting in an almost flawless ride which was honoured with a 68.51%. 

Following her very closely was the American Christine Traurig of whom much is expected by her trainer Johan Hinnemann. "Christine knows everything, but now she has to learn to ride," Hinnemann stated in the Dutch magazine Hoefslag. Traurig is not afraid to take a risk and her test showed especially a nice set of piaffe-passage reprises. Etienne missed a change in his tempi's every single stride, which made him lose first position like in the Grand Prix .

Image copyrighted Phelps Photos - taken by Astrid Appels
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