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2000
World Championships for Young Dressage Horses
Snap shots of Qualifier II, The Six Year Olds
6 year olds, solid performers for the future
 The
day was poised to be one full of excitement dampened
by a freezing temperature. I was just able to catch
a few rides in the second qualifier for six year old
dressage horses. I caught up with the second ride in
the division. Belgian Geert van der Borght had a rather
disappointing ride yesterday. Although he and his mare
Rosantica made some tiny mistakes in their test, the
gave a more the decent overall impression. The horse
was expressive, showed ground covering gaits but could
have been a little more collected in his extensions.
In her first test Rosantica had difficulties with the
flying changes, but which six year old hasn't? Today
Rosantica was much better and the only thing one could
pick at were the extensions which were a little 'run'.
The judges' panel gave Rosantica and Van der Borght
a 7.3, a nice score that deserved to be at least 0.2
points higher
Other six year olds which caught my attention were
for instance Roosevelt, a Belgian warmblood gelding
by Ferro x Lys de Darmen ridden by Verena Burger-Gielen.
Roosevelt is a very
successful horse in Belgium thanks to his solid overall
performances in the Belgian young dressage horse circuit.
But in Arnhem, at a World Championship, Roosevelt disappointed
a little. The black has a very good walk but the canter
could have shown more carriage of the weight on the
hindquarters and Roosevelt's lateral movements in trot
needed more bending and activity.
Belgian pair Verwimp and Practie Comfort Melvin (KWPN,
by Flemmingh x Amor) equalled their performance of the
day before. The 7.1 awarded test had much rhythm but
the trot could have been more engaged. Melvin was sometimes
overbend in the neck which eventually lead to flying
changes which weren't jumped but pushed from one lead
into the other. Nevertheless Melvin makes a nice dressage
horse and can still grow into a fine Prix St Georges
horse
 One
really fine impression did Du Little Z give. Rider Alfons
Friedberger rode his
little Hanoverian to a 8.10 score. Du Little Z flexed
his joints very well and therefore showed much engagement,
rhythm and suppleness. Friedberger could have held
his hands more steady. Du Little Z's frame didn't open
enough in the extended canter and was not always straight
in the neck or in his whole body in the flying changes.
Still, the Donnerhall descendant is a real athlete and
a lovely talented horse overall.
Tipped by experts to be a talent for the future was
the 6 year old KWPN mare Miss Saigon, presented by Laurine
Brucher. Miss Saigon,
a Havidoff x Sultan get, has an elegant conformation
but her back could have been longer. The mare was not
always straight in her body and the rider should have
collected her more, especially
in the extended walk which was nice but needed more
balance. The flying changes were a bit 'mediocre' and
the fourth one was late behind. Brucher has a good horse
in Miss Saigon but, although the moving mechanism has
potential , I believe her short back will eventually
be an obstacle.
In general the whole group of six year olds reveals
a collection of good to very good movers with enough
talent to become upper level dressage horses. However,
the 2000 edition of the World Championships for Young
Dressage Horses was unable to present a real "wower"
like it was
done last year with Sandro Hit.
Related Link
Scores:
Qualifier 2: 6 year olds
Geert
van der Borght and Rosantica
Image Rosantica copyrighted Phelps
Photo - taken by Astrid Appels
Image Du Little Z copyrighted Dirk
Caremans
No Reproduction without permission
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