2004 World Championships for Young Dressage Horses

Bittersweet Fourth Place for Baroncelli

July 14, 2004

Finishing fourth must be Susan Draper's World Championships' curse. At the 2003 Championships, Draper and the gorgeous Baroncelli finished fourth in the 5-year old finals with 8.5. This year it looked like she could grab the title, but placed fourth once again.

Strikingly, the signs for victory were there. In the first round, Draper presented the Hanoverian licensed stallion by Bergamon x Matcho AA with great finesse. The dark bay stallion was correctly ridden and showed three decent basic gaits. They won the class with 8.88, but felt the breeze of Fazzino in their neck. The only thing that was missing in their qualifier ride was some real electric power behind, but we all hoped that Draper would get an electric shock in the Finals and push her horse to its potential.

Unfortunately this was not the case on Sunday. The elegant Baroncelli didn't look as dynamic and elastic as on the first day of competition. The extended canter was not enough engaged, and the judges voiced this opinion in their final comment. "Baroncelli has a loose flowing trot but could show more engagement. His canter is uphill but can show more frame opening. In the traversal movements he lost his balance a bit," the judges said. 8.66 and a fourth place was the bittersweet verdict.

Text and photo copyrighted Astrid Appels/Eurodressage - No reproduction allowed!

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