The 2009 CDIO Aachen kicked off with the Prix St Georges which was won by Brigitte Wittig on Christian Heinrich's Hanoverian mare Blind Date (by Breitling x Donnerhall). This chunky liver chestnut mare scored 73.474% for a virtually faultfree ride. Her strong point were the fantastic, ground covering flying changes. The mare was expressive especially in the canter. The trot was ridden quite conservatively but the movements were executed correctly. She could have had more crossing of her legs in the half passes, especially the right one.
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Hans Peter Minderhoud and Team Nijhof's Westfalian licensed stallion Florencio (by Florestan) were strong contenders for the trophy. The dark bay stallion, who was the double World Young Horse Champion, was phenomenal in trot. Super smooth, light in the hand, energetic and forward. The canter pirouettes had improved tremendously since their last performance in Rotterdam but the flying changes could have been straighter in the body as "Floris" tends to swing the hind quarters from left to right while changing. The duo deservedly placed second with 72.105 % |
In 2007, Matthias Alexander Rath had won the Intermediaire I at Aachen. This year he campaigned the Hanoverian bred Weltmeyer offspring again in the small tour to take third place in the Prix St Georges posting a score of 71.789%. Rath showed Weltmeyer Junior in a flowing trot which could have been a bit more electric. The gelding was always soft in the hand and excelled in the left canter pirouette and in the collected walk, in which he kept a clear rhythm. |
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German Hendrik Lochthowe showed Harli Seifert's Oldenburg licensed stallion Rubin Cortes (by Rubin Royal x Calmiro) to a fifth place. The duo is trained in Switzerland by Silvia Ikle and shows much promise due to the horse's high quality basic gaits. |
Carl Hester on Sarah Tyler-Evans' T Movistar. |
What a hindleg!! Anne van Olst's Dutch warmblood Taikoen (by Negro) has a super charged engine behind! |
Italian former European Young Rider champion Valentina Truppa presenting the Italian bred Eremo del Castegno (by Rohdiamant) |
Helen Langehanenberg rides quite a few horses for Austrian Dressage Task Force Member Sissy Max-Theurer. One of them is the Bundeschampion Furst Khevenhuller (by Florestan). Super soft in the hand at all times, though very playful with his bit, Furst Khevenhuller had a super trot tour but made a mistake in the tempi's every three strides. |
Belgian Sophie Baetens-Van Lent on the Dutch bred Rubens (by Rubinstein x Nimmerdor) is waving to the crowds after she finished her ride. |
Danish Andreas Helgstrand on Berit Nielsen's Danish bred medal winning mare Polka Hit Nexen (by Sandro Hit x Tempelwind xx). There is so much in store for this combination but they are still not tuned into each other and Polka Hit looks green at PSG. |
Local favourite Johannes Rüben on Wallenstein |
Snap Shots |
Anky van Grunsven with her children and the nanny watching the warm up. |
Ingrid Klimke riding Damon Hill without stirrups |
Kyra Kyrklund, Jeroen Devroe, Richard Davison and Wayne Channon have a chat |
That's the way to watch the Aachen competition. Headphone to hear the commentary and double glasses to make sure everything is seen in detail! |
Grand Prix |
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The nations' cup Grand Prix in Aachen has been split into two groups. Group one was to go today and none of the riders were able to stay faultfree. The best scoring pair was Heike Kemmer on Betina Fink's Hanoverian gelding Bonaparte (by Bon Bonaparte). Kemmer started her test with super extended trots and half passes, but the rein back was a bit hesitant. The piaffe and passage were all smooth with Bonaparte piaffing well on the spot this time. A big mistake in the one tempi's and a short pirouette right made the score drop considerably. They won the test with 70.723%. |
Andreas Helgstrand and Mr Vagner's Holsteiner stallion Tannenhof's Carabas (by Carnaby) placed third. The judges were not unanimous about the Dane's ride as Gribbons scored it a 66.596% and Lette a 72.766%. The stallion has a phenomenal passage and piaffe, but he fails to keep the rhythm mainly in the piaffe and the transitions to passage. The dark bay stallion has a super trot with phenomenal extensions, but he was rushed through the corners in the collected trot in order not to loose his expression. Carabas regularly has his mouth wide open in the movements despite the fact that he shows world class potential in the execution of many of them. The highlight of the test was the zig zag. Helgstrand's total score was 69.064%. |
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Dutch Marlies van Baalen on her mother's Dutch bred Ojay (by Jazz). They finished fourth with 68.426% but got 64.894% from Judet and 71.702% from Lette. Yowsa! The powerful black gelding can be very strong for Marlies but today she had him attentive to the aids and responsive. |
Always a favourite of the public. Christian Pläge, a Dane turned Swiss, on the 17-year old Regent (by Resident). This horse has the most exemplary halt and can stand immobile like a statue. |
Fiona Bigwood and Wie Atlantico getting acquainted to each other at the shows. The horse knows all the Grand Prix movements but seems to lack some show routine under Bigwood. They are definitely a pair to watch in the future. A mistake in the two tempi's pushed their score down today: 65.872% and an 8th place. |
38-year old Dutchman Sander Marijnissen and Moedwill (by Goodwill) made their debut on the Dutch team two weeks ago at the CDIO Rotterdam. They were also selected for Aachen and finished ninth with 65.702%. |
Danish Mikala Munter Gundersen and Anne Spark's Zweibrucken licensed stallion Leonberg (by Lonely Boy). They showed good trot, piaffe and passage work but lost it a bit in the canter tour. The judges' verdict: 63.915% |
Isabell Werth's super talented student Hayley Beresford aboard the Eduard Fischer's Lusitano stallion Relampago do Retiro. They were trained at the show by Werth's coach Wolfram Wittig |
Fanny Verliefden on Rubel (by Rubinstein). This very green Grand Prix pair has much potential. The stallion tends to push himself high in the neck to avoid effective back usage, but at the times Verliefden has him through the back, she's able to score! The zig zag and final piaffe-passage were a good display of what these two can do! |
Australian Lyndal Oatley should have scored higher. There still were glitches in her test but the judges marked her quite conservatively. Oatley's mount Potifar is a Dutch gelding by Jazz. He looks a bit numb in the mouth but he definitely has his highlights. He can do a lovely piaffe and passage. |
| The big disturbing scoop of the day in Aachen was the fact that the Rhinelander youth team was asked not to wear its official outfit!! The youth riders who fetch finished protocols from the judges' cabins, collect manure from the arena and help out on the show grounds in general are the Jugend Team (JuTe) Rheinland and their clothes are sponsored by Isabell Werth. Their rain coats state "Powered by Isabell Werth". Apparently to sources VERY close to Werth, the Aachen organization kindly asked the Rhinelander youth team not to wear an outfit which has Isabell Werth's name embroidered on. OF COURSE they protested and refused this request. The Rhinelander youth team will be wearing their Isabell Werth jackets if they see fit! Good job girls! |
It was hot at Aachen today, very hot. The first heat wave of the year has arrived in Western Europe and fortunately it will only last till Friday. The weather forecast has predicted cooler temperatures on Saturday with the thermometer dropping from 30°C to 25°C. I love the heat but hate being hot, so I decided to wear flip flops. I was probably the only one on the show grounds as I saw everyone wearing summer loafers instead but at least I felt comfortable the entire day. With Mary Phelps and JJ Hathaway of Dressagedaily.com as my guest, we were very much looking forward to Aachen this year and the highlight of the show is the head-to-head between Steffen Peters and Anky van Grunsven. The second duel since the 2008 Olympic Games in Hong Kong. 
