Christopher Hector reports from the world’s greatest horse show…
There wasn’t a great deal to enthuse about in the first groups of horses. It is a worrying situation for dressage that the gap between the top five or six and the rest seems to get wider, by way of contrast with the jumping arena where the situation is reversed, almost any horse can win out of a huge field at a major show like Aachen… Of course you can take a cynical view, one leading German dressage trainer posed the question: What is the difference between a dressage judge and a jumping judge? The jumping judge doesn’t know the winner before the class starts…
Dalera – first to star
But I don’t really think it is that, it is just that the top horses are on another level all of their own. Really the only one to shine from the early rides was Jessica von Bredow-Werndl’s TSF Dalera BB. The Trakehner mare is big, tall and scopey, a million miles from the historic image of the dinky Treekies, with their super cute heads and miniscule movement. Delara’s passage was truly wonderful and well deserved the 8.2, the mare is just so honestly on the aids, and it is no surprise that they scored high on all the transitions. There was an 8 for a breath-taking big canter, and if we ignore the tail swishing on the ones, they were fine, but we shouldn’t. Super correct canter pirouettes and an exquisite final centre line, 8.4 for the piaffe, 8.6 for the transition. Score 79% and the mare walks out as cool as… They will finish 4th.
Alas I missed Cathrine Dufour and Bohemian, but watchers with eyes I respect tell me the test was lovely, 78.413 to finish in 5th.
Now I was always taught that the magpie hop in the passage, where the horse doesn’t really step forward but moves a hoof out and then takes it back again, was a major fault, but it didn’t stop Steffen Peters’ Suppenkasper scoring 8 for passage. Go figure. It is a very handsome horse but it was just a test. 75.848 (9th)
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Dorothee is riding at a new level – it really was Showtime
Dorothee Schneider is a rider who has risen to another level, and she had Showtime in such a great outline, they really own the arena, and the scores keep coming: extended trot – 8.2, passage – 8.6, 8.5, 9.1. The piaffe lets them down a bit, but there is an 8.2 for a fab extended canter, 8.9 for a pirouette left, 8.5 for extended trot and then a superlative centre line: piaffe – 8.2, transition – 8.4, passage – 9.3 for an 80.609 for 2nd.
Charlotte and Erlentanz
Everyone’s darling, Charlotte Dujardin is out on her ‘catch’ ride, Erlentanz. The horse is very nice, but Valegro he aint. Charlotte is riding quieter than her final appearance with Freestyle at the WEG but there is still a bit of a backwards lean in the extended trot, and a fair degree of tail swishing in the passage and piaffe. In the end, it is a nice accurate test but it takes more than that to win in Aachen, even with a few bonus marks because we are all happy to see her back… 79.152 and 3rd.
Daniel and Don Olymbrio
Daniel Bachmann Andersen is a simply brilliant rider and Don Olymbrio is cute as. It is a beautiful controlled seamless test, the stallion just ran out of gas towards the end. 78.348 for 6th.
Adrianne and Salvino
I love Adrianne Lyle’s riding but today with Salvino is just lacking that extra something. Nice but you need better than nice on these hallowed grounds. 76.87 for 8th.
Now the moment the huge German crowd has been waiting for, Isabell Werth and the mighty Bella Rose. They score an 8 on entry and are away in a show of effortless power. Okay she loses on the extended trot scores and the walk and a mistake in the ones pulls a 4.2, but the passage scores are ranging from 8.6 to 9.1, there’s a couple of 9.3s for piaffe. The final centre line is sensational, passage – 9.3, piaffe – 9.9 and a 10 for the transition. It has been a truly great test, 82.783, and I guess there will be a few punters pondering would Bella have beaten Cosmo?, over a glass of schnapps as the night winds down. What a day.
If you would like to join me at Aachen next year, find out about our Aachen + tour here
Would you like to breed to Bella Rose’s sire in Australia? Or another ‘B’ line horse? You can, go to www.ihb.com.au and see the range of top European bloodlines. Bellissimo is the current Hanoverian Horse of the Year.
