Story – Christopher Hector
Photos – K-H Frieler
Benjamin Werndl and Famoso get their act together – and how!
Before we get on to the Burg-Pokal final permit me have with a little moment of self-indulgence from the Grand Prix Special results today – did someone say, doesn’t he always?
Yesterday I wrote after the Grand Prix that Benjamin Werndl and Famos were oh so close to putting it altogether without the little glitches, and when they did, watch out. Well they did just that in the Special and blitzed the field to finish first on a score of 76.617 in front of Ingrid Klimke and Franziskus on 76.128.
Jil-Marielle and Damon’s Satelite – now they see her!
But I am rather prouder of my comment that the pair that were badly underscored in the Grand Prix were Jil-Marielle Becks and Damon’s Satelite. I guess the ground jury had been studying THMdigital overnight (please note American readers that is meant to be a joke) because today they saw her, and young Jil-Marielle lead the field until her Satelite ran a bit out of puff in the last quarter of the test and they slipped to third on a score of 74.809, but hey, sandwiched between Ingrid Klimke and Hubertus Schmidt and Escolar!
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Now on to the Nürnberger Burg-Pokal Final
Lena and Cadeau Noir
Another brilliant young rider, Lena Waldmann, paid the penalty of having two in the Final so she was first out on Cadeau Noir and last out on Morricone. Cadeau Noir is such a glorious horse and Lena shows him in such great style, they flow effortlessly through the test, and at the end, Lena just drops the reins and the horse is totally relaxed in what must be one of the horse scariest arenas in the universe. It happened with pretty well every horse in the final, finish the test drop the rein, you have got to say that the German breeders have nailed the temperament gene, the modern dressage horse is as calm as it is extravagant in its movement. Cadeau Noir will finish the final in third place on 75.537.
Kira and Bonita Springs
The next horse to really shine is Bonita Springs ridden by the wonderful Kira Wulferding. The trot is just so correct, so engaged, the angles like they are in the text book and the mare is so on Kira’s aids. It takes something special to make the walk demi-pirouettes spine tingling but they do just that. Lovely rhythmic canter half pirouettes, what a test, the frame so perfect, so soft to the ground, the contact so elastic and sweet. They score 78.512, will it be enough to take the prize?
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Hubertus and Denoix
Hubertus Schmidt has problems getting the test started, trotting down the long side, just about the E judge, Denoix PCH manages to hook up the arena fence and drag a few panels into the arena. The poor penciller tries to get it straight – come on guys give her a hand – and twice suggests that the test might go on, but there’s more than a few of us, making rude noises, and finally Dietrich Plewa comes out of the C box and makes sure the line is straight before the test proceeds. As usual with Hubertus, the curb rein hangs loose, the rhythm is like the beat of a metronome, as usual, the half passes are so unhurried, so correct, the canter work just flows, but alas, as he did in the first round, the chestnut stallion resists in the rein back. Quite rightly the Frankfurter crowd just loves Hubertus, and so they should. They score 75.22, sitting just behind Cadeau Noir in fourth.
Isabel Freese wins her second Burg-Pokal, this time on Total Hope
There is so much to like about Total Hope and Isabel Freese, they fit together, they are a star act, but the glitter does not hide the fact that at times the black stallion is not really tracking up in his big trots, nor that his head is tilted in the half pass, or that the half pirouettes look a bit like voltés. Still the big canter is really big, the changes are expressive, they are crowd winners and the hall explodes. They are also judge winners, or they work their magic on four of the five judges on the panel, first with Elke Ebert – 79.146, Henning Lehrmann – 78.78, Katrina Würst – 80, Peter Holler – 81.829, the odd man out is Dietrich Plewa who has the pair third on his score of 76.341. They end up just a smidgeon under 80, 79.219.
I liked Lena’s second horse, Morricone more than Cadeau Noir in the first round, and it’s a tough call which is the better in the second. The elegant blonde in the saddle is as cool as a cucumber, the black stallion glorious, there’s a tiny break in the corner, but the rest of the work is great. 75.073 and they will finish in fifth place.
Once again, Frankfurt leads the way, this class, the Burg-Pokal was brain child of the late Reiner Klimke, and it is the perfect bridge for horses coming into the the Big Tour, and the Louisdor-Preis for young GP horses, the perfect introduction to dressage at the highest level but for the Louisdor my friends you will have to wait until tomorrow for the final.
See you then.
See also –
Want to breed to Total Hope in Australia? Go to www.ihb.com.au
