Aachen, the Prix St Georges
Christopher Hector enjoys the first dressage class at the world’s greatest horse show, Rebecca Ashton took the photos…
One of the things I love about Aachen, and there are lots, is the surprise arrival on the scene of a fresh new face, and so it was to be this year in the Prix St Georges…
Charlotte and Kismet; “I just sit on her back and basically I don’t have to do anything.”
First and second places were pretty much on script. Charlotte Dujardin on the eight-year-old Dutch mare, Times Kismet (Ampère / Lord Leatherdale) was all class. Until Charlotte arrived in the arena, the judging panel had been welded to their 7 buttons, but suddenly we had an 8 for the big trot, 8s for the pirouettes and the counter canter. It is truly a lovely horse, everything is correct, Charlotte is riding tactfully, and the mare has a relentless rhythm in canter. They finish on 77.588 and in first place.
Frederic Wandres and Quizmaster
But the next horse into the ring, the Hanoverian, Quizmaster FRH (Quasar de Charry / Velton Third) and Frederic Wandres were not going to give up without a fight. The gelding has true scope, and is on top of the work, accurate, calm and relaxed. Only once, on the diagonal, did Frederic slip into the trademark lean-back seat of his home base, for the rest he was sweetly on the vertical. Score 73.883, as you might have predicted.
But wait, this is Aachen, expect the un-expected, and just as she did at Frankfurt last December, thirty-one-year-old Swiss rider, Andrina Suter, was a breath of fresh air, now she was doing it again.
Andrina Suter and Briatore from Switzerland
She has such an elegant seat on a horse, and her entry on Briatore (Belissimo / Dresemann) was so perfect, that the judges had to put down the form guide and judge with their eyes. The gelding has a wonderfully scopey trot, really opening up his whole body, and a super canter, and the judges pay 72.794 for Andrina to take third – not bad considering that placed below her were Therese Nilshagen, Dinja van Liere, Isabell Werth, Helen Langehanenberg, Nanna Merald, and Lottie Fry.
https://resulting.chioaachen.de/show/32/event/218/competition/1/result/
Andrina Suter – Katja Stuppia image
Meet Andrina, here’s an interview from Frankfurt 2022, and Andrina’s first big victory – the Nürnberger Burg Pokal:
Pretty amazing given that Andrina had never competed at Frankfurt before, and only entered a Burg-Pokal qualifier because her national coach said now she had good enough horses and she should try.
Try she did for an even better result in the final, finishing first on Briatore (77.146. It has long been one of the puzzles of the dressage world, just why have the Switzerland, once the home of world champions, and tough teams at every major event, more or less disappeared from the world stage. Perhaps Andrina is right when she hopefully predicts a revival:
“Dressage in Switzerland is not big but we have many good riders and good horses, I don’t know why our teams don’t go better, but I think with Oliver Oelrich, we are in a good way.”
And your goal, Paris?
“For me it is a big dream and goal but I think it is a realistic dream.”
