Fab Freestyle in Amsterdam

Christopher Hector with another on-the-spot report

Photos from Digishots

The Freestyle at Amsterdam did just what the radical idea of dressage to music was supposed to do, attracting a sell-out crowd to one of the world’s great equestrian events where the spectators cheered, stomped and leapt to their feet to celebrate a truly great contest.

Maria and Invoice © DigiShots

There is a bit of a problem right now with the top top stars in the second half, way in front of the half dozen in the first half, though there were two wonderful combinations in the first group. The Swede, Maria von Essen, riding her black 13-year-old gelding, Invoice (Jazz / Ferro), and Holland’s Hans Peter Minderhoud and his ten-year-old stallion, Taminiau (Toto Jr / Sandro Hit). I believe that the prefix goes to the breeder of the foal, in the case of Taminiau and Toto Jr, the breeders were J W Hotland and Judith and Sönke Schmidt, sticking a Glock prefix on, is like branding by cheque book, so until Glock breeds one of their own, I’ll leave their prefix off.

Vayron with Ingrid Klimke was a bit of a disappointment in the Freestyle, not so nice as his GP show, untidy with a bit of tail swishing and a tendency to get out behind, finishing with a score of 80.58, in ninth behind Invoice (Jazz / Ferro) and Maria, and Hans-Peter and Taminiau.

The horse immediately after Vayron was Don Olymbrio (Jazz / Ferro), that’s two in a row taken to Grand Prix by Daniel Bachmann. So I had a look at the FEI database to see just how many big tour horses this talented young man has made, so far. There’s a great long list, but the standouts are Zepter (Zack / Wolkentanz II) and his sire Zack (Rousseau / Jazz) both capable of beating any in the world on their day. I suspect that only Isabell has produced more, and without being rude, Isabell has been around for a touch longer than Daniel. I look forward to his next star!

Don Olymbrio once again makes a graceful entrance, twos to ones on a dead straight line is a neat trick, the rest is lovely though the contact is not happy in the final passage / piaffe trip down the centre-line. They will finish fourth on a score of 83.070, but were they 3^rd (Clive Halsall at E) or 8^th, Mariette Sanders-van Gansewinkel at C?

Dinja and Hartsuijker © DigiShots

Dinja van Liere’s Hartsuijker (it means Heart Sugar) is such a wonderful type (by Johnson out of a Scandic mare), super passage pirouettes into piaffe then a huge trot, trouble is the gelding has his mouth open, such a pity because the rest is great, though by the end it is looking like hard work. Fourth with four of the judges, with the Dane, Kurt Christensen at B the odd man out, 9^th on his list. 82.645 to finish in fifth.

Isabell and Quantaz © DigiShots

Isabell and Quantaz, the gelding looks a little hollow and high behind and this is not their day. They are lucky to come away third on 85.265, ranked three with three of the judges, but fifth with Mr Halsall.

Charlotte and Glamourdale © DigiShots

Glamourdale is a truly amazing horse and Charlotte Fry is brave enough to show him right on the edge, the good side EXCEPT there is a problem with the contact. Okay stallions do that funny thing when they flip their lips and that’s no problem, but from where I was sitting I thought I saw the horse’s tongue a few times, and certainly his mouth was open for much of the test, and it was wide open as he stood right in front of the C judge (check the video if you don’t believe me). With two scores of 90%, Glamourdale is first with all five judges… but not everyone agrees.

Becky and Jagerbomb – All you need is love – © DigiShots

I know that I am not alone in the press room believing the winner ought have been Becky Moody and Jagerbomb. In praise of this British duo, I’ll turn to the great English poet, Elizabeth Barrett Browning and ask: How do I love thee? Let me count the ways…

First and foremost, Becky ‘made’ the horse, he was conceived and foaled down at Moody Dressage, the equestrian centre in South Yorkshire, run by Becky and her sister, Hannah, and their parents Patrick and Anne.

If Glamourdale looked like a Rolls from day one, and stood champion at his stallion licensing and has been a star ever since, Jagerbomb was more of a Vauxhall Astra, and looked so ordinary as a youngster that he was almost put up for sale. Luckily not, and with the help of David Hunt, who is the first British rider to win a Grand Prix Special in Europe, a former President of the International Dressage Trainers Foundation and a member of the FEI Judges Supervisory Panel at two Olympic Games, and a master horseman, and another great British rider / trainer, Carl Hester, Becky and Jagerbomb set about doing exactly what dressage training is supposed to do – making the horse more beautiful, so much so that the pair were a last minute call-up for the British dressage team to Paris, where they starred.

Another reason for gushing about their Kür in Amsterdam is that after test after test of computer generated ‘music’ driven by relentless percussion, their score was lovely, a delightful mix from the Fab Four, combined with a risk taking, flowing choreography. They made their entrance with John Lennon singing Imagine and off they went with a test that made the heart sing. There was no need for the Beatles to wonder, I hope you will enjoy the show, the sellout crowd was on its feet cheering for a test that was so complete, so assured, and so correct, that I know I was not the only member of the equestrian press corps, who thought they should have won the class. But wow, what a class it was!

Photo – Anke Gardemann

Lucky I was, to catch up with Becky after the show…

Can you tell me a little about how you train?

“I train with both David Hunt and Carl Hester and I find them a really brilliant combination because they are a little bit different in their approaches, but with the same end goal. Carl is super super helpful from a test riding point of view, making sure the horse is supple and straight, and David is fantastic at helping to motivate the lazier horses, and to really get deep into the way of going of the horse, so for me that combination works really well.”

How would you describe David Hunt’s training, is it more old school?

“Not at all, I think it helps that he has been sitting on the JSP and he has been exposed to the really top top levels of the sport. I’ve trained with him for over twenty years and I’ve definitely seen his training change and develop as he has learnt more and more. I think that’s the incredible thing about what we do, because each horse teaches you something different. I think what both of them work on is that the horse looks it’s best, when it is happy doing what you have asked it to do.”

Isn’t that what dressage is supposed to do, improve the horse – I understand you almost sold Jagerbomb as a young horse…

“That’s right. I bred him so I have had him from the start, he’s always had a wonderful temperament, a very good frame, easy in the contact, but he really lacks a little energy and motivation, he didn’t articulate his joints particularly well, a bit straight if you like. But he did show when he was six or seven a lot of talent for the piaffe, and he has ended up a horse that has answered every question in a really positive way, and he has enabled me to make him better and better.”

I thought what was marvellous to watch was the purity of your training, because at no point did he say, this is hard…

“I think this is something that I really appreciate, he really does make my life so easy because he has that incredible natural balance, he has always been very good in the contact, so I can ride him very much how I wanted to ride him. Not every horse is like that, not because they are difficult but because they find something hard because their balance isn’t so good. People are like that, some have great natural balance. I have some horses at home that are not so far on in their training, but they don’t have that balance or contact, so from that point of view he really does help me out.”

It was great that you used real music, not something generated by a computer to fit a video of what the horse does well. That’s what I think freestyle was supposed to be about, expressing music, and it made him come alive..

“I think a lot about the music, and for the music to really connect with the audience. The judges listen to the music to a degree, but they have so many other things to do, so much technical information that they are having to deal with as well, but I think the audience really are listening to the music. It’s important to find something that is fun, and for Jagerbomb that really expresses his personality. He really is a fun horse and he comes alive with the music.”

Without being rude, is it unfair that your team-mate has this seventeen hand black stallion with the most amazing canter…

“Glamourdale is a fabulous horse and Lottie does an amazing job, so I will keep trying to beat her! I’ve done it once, but I don’t think you can take anything away from that combination, they are phenomenal and so exciting for the sport, so I’ll just keep trying to get better and improve ourselves so we can beat them again.”

Some of us think you did today. Thank you very much because dressage is under attack, but it’s people like you, breeding and making your own, and training and riding so honestly, that’s what is going to save dressage, not people buying multi-million dollar flash machines..

“I know, but we’ll just keep doing what we can.”

Thank you once again, it was a privilege watching you today…

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