Hesselhøj Donkey Boy and Jan Møller Christensen winner of today´s preliminary 5 yr old test with 9,72.
15 best combinations ready for Sunday´s final
Bronze combination from World Championships in Ermelo Danish Warmblood gold medal stallion Hesselhøj Donkey Boy and Jan Møller Christensen proved ones again their strength at the competition arena. Lovely well balanced test. Easy steady uphill frame with a constant clear contact, only two small things were a bit tense rein back and a bit resist before transitition to canter. Scoring: Trot 9,5 - Walk 9,7 - Canter 9,8 - Submission 9,8 - Potential 9,8 = total 9,72.
2nd and 3rd today was Severo Jurado Lopez
Atterupgaards Botticelli is new a Helgstrands stables, as Helgstrand recently purchased half of this talented stallion, and therefore also a very new ride for Severo. They seem to fit eachother very well and the experienced Severo is showing Botticelli in a great way. Light contact in a good frame for the trot tour, supple walk, canter still needs to settle more, as the quality of the canter it self is very good but still showing some tensions over the back, but Severo manage to adjust the things along the way, and Botticelli is also very focused all the way.
Seen from the "sideline" the difference of the scoring for walk and canter was just 0,2, as the walk is still much better than the canter, while the walk is both active and relaxed at the same time. The clear 10 for the submission/rideability seems a bit with different angles, as the judges said 8,5 for the canter because of small issues for transition, and the after rewarding the 10 because of very nice transitions.
Placed as no 3 was also Severo, this time with the stallion D´avie. Superb frame, steady supple contact always balanced. The only thing rigth now is that D´avie still lack a bit more strength to be able to push more off the ground for the extensions.
Eventhough Andreas Helgstrand did not show World Championship form together with the big stallion Ferrari, they still showed great qualities and ended up as no 4 sharp followed by his wife Marianne Helgstrand with the expressive Vamos Amigos. Unfortunately Vamos showed some tensions for the trot tour, as the judges apparently didn´t see. No doubt this is a horse for the future but the actually performance is the one the judges has to mark. From H2R point of view it was a clear 8,5 total result, but as the walk was today´s most relaxed and correct gait the marking should have been lower for the trot, higher for the walk and higher for the potential, in order to show a more correct picture of the points from the performance.
And horses for the future
Placed 6th was another Helgstrand Dressage rider, Eric Guardia Martinez with the expressive and very well moving stallion Francis by Feedback. Active supple mover, positive attitude with 3 super gaits also makes this horse very interesting for the future.
Nice to see Højgaardens Santos again with Helgstrand Dressage rider Kenneth Damgaard. Lovely light uphill 100% steady contact. Since World Championship in Ermelo Santos has gained more strength.
Zippo M.I. by Zack / Schufro from CVL Horses with Michala Damm-Frydenberg in the saddle looks like a power horse for the future. Super expression, today a bit of a handful for Michala but she manage very well without any issues.
Rikke Dupont showed her elegant lightfooted mare Chloé by Zack / Don Gregory in a super way. Super active off the ground - also a horse for the future.
Not top placed
No doubt team Helgstrand is very well prepared for the championships showing high quality horses, which makes the task even harder for the rest of the field.
Blue Hors rider Allan Grøn struggled a bit from tensions with his stallions, and of course their daily invironment is also totally changed with this championship setup at the arena.
Jan Christensen was showing the big Vivaldi son Vichy Pax in a great and effortless test, and still the judges don´t see the walk as something really good, just maked with 8,0.
Tennessee Tex by Temptation / His Highness with Belinda Elmholt Jeppesen shows a good test with nice flow and good balance, like Cabrina Zillo Geip with Vestervangs Garson by De Noir / Regazzo showing lovely flow and balance just lacking a bit more elasticity from the rider. Hevringholms Delaya by ERA Dancing Hit / Hertug with Maria Bjerg Latrache shows a lovely horse, but looks a bit like the mare needed a bit more rider support to get well balanced all the way.
See the entire results from today´s 5 yr old class here.