Bohemian and Cathrine Dufour - photo credit: H2R
Bohemian and Dufour made dressage history today at CDI-W Grand Prix in Herning, DEN
Sometime the histories for the great memories are written when you least expect them. Today Danish Cathrine Dufour and her just 9-year-old gelding Bohemian by Bordeaux, owned by Abildgaard Equestrian made history even before their career really has begun.
Young Bohemian is incredible talented and with Dufour in the saddle it seems to be just a matter of time before the judges will reward them with even more 10´s for their outstanding halts, piaffe, passage, transitions, series and pirouettes.
The way Dufour is able to present Bohemian is just outstanding. It all comes from ability, suppleness, balance and lightness, while the overall picture is with so much overview and steadiness, that the sometimes bit tight frame a bit hind the vertical just becomes a minor deduction on the marking of the exercise.
At first sight 83% seems a kind of over scored, but going through the marks for each exercise it was a fair judging, as the exercises where you could have wished for a more open frame also was judges with maximum 8, and said that there were clearly lack of 10´s for the expensive exercises today. Enjoy their test here below.
Prediction a bit early but anyway - watch out for the individual podium at Tokyo.
Benjamin Werndl and Daily Mirror were shining today, only minor thing were their piaffe tours, as they were lacking bit more natural go and flow from Daily Mirrow, but coming from his big bouncy super supple passage into the small piaffe is a kind of a challenge.
Helen Langehanenberg showed a motivated Damsey today, and when he is in the mood for dancing they are in for the big marks.
It was a great comeback for the talented 9 year old Danish Warmblood mare Fiontini with his Spanish rider Severo Jurado Lopez ending as no 4 with 75%.
H2R top 3 comments during the tests: (more comments available at H2R FB page)
Bohemian 🇩🇰 - superb halt for at least a 10! good diagonal becomes tiny short in the neck, well balanced supple half passes, super halt with rein back, better diagonal, super into passage, piaffe at the spot, effortless transitions, good extended walk, could show more over track, superb collected walk, easy into passage, WAUW piaffe and transitions, superb transition to canter, nice 2 times tiny hind vertical, nice extended canter, good zigzag could show a bit more uphill, nice 1 times, well balanced jump by jump sitting at the hind quarters pirouettes, good diagonal dropping pole tiny at the end, WHAT A FINAL CENTERLINE. Unfortunately Bohemian got scared when the audience started applauding.
Daily Mirror GER - good halt, power diagonal in super balance, smooth half passes, good halt with nice rein back, smooth power diagonal into superb passage, piaffe lack more off the ground and activity, superb extended walk lots of suppleness, super collected walk, super passage, lacking energy and forward search for piaffe, good into canter, nice 2 times, WOW extended canter!, zigzag bit unbalanced, good 1 times, huge sit and well balanced pirouettes, super diagonal, very expressive passage, piaffe becomes cautious, nice passage.
Damsey FRH GER - super halt, power diagonal, good half passes, left lacking more carriage, very nice halt with rein back, good diagonal, into nice passage, bit forward trend piaffe with good transitions, superb over the back extended walk, super nice collected walk, direct into passage, lack bit more energy for piaffe, good transitions, good into canter, good 2 times, good extended canter, well balanced zigzag, super 1 times, super supple pirouettes with top canter quality, good diagonal, very nice final bit forward piaffe, but lacking final meters of passage.
Winning performance test from Bohemian and Dufour:
Just click on the photo - the video will come up or take a look further down this news.
Watch the entire World Cup Grand Prix class here: (move time line to 3.02.00 for Dufour´s test)