Olivia LaGoy-Weltz (USA) and Rassing's Lonoir ©SusanStickle.com
PRESS RELEASE
Wellington, FL – January 15, 2021 – Day two of the Lloyd Landkamer Memorial Week at the Adequan® Global Dressage Festival concluded on Friday, January 15, after Olivia LaGoy-Weltz (USA) and Rassing’s Lonoir bested an impressive lineup of riders in the day’s FEI Grand Prix CDI-W, presented by Lövsta. The first week of AGDF continues through Sunday, January 17, and the circuit hosts 10 weeks of international and national dressage competition until April 4. Free live streaming and on-demand of select classes are available to view at GlobalDressageFestival.com.
In their first international competition since February 2020, LaGoy-Weltz and the 17-year-old Danish Warmblood gelding (by De Noir 3) owned by LaGoy-Weltz and Mary Anne McPhail came out on top, earning a score of 73.978%. Second place in the class went to Great Britain’s Susan Pape on Harmony's Don Noblesse, Harmony Sporthorses’ 14-year-old Hanoverian stallion by Dancier, who ended with a 73.022%. Third place was awarded to Yvonne Losos De Muniz (DOM) on Aquamarijn, her own 16-year-old KWPN mare by United, earning a 71.717%.
“I’m really happy with how this has started off,” began LaGoy-Weltz. “We went out and rode in a national competition last week, and it was harmonious, but plain. It served its purpose to go out and ‘shake out the bats,’ and that’s part of the strategy. We’ve been trying to push it to the next level with Lonoir. I’ve kept him quiet for so many years, but there is a lot of horse in there. The goal was to push that more today; we did, [but] we had a few costly bobbles in the zigzag and in the pirouette. We can fix that next time. I know that [coaches] Debbie [McDonald], Ali [Brock], and Charlotte [Bredahl] say that he has never looked better. That’s a good place to start, so we want to keep going from there.”
LaGoy-Weltz and the gelding enjoyed some downtime this summer when major shows were put on hold, hacking and waiting for competition to resume. “After everything came to a screeching halt last year,” she explained, “we finished in such a good place and were like, ‘Now what?’ With a 16, coming 17-year-old horse, we didn’t want to keep him in that spot all summer long, so we did a lot of working on things but also a lot of hacking and hills, with a goal to ramp back up slowly down here. So far it seems to be going okay!”
Click above to watch Olivia's winning ride! ©Richard's Equine Video
“As the duo prepares for the remainder of the season and beyond, LaGoy-Weltz is planning accordingly with her team, including coaches Debbie McDonald and Allison Brock. “The plan is to keep options open and pick what is right for Lonoir,” she said. “You never know what is going to happen these days [due to COVID], so we are keeping it open. We will switch over to some Grand Prix Specials eventually. We just have to determine whether it's for the four star, or if we are going to wait for the five star, and then decide what we really want to do.”
She concluded, “Ali stops by in the afternoons once a week, and we take that and check in with Debbie, so Debbie is very much still a part of our work. They’re both amazing and work so well together. Everyone ultimately wants the same thing: more up, more sit, more hind legs, more electricity, more perfection!”
In the FEI Intermediate I CDI3*, Kevin Kohmann (GER) marked his second victory of the week with the 11-year-old Equitas LLC-owned KWPN stallion Five Star, by Amazing Star, earning a 73.353%. Second place went to Joanne Vaughan (GEO) and her own 10-year-old gelding Forbes, by Fidertanz, with a 61.059%.
Kevin Kohmann and Five Star in their awards presentation with Judge Janet Foy and Caitlin Lane of AGDF. ©SusanStickle.com
Competition at AGDF will continue tomorrow with a full schedule of classes, including the FEI Intermediare 1 Freestyle CDI1*, FEI Intermediare A CDI3*, and the FEI Intermediare 1 Freestyle CDI3* before the FEI Grand Prix Special CDI3*, presented by Harmony Sporthorses, beginning at 2:55 PM. For more information and to see a full list of results, visit www.globaldressagefestival.com.
Results
Place, rider, nationality, horse, horse information: judge E%, judge H%, judge C%, judge M%, judge B%; final score
FEI Grand Prix CDI-W, presented by Lövsta
E, Debbie Rodriguez (USA); H, Cesar Torrente (COL); C, Agnieszka Majewska (POL); M, Janet Foy (USA); B, Christof Umbach (LUX)
1. Olivia LaGoy-Weltz (USA) on Rassing’s Lonoir, LaGoy-Weltz and Mary Anne McPhail’s 17yo Danish Warmblood gelding by De Noir 3: 73.804, 74.891, 73.370, 73.587, 74.239; 73.978%
2. Susan Pape (GBR) on Harmony's Don Noblesse, Harmony Sporthorses’ 14yo Hanoverian stallion by Dancier: 72.283, 74.130, 72.717, 74.130, 71.848; 73.022%
3. Yvonne Losos De Muniz (DOM) on Aquamarijn, her own 16yo KWPN mare by United: 70.652, 73.043, 72.391, 72.935, 69.565; 71.717%
4. Benjamin Ebeling (USA) on Illuster Van De Kampert, Nuvolari Holdings LLC’s 13yo Belgian Warmblood gelding by Spielberg: 69.130, 71.196, 69.457, 73.152, 71.413; 70.870%
5. Anna Buffini (USA) on FRH Davinia La Douce, her own 14yo Hanoverian mare by Don Frederico: 69.565, 70.870, 69.239, 71.413, 71.196; 70.457%
6. Susan Dutta (USA) on Figeac DC, her own 12yo Oldenburg gelding by Fackeltanz: 67.609, 69.565, 69.239, 69.565, 70.978; 69.391%
7. Anna Marek (USA) on Dee Clair, Diane Morrison’s 13yo KWPN mare by Sir Sinclair: 67.500, 70.761, 69.457, 69.239, 68.043; 69.000%
8. Jill Irving (CAN) on Aurthur, her own 16yo KWPN gelding by Jazz: 67.717, 68.043, 68.587, 67.935, 67.065; 67.869%
9. Abraham Pugh (USA) on Elfenperfekt, Alice Drayer’s 15yo Trakehner stallion by Peron: 67.826, 64.457, 67.609, 70.217, 64.348; 66.891%
10. Sahar Daniel Hirosh (ISR) on Whitman, Jane Suwalsky’s 18yo KWPN gelding by Rhodium: 67.609, 63.913, 63.587, 64.891, 65.761; 65.152%