Olivia LaGoy-Weltz (USA) and Rassing's Lonoir topped the Intermediaire 1 on Saturday evening 15 March 2014 during the tenth week of competition in Wellington, Florida. LaGoy-Weltz bested a field of 23 riders representing 10 different countries aboard "Lono," her 10-year-old Danish Warmblood gelding by De Noir.
LaGoy-Weltz and Lono earned a score of 71.754% for first place, with second and third place riders finishing just shy of her score. Neve Myburgh (GER) and Lexington Star earned a 71.667% and fellow German Marcus Orlob and Shakespeare RSF finished third with a score of 71.623%.
LaGoy-Weltz was happy to see her horse continue to do well at the CDI level; this is only the horse's second internationally ranked competition after picking up another Intermediaire-1 win during the Palm Beach Dressage Derby CDI-W. Even with another win under the belts, LaGoy-Weltz reviewed her test with a critical eye.
"He was good, but there was quite a bit of room for improvement. The first extension was good but very on the edge, so I brought him back and rode the rest of the trot work more conservatively then you'd like to at the end of the day. You have to ride each test as it comes. Today, if I had gone for more, it would have been flat and runny," she noted. "The whole thing would have been just a little more solid had I gone ten minutes earlier, but that's learning what the horse likes. It's the second CDI, so I'm pretty happy."
Figuring out exactly what kind of warm-up Lono needs has presented LaGoy-Weltz with a fairly significant learning curve. She acknowledged she isn't used to a horse that needs such a short warm-up and that she's continuing to tweak their warm-up.
"Yesterday, I got kind of lucky. The person in front of me scratched and I was ready, so I just went. Today, I cut the warm-up down to thirty minutes, and I still felt like I needed to shave another ten minutes off. I haven't had a horse that needs that little amount of warm-up, so it's kind of like playing Russian Roulette trying to figure exactly the right formula!" she laughed.
LaGoy-Weltz was also pleased with Lono's progress in the Prix St. Georges, where he gained a percentage point in his score on Friday. She described the Inter 1 test as better suited to the horse, with the increased movements and opportunity to get the horse forward early on.
"The St. Georges is such a lovely test, but there's not enough 'turn here and go.' [The I-1] is nice because the extended canter comes early and I can get him forward and get some of that energy out and then bring it back. It's hard because he picks up the canter and he's like, 'I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready!' So when I can send him forward and then bring him back, that really helps," LaGoy-Weltz explained.
LaGoy-Weltz and Lono will return to the final week of competition in Wellington with a new freestyle in hand, which LaGoy-Weltz is currently re-working to adjust to Lono. The music was originally choreographed for a different horse, but LaGoy-Weltz felt it will still be a good fit and looks forward to seeing how it turns out.
"They did sound checks the other day, and I was really happy that [he handled it well] because he can be very noise-sensitive. So we'll see! The trot music is from 'A Bug's Life,' so it's fun music. I've watched a video of him and played the music and was like 'This will work.' So it will be cute." LaGoy-Weltz smiled.
by Laura Cardon - Photo © Sue Stickle
Related Links
Scores 2014 CDI-W Wellington
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