Belgian Grand Prix team rider Jorinde Verwimp achieved a five in five at the small CDI 3* in Nice, France, on 19 - 21 February 2016. With her number one Grand Prix horse Tiamo she won the Grand Prix and Special and on Veronique Philippaerts' Wendor she achieved a hattrick in the small tour.
Jorinde rode the 13-year old Dutch bred gelding Wendor (by Kennedy x Iglesias) in the arena in style, cleaning up the Prix St Georges, Intermediaire I and Inter I kur with 70.291%, 69.816% and 72.750%. Aboard the 16-year old Dutch bred Tiamo (by Lester x Hemmingway) she won the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Special with 73.620% and 74.725%.
“Wendor has great quality but is a very sensitive horse,” Jorinde told Eurodressage. “He always does his best at shows and loves to perform, and although he was a little bit tense the first day he relaxed as the competition went on. Overall all three tests went really well, and despite those few mistakes he gave me such a great feeling, particularly in the trot extensions; a feeling which no other horse has ever given me!"
Wendor made his international show debut in 2012 as a junior rider's horse for Belgian youth rider Alexa Fairchild. The horse sold two years later as a schoolmaster to Veronique Philippaerts, the dressage-loving wife of Belgian Olympic show jumper Ludo Philippaerts, who trains with Jorinde's father Wim in Wiekevorst, Belgium. Jorinde was allocated the ride on Wendor and the pair made its international debut at young riders' level at the CDI Kapellen in May 2014. They moved to senior small tour level in 2015.
After their success in Nice, Jorinde will give Wendor some rest days and then get him back in training for the CDI in Lier the first week of March. “After that we will see what the future brings," Verwimp added.
Riding an almost fault free test for the first time in the Grand Prix, Verwimp is always delighted with the work ethic of her mount Tiamo. She said Tiamo ways does his very best and felt the horse had more expression in the piaffe-passage.
“I have been working on this over the past few weeks, aiming to keep as much energy in the piaffe and passage in the tests as we get at home. It worked out pretty well as I scored two personal bests, with room left for improvement," she explained.
Her plan with Tiamo is the same: a few well deserved rest days before it’s back in training for Lier, where Grand Prix riders have the opportunity to compete in no less than three Grand Prix classes in one week time. Jorinde and Tiamo train with Sjef Janssen in The Netherlands and are coached at home by dad Wim.
“Lier will be our last qualification show for Rio," said Verwimp who has climbed the Olympic Riders List significantly with her two top scores in Nice. “My goal is still trying to qualify for Rio and we are pretty close now. All doors are open to maybe even qualify with a team. We'll see how it goes next week."
by Sarah Warne - Photos © Astrid Appels
Related Links
Scores: 2016 CDI Nice
Latest Update on the 2016 Olympic Qualification Race with Two Weeks to Go
Jorinde Verwimp Named 2014 VLP Talent of the Year