Dutch Adelinde Cornelissen and her 12-year old Dutch warmblood stallion Aqiedo produced two easy victories at the 2017 CDI Lier hosted at equestrian centre Azelhof in Lier, Belgium, on 2 - 5 March 2017. They won the Grand Prix with 73.060% just ahead of local hero Jorinde Verwimp. However, in the Special they built up a bigger lead and took the trophy with 75.039%.
Cornelissen made her CDI come back on Aqiedo after having last shown him internationally nine months ago at the CDIO Rotterdam in June 2016. Owned by Adelinde and her partner Aris van Manen, the black stallion is by jumper sire Undigo out of Ranirma (by Metall). The duo showed great form in Lier and produced several stunning highlights.
In the Grand Prix test, the very elegant Aqiedo showed he is a graceful mover with his long legs. The passage is lightfooted and rhythmical, but there was a break to canter on the final centerline. Aqiedo made fluent transitions into piaffe , but the piaffe itself needs to be more on the spot and the hindlegs swung out from under the body with the right one having a tendency to back step. In the canter work, the black showed absolute world class tempi changes and pirouettes. It's such a pity that the horse is so hand-ridden all the time, tight, behind the vertical and with little opening in the throat latch. With some lightness in the contact the total picture would improve dramatically and create (even) more room for higher scores.
Jorinde Verwimp and her 15-year old Dutch warmblood Tiamo (by Lester x Hemmingway) landed second place in the Grand Prix with 73.020% and went on to win the Kur to Music on Saturday night with 78.200%. In the Grand Prix Tiamo showed great fitness with nice power and good muscles on his body. The trot extensions were strong, the passage work active. The piaffes were still small and the horse has lost ground cover in the extended walk. Verwimp was really going for and asking much expression from her bay gelding, which led to big tempi changes, but with tension and swooshing tail. The flying change after the extended canter was in two phases.
Dutch Marieke van der Putten and the 12-year old Dutch warmblood mare Ambria (by OO Seven) were third in the Grand Prix with 70.960% but retired in the Kur to Music as the mare could not cope with the tension and electric atmosphere on freestyle night. In the Grand Prix the pair scored high marks mainly with the canter work, which was solid with a good uphill extension and ground covering zig zag. There was a problem in the one tempi's though and in the trot extensions the mare was not entirely regular, nor was she in the right half pass. The trot half pass to the left was much better. The first piaffe was slightly forward, the second more on the spot, yet in the third the mare got wide in front. She also stalled in the downward transition from canter to trot. The canter pirouettes were wonderful though, which much elevation in the forehand.
The Grand Prix was judged by Van Daele, Saleh, Judet, Sanders and Baarup, but the five-some was not always on the same wavelength. Cornelissen's scores ranged from 70.300% to 74.700%, while Verwimp marks went from 69.300% to 75.200%. In the Grand Prix Special the discrepancies were worse. That panel included Van Daele, Judet, Baarup, Wolfs and Nivelle and they had Gareth Hughes' marks going from 70.00% to a whopping 77.059%.
Check out the photo gallery below with pictures from the Grand Prix.
Text and Photos © Astrid Appels - No reproduction allowed
Astrid Appels was on the scene at the 2017 CDI Lier taking photos of pretty much all combinations. Send us an email if you are interested in prints or digital files for your social media.
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