The 2024 edition of the CDI Hagen - Horses & Dreams Meets Portugal - will go down in the history books as the wettest and coldest so far.
Mud and Muck
The first three days of competitions took place in wintery conditions with a chilling breeze and cold rain spoiling the party. The beautiful gardens of Hof Kasselmann were turned into stomping grounds that reminded of Glastonbury with muck and mud everywhere.
Mainly the parking grounds posted the challenge of the day and many a car and truck had to be pulled clear with double tractors. The organizers certainly worked hard to keep the pathways walkable and fresh gravel was brought in to keep it all looking decent.
Despite these "inconveniences" there is no doubt that the annual show at Kasselmann's is a top of the bill one with some of the best riders there, both in the dressage and show jumping arena. On Saturday a touch of spring could be felt as more sun broke through and temperatures shot from 4° to 17 C° in one day time, but many a Nurnberger Burgpokal rider still got drenched with short but brisk rain showers.
Three Grand Prix Tours
Spring is in the air?? Where? When? whyyyyy?
The 2024 CDI Hagen boasted three Grand Prix tours: one 3* and two 4* tours split up with a group going into the Special and into the Freestyle. As the Grand Prix Special will determine the team ranking at this summer's Olympics the best pairs opted for the Special tour of which the Grand Prix was ridden early Friday morning 26 April 2024 in those unfair, wintery conditions.
Hagen invited a panel of heavy-weight lifting judges --Katrina Wüst, Michael Osinski, Henning Lehrmann, Raphaël Saleh, Isobel Wessels - but in these tumultuous times there seems to be a bit of confusion going on what direction the sport needs to take. Some stuck to their old guns, others were brave enough to go a bit more down on the famous names who are known to get away with mur...mistakes.
British Sandwich
The top three finish turned into an expected British sandwich with Charlotte Dujardin snatching her third trophy of the week, while home hero Frederic Wandres served as condiment in second place and British trainer and treat Carl Hester in third.
Dujardin and Imhotep
In their first show on the European mainland since the 2023 European Championships in Riesenbeck, Charlotte Dujardin and the 11-year old KWPN gelding Imhotep (by Everdale x Vivaldi) produced a confident ride with plenty of nice moments, such as the trot half passes and rein back. The extended trot itself poses a problem with the judges. The horse is active, and ground covering but does not lengthen the neck and frame an inch: some judges gave it 6.5 others an 8. Imhotep's piaffe is also one that brings a lot of debate: the horse has impeccable rhythm and stays firmly on the spot with lowered haunches, but is in principle not balanced: the left front leg reaches far under the belly, while the right front leg is slightly straighter (which is more correct). So with some judges that piaffe gets a 7.5 with others a 9. In the first piaffe the mouth was wide open, in the second he really moved smoothly in and out of the movement, in the last one at X you could see he gets wide in the legs for balance. In the extended walk he did not march on a straight line but flowed left-right across the line and had one hoof overtrack. In the extended canter the horse was high in the croup. The tempi changes were ground covering, the zig zag had nice balance although the half passes to the right were significantly less in ground cover. The pirouettes were small. A break into canter in the final passage brought the score down. They finished on a winning 77.478% with Osinski and Saleh at 79-80% and the others between 74.1 and 77.5%.
Frederic Wandres on Bluetooth
German Frederic Wandres and the Russian owned, ahum Hof Kasselmann owned 14-year old Oldenburg Bluetooth (by Bordeaux x Riccione) returned from Florida where they competed in one show (to win) and are now ready to battle for Freddy's career goal: the Paris Olympics. With the bar being extremely high in Germany, the pressure is certainly on. At their home show they finished second with 75.326% although the individual scores went from 73.370% to 76.848%. The overall impression of the ride was that Wandres really had to carry his horse through the test. The trot extensions had plenty of overtrack but the first one was hasty. The first piaffe moved a bit forwards, the second was better but could have been more confident in the rhythm. The extended walk had huge overtrack but the horse could stretch the nose a bit more out. The collected walk was good. A mistake in the two tempi's and a rather unbalanced right pirouette affected the score, but the zig zag was really nice. It's the start of the outdoor season and hopefully by the first team qualifier in Balve the ride can look a bit more effortless.
Carl Hester on FameCarl Hester does not have the easiest horse in Fiona Bigwood's 14-year old KWPN gelding Fame (by Bordeaux x Rhodium) but with each ride he shows his masterful skill in getting the best out of him. The horse is kept quite short in the neck but Hester always rides with a giving hand and not iron fists. The rein back had nice diagonal steps, the left half pass was the better one. The first passage was nice but the transition from passage to walk was via a halt. The second pi-pa was soft footed but at times the hindlegs came out. The collected walk was well ridden. In canter Fame often loses a clear 4-beat rhythm, but the zig zag went well, the flying change at the end of the extended canter diagonal was three strides too early and also the ones were ridden very early on the diagonal. The pirouettes were small. A break in the third trot extension led to a score between 5.5 and 7.0. The final centerline was well ridden and a nice square halt was the cherry on the cake. They scored 74.478% for third place with marks between 72.8 and 75.5%
German Pursuit
Four Germans ranked between places four and eight and only German based Swede Therese Nilshagen was able to position herself in between them.
Ingrid Klimke on FranziskusIngrid Klimke and the 16-year old Hanoverian stallion Franziskus (by Fidertanz x Alabaster) was fourth with 74.174%. Although the stallion regularly flicks his tongue out in front, Klimke kept a nice, steady and elastic contact with the mouth. In the first piaffe the horse got wide, but in the second he had a lovely rhythm. The rein back was great and the one tempi changes and big trot extensions were a highlight. The horse changed a few times before the pirouette left.
Therese Nilshagen and the 17-year old Oldenburg stallion Dante Weltino (by Danone x Welt Hit II) are preparing themselves for a third Olympic team selection in their long career at Grand Prix level. With no real successor to ride, Nilshagen is making her time with Dante Weltino count. The pair is an example of light and elegant riding, but they often struggle with real consistency in their performance, although they are always good for mid seventy percentage scores. In the Grand Prix in Hagen the horse was in one of hectic performances again: running in the extensions and half passes and not really reaching for the contact. The collected walk was short and two of the halts were not square. He shuffled in and out of the second piaffe. Overall it's in the canter work where the black stallion really shines with very easy, big two tempi changes, uphill but a hurried extended canter and a super zig zag, one tempi diagonal and tiny pirouettes.They got 74.109% for fifth place.
Sönke Rothenberger on FendiSönke Rothenberger and the 10-year old Danish warmblood gelding Fendi (by Franklin x Diamond) were the German sensation of 2022-2023 but they couldn't translate that into a team spot for Riesenbeck. After their tests at the Aachen Festival 4 Dressage and Hagen, the gelding seems still not yet developed into a reliable (super) high scoring horse. The passage is mega impressive: so off the ground and energetic, the half passes were well executed and the rein back had big steps, but in piaffe he struggles to find the rhythm and gets tight at the base. In the collected walk he became lateral. He got too exuberant in the two tempi changes and he hiccuped. The extended canter and the flying change exactly at K were a highlight. In the one tempi changes he appeared to be changing shorter to the left. Rothenberger had the control over the rhythm back in the final centerline. They scoreed 72.674%.
Fabienne Lutkemeier and her 13-year old Westfalian gelding Valesco (by Vitalis x Douceur) were back on stronger form with nice suspension in the passage and big, straight tempi changes. The hindquarters trailed a bit in the half pass left and the collected walk looked short-long in front. At times Valesco grinds his teeth and in the zig zag he covers a bit less ground to the right. They scored 72.348% for seventh place.
Anabel Balkenhol on High FiveAnabel Balkenhol seems to be finding her stride aboard Kathrin Gericke's 13-year old Hanoverian High Five (by Hohenstein x De Niro). After a good round at the Aachen Festival 4 Dressage they proved consistency in Hagen. The trot extensions had plenty of overtrack, the second piaffe was lovely, the passage was at times more engaged with the right hind leg and the one tempi changes were superb. It would be nice to see the rider's hand a bit more forward-working and on the withers instead of being kept working on the pommel of the saddle.
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