Stars and Stripes Festivity in Bad Honnef
With Sue Blinks taking the lead, a grand victory seemed already to be made in the Grand Prix test at the 2000 Park Festival Dressage in Bad Honnef, Germany.
As the international dressage competition of Norten-Hardenberg sucked up most of the big star entries, Bad Honnef had to be pleased with only a handful of famous riders. It were also they who were able to break the American hegemony in the Grand Prix. Blinks had a correct but careful ride taking the lead with 67.48%. Fellow team mate Christine Traurig was the biggest threat for that top position in the ranking. On Etienne, a Westphalian Ehrentusch gelding, she had a daring ride. Traurig took a lot of risk while keeping the whole professionally balanced and correct.
USET rider Robert Dover described Etienne as majestically and that's what he was in this test. The extensions were good especially the ones in canter. In the half pass to the left Etienne lost his balance but the one to the right was clearly better although at the end of it the collection got a bit lost. Piaffe is a still a slight problem for Etienne. Traurig does not keep him on one place and although it's allowed to use a few meters, a piaffe on one place has so much more. The 2nd piaffe was definitely better, showing good rhythm and flexion of the hocks. The passage was nice but there could have been more impulsion. In the tempi's every single stride Traurig missed two and there she probably gave away the lead. The extended trot in the middle and end of the test was absolutely superb. They earned a 67.20% but could easily have been hitting the 70s.
Sue Blinks Without Pizzazz
BCM's Dutch magazine Hoefslag wrote the following excerpt in their show report about the CDIO Arnhem, June 21 - 25, 2000: "theoretically speaking the combination Sue Blinks -Flim Flam should still be able to grow but it has to do it 'right away' because with a 68.44% score for the best combination of a team, it is not enough to win a medal at the Olympic Games in Sydney."
In Bad Honnef the pair was very correct and very balanced, but it missed the necessary pizzaz to really break through. The first extended trot was energetic but it missed a touch of spark. The extended canter with flying change was nice, as well as the extended trot but everything could have been done a little more. Absolutely brilliant were the equal, rhythmic, balanced half passes in trot. In the passage Flim Flam had to be a little more collected and powerful from behind. The first piaffe in the serpentine was no good, but Blinks recovered quickly showing a decent second one. The zig zag in canter was very nice as well as both tempi changes every second and single stride.
Overall their performance showed a 'German' perfection but it missed that spectacular glow which makes the ride a pleasure to watch. Two years ago at the 1998 WEG in Rome, Blinks and her Hanoverian Flim Flam (by Wilhelm Tell) were announced as the rising stars full of potential. It seems that their potential has been hibernating since then. Flim Flam grew more muscled in two years and his nerves settled down pretty much. "Sue Blinks had a good ride today but I want more. I want the horse to think more, to be more electric. Let's hope that the Special will be better," American chef d'equipe Jessica Ransehousen said. Unfortunately Sue Blinks scratched for the Grand Prix Special. "It's a long way back home," Blinks said. The lady from Mount Kisco, NY, who has her winter base camp in Wellington, FL, wants to prepare for the Olympics in all quietness. Flim Flam will go into quarantine in California begin August.
Monica Theodorescu Wins Grand Prix Special
Photographers among each other agree, Renaissance 23, is one of the most photogenic horses in the international dressage circuit. The Westphalian black mare by Ramiro's Son out of a Pik Bube I dam has such a nice facial expression and is always fronting her ears. After every performances Renaissance's veins pops up all over her body showing her effort put into a good day's work. In the Special the mare maintained to be attentive to her rider's aids throughout the test resulting in an almost flawless ride which was honoured with a 68.51%.
Following her very closely was the American Christine Traurig of whom much is expected by her trainer Johan Hinnemann. "Christine knows everything, but now she has to learn to ride," Hinnemann stated in the Dutch magazine Hoefslag. Traurig is not afraid to take a risk and her test showed especially a nice set of piaffe-passage reprises. Etienne missed a change in his tempi's every single stride, which made him lose first position like in the Grand Prix.
Power Break Down no Break Down for Seidel
Guenter Seidel was flabbergasted when he was about to begin the walk reprise in his freestyle and then suddenly the music fell out. In surprise he gazed at the judge at C, Volker Moritz, who rung the bell awaiting a restore of the power. Anabel Balkenhol, German chef d'equipe Klaus Balkenhol's daughter and Seidel's helper/trainer, ran over to the technician's stand to get everything fixed. In the meantime Seidel walked Foltaire and picked up his kur, a modern classical violin composition, without any difference in his overall exquisite performance. The rather short half passes in trot were the only movements to be remarked.
Even more was he surprised when he found out that he won the complete class with a score of 70.35%. Italian Pia Laus came in second on her reserve horse Elliot, while Dover had to be content with a third place. "It's probably the music that the Europeans don't like," an American spectator commented. While his saxophone based freestyle with music from Calamity Jane and Big Spender is a most thrilling experience for rider, horse and spectator, the tune is very unconventional for the more classically accustomed European freestyle fans. Furthermore, Rainier didn't set down a superb performance and his mistakes were pretty much the same as in the Grand Prix. Very impressive was Herbert Boger's ride on his Oldenburg mare High Noon, a Donnerhall x Pik Bube I product. The mare has a superb moving mechanism but her freestyle was a bit too hectic in order to really score high.
Images copyrighted Phelps Photos - taken by Mary Phelps and Astrid Appels
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