In one of the final opportunities to obtain qualification scores for Canadian Olympic team selection before the cut-off date of 9 June, Canadians headed en masse to the 2024 CDI Ocala on 23 - 26 May 2024 and swept the opening classes.
Ariana Chia and Guateque IV won the Grand Prix for Kur on 23 May, while Naima Moreira Laliberte won the Grand Prix for Special on 24 May. Jill Irving and Knight were best in the Prix St. Georges CDI1*.
Chia in Charge
Chia and the PRE bred Guateque IV have been partnered for a year. The pair started competing at the national grand prix level in October 2023 and moved up to the CDIs in January 2024. Chia took over the ride after riding sales and young horses for the owners of Coves Darden Farm in South Carolina.
Chia, who is originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and now based in Wellington, FL, scored a winning 68.869%. Naima Moreira Laliberte (CAN) and Inspire, an 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding by Vitalis x Johnson owned by her family's company KML Inc. scored 67.109% for second place. Third place went to Chase Shipka (USA) and her own 13-year-old KWPN gelding Gladstone Zee T (Apache x Jazz) with 65.171%.
On Friday 24 May Chia went on to clock a personal best score of 74.520% in the Kur to Music, staying four percent ahead of Chase Shipka (USA) on Gladstone Zee T, her own 13-year-old KWPN gelding by Apache x Jazz, who scored 70.330%. Mikala Münter (USA) and Skyfall, her 15-year-old Oldenburg gelding (Zardin Firfod x Calzone 3), scored 68.405% for third place.
Guateque’s freestyle was choreographed by Karen Robinson of Applause Dressage, who has been designing freestyles for Chia since she was 11 years old showing her “Arabian pony in a Charlie Brown freestyle.” Chia added, “We wanted something upbeat but also have the canter music more powerful for him. Karen picked out a few songs, watched him and matched it to him. It works well with him.”
While this was only the second freestyle that Chia and Guateque IV, a 14-year-old PRE stallion by Layco x Salinero XIII, have done together, it showed marked improvement of almost five points higher than their previous freestyle. Chia attributed that to taking more risks in this test.
“We really went for it,” acknowledged Chia. “On our joker line, we decided to take the risk and do more one tempis, and we wanted to be bolder in all of the movements. It was great. He was with me, he was expressive and it was really fun.
“It's very exciting,” she added about her personal best score. “You never know what to expect. Dressage is so challenging and particular in so many ways. I’m blown away with the results and really happy. It’s the cherry on top to do a personal best.”
Chia made a game-time decision to do more one tempis as she was coming out of her double pirouettes. “It’s the moment as a rider where you’re like, ‘I don’t want to be the person who gets greedy and tries to do something really cool and blows it.’ But also, I thought I had to risk it to get the extra points,” she explained. “He was on the aids, and he felt great. We did it and got a nice clean line of changes. I’m glad that I did it.”
Veteran Statesman Tops Grand Prix for Special
Canada took the top three spots in the Grand Prix for Special and it was 27-year-old Naima Moreira Laliberte who led the lap of honour with her veteran campaigner Statesman. Laliberte and Statesman were the only pair to break 70%, scoring 70.370% from the judging panel of Majewska, Storr, McClain, Smith and Swan-Bates.
Laliberte’s mount is more of an “elder” Statesman, as the 17-year-old Hanoverian gelding (Sandro Hit x Brentano II) has been competing at the grand prix level with Laliberte since 2018. The pair won team gold and team bronze at the 2019 and 2023 Pan American Games, respectively, and competed at the 2022 FEI World Championships for Canada.
“He’s been a rock for me,” affirmed Laliberte. “He was my first grand prix horse that actually kind of knew what he was doing. I had never done it before, so we both improved together. We have flown around the world together: Qatar, London, Tokyo, Lima, Santiago, among other places. He’s a true world traveler. He’s the best partner I could ask for.”
Over the years, while Laliberte has learned more about competing at the grand prix level, she has also seen Statesman change in ways she hadn’t expected. In 2023 she relied on his previous owner and rider Jordi Domingo to help her keeping Statesman on top of his game. This winter she brought him back to Wellington to work with her long-time coach, Ashley Holzer, although Jordi continued to fly in and out of Florida too for coaching.
“It’s interesting how a horse evolves through time and how their body changes with age and experience,” she explained. “I’ve had to learn to adapt to how a grand prix horse grows within their body.”
With all of their time and traveling together, Statesman has decided that he warrants the most attention in the barn. Laliberte noted, “All of my horses are spoiled, but he was the single child most competitions, so whenever we go back in the barn, he doesn’t really want to share attention with the other horses. When you get close to him, he demands lots of cuddles and treats.
“He’s got this funny thing where he grabs you and pushes you against his chest and gives you a hug,” she said with a laugh. “He locks you in so you can keep scratching his neck.”
Originally from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Laliberte now bases in Wellington, FL, and in Europe. With one more qualifying score in the Grand Prix Special needed for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, Laliberte will work on her focus for Saturday’s class.
“We have to go in there, stay present, and ride every movement one after the other,” she said. “I think that’s important when you’re riding a grand prix because it can be overwhelming. It doesn’t seem like a long test, but it’s a long test. There is a lot happening. The Grand Prix Special is even longer! I was pleased with how today went, so we will try and repeat that.”
Irving and Knight Win PSG
Fellow Canadian Jill Irving topped the Prix St. Georges CDI1* with Knight. They scored 67.647% for their second Prix St. Georges victory in a row in Knight’s fourth-ever CDI class.
Indeed, the judging panel of Kerrie Swan-Bates (AUS), Agnieszka Majewska (POL), Peter Storr (GBR), Kari McClain (USA) and Sandra Andrea Smith (ARG) gave Knight three scores of 7.0 as well as two 7.5s in the collected walk, while the extended walk scored an 8.0 from the judge at E.
Irving purchased Knight as a four-year-old during the pandemic having only seen him on video, but she trusted her friend Chantal van Lanen in the Netherlands, who rode the young horse multiple times and reported on his qualities.
Irving has focused on her grand prix horses in recent years, so Knight did not compete at the FEI level until 2024. Despite the lack in international competition experience, Knight entered the atmospheric WEC Grand Arena like a seasoned campaigner.
“He just walked in there and lit up, performed, and was totally relaxed,” she said of the nine-year-old KWPN gelding by Blue Hors Zack x Krack C. “He’s a true show horse, and he does his job. It’s quite remarkable, so we will see where he goes in the future.”
Irving was pleased with Thursday’s small tour test, and she does not plan to compete Knight further this week while she focuses on the grand prix with her top horse Genesis. Irving trains with Olympian Ashley Holzer, and she has entrusted some of Knight’s education and growth to Canadian Olympian, Brittany Fraser-Beaulieu, who rode Knight while Irving competed in Europe during the summers.
Irving expressed, “It’s no stress with this horse, and I just enjoy him. I want to do well, pat him and have him go home. He thinks it’s a great life!”
Charlotte Osborne (GBR) rode Escada RB, a 10-year-old Rhinelander mare by Escolar x Fidertanz to 65.912% for owner Chantelle Noble. With 65.647%, Shelly Francis (USA) and Dante, her 12-year-old Hanoverian gelding by Danone II x Andiamo, placed third.
Petersen Wins Intermediaire I
Olympian Lars Petersen and GPF’s S-Express won the Intermediate 1 on Friday with a score of 69.167%. While the nine-year-old Westphalian gelding (Sezuan x Sir Donnerhall) was in Petersen’s barn, it was sold to U.S. Dressage team rider Charlotte Jorst in 2023. Petersen rode S-Express in the Developing Horse Prix St. Georges division at the 2023 U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions before Jorst showed in national classes. With Jorst in Europe for the summer, Petersen has taken the reins back.
“I take him out and give him some routine,” said Petersen. “He needs it; he’s hot! There is more than one horsepower there. Yesterday he was tense in the walk. Every show, it gets a little better. This was probably one of the best tests I have ridden with him. Even though he was still tense, the changes and the pirouettes were much more rideable. It may not look like it, but he is very sensitive and hot, which of course will be super in two years for grand prix.”
Petersen, who competed at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games and in four FEI World Equestrian Games™, three European Championships and five FEI Dressage World Cup™ Finals, has not ridden in the international show ring since 2020. While S-Express has brought him back to FEI competition, it’s no longer his main goal.
“Am I trying to come in and show a lot of horses FEI again? No, I’ve done that for 35 years,” he said, “but, we have a lot of horses, as does Helgstrand. It’s always fun on a good horse like S-Express. My student Codi Harrison is riding two in the developing six-year-old classes, my wife Melissa just rode a Developing Prix St. Georges horse that I also train at home. That I have fun with. It doesn’t have to be me in the ring. I enjoy training and watching my students doing well.”
Second place and with a personal best score of 67.402% went to Charlotte Osborne (GBR) and Escada RB, a 10-year-old Rheinlander mare by Escolar x Fidertanz owned by Chantelle Noble. Paula Matute Guimon (ESP) and Sir Rubin, the 12-year-old Oldenburg gelding (Sir Donnerhall x Rubinstein 46) she owns with Diane Amendolara, placed third on 66.274%.
-- Ocala press release - Photos © Andrew Ryback
Related Link
Scores: 2024 CDI Ocala