CDI Saumur 2013 - Grand Prix Freestyle

Today I elected to stay in my nice warm bed instead of getting up to watch all the freestyles, but I have comments on the top eight combinations. The lovely commentator for TopIberian thoughtfully kept quiet during the freestyles themselves, making her remarks about the test between riders, and allowing viewers to really hear the music. The rides were nice, but often lacking that last bit of polish. Some people had some trouble making transitions that were really with their music and a few others had trouble keeping the quality of the movements while also keeping up with their music, but these were minor flaws that come with the extra difficulty of putting together and riding a kur.  


Catherine Henriquet & Paradieszauber: 70.350%

• There was an organizing hiccough at the start of Henriquet's test: they didn't have the right music for her! And they couldn't find the right music. This is really hard on Henriquet, who would have been all focused and warmed up to enter, and then spent several long minutes walking around and standing at the music booth before the crew found the right track.
• In the first halt Paradieszauber did not put all four feet fully on the ground. The pair had good rhythm in the extended trot but it could have been more ground covering. In the piaffe pirouette that followed, the piaffe became quite small. Henriquet kept the horse quite uphill in two tempis on a half circle, and then executed very straight, uphill ones on the centerline. The canter music was very dramatic and seemed a bit much for Paradieszauber's rather light-footed but small canter. The canter pirouette left had some strides that jumped together behind; the one to the right was smaller and with a better canter quality. The half-passes in both trot and canter were of good quality, with the horse soft in the body and reaching well laterally. In today's passage, however, Henriquet did not quite maintain enough energy and rhythm. The test had a quite high degree of difficulty with movements following quickly after one another including canter pirouettes to half-passes and ones immediately after twos. 

Tommie Visser & Vingino: 72.125%

• Visser began his program with very nice piaffe quarter-pirouettes in good rhythm and nice activity, with the horses croup lowered. The music for the extended trots had lots of percussion, and did not fit the horses rhythm which was quite slow and needed to come more forward from behind. Vingino showed good crossing in his half-passes but they needed to be a little quicker and less passage-y in the tempo. The flying changes in the twos had plenty of spring, but the horse jumped through better to the left that to the right. The extended walk became quite nicely relaxed through the back. For a number of the incidental flying changes the horse was ahead of Visser's aids. The canter pirouettes were in good uphill balance but were quite big. At the end again, Visser again executed very good regular active piaffes and an engaged, if somewhat tense, passage. 

Anne van Olst & Netto: 69.975%

• At the entrance, Netto' passage was quite slow and not sufficiently active behind. The second piaffe was much better in stepping up and being quick behind to match a little bit more the expressive front. In extended trot, Netto needs to lengthen more the frame and steps. The extended walk was quite short in the frame and did not have sufficient over-track. There was a mistake in the twos, and that canter pirouette that followed them was sitting but got far too slow in the canter rhythm. That second canter pirouette, on the other hand, kept a good canter though it was significantly bigger. The piaffe was more active behind today but still needs to stay more in place; the final piaffe had some double-steps. I except that with experience, this pair will produce steadier tests that show off Netto's quality. 

Carl Hester & Fine Time: 74.400%

• The first passage was very energetic and stepping under well. However, the transition to piaffe did not quite go through and the piaffe rhythm never quite got established. The second piaffe was more regular but was a little bit stuck in front. Fine Time almost broke into canter in their third extended trot, which was a shame because his other extensions had nice power from behind and good ground cover. The half passes were smooth and in correct bend, but the horse could reach out more with the shoulder sideways. The canter pirouette left followed two-tempi changes and was very nice in maintaining the canter, but could sit more. The canter half passes had better lateral reach that the trot half-passes. The canter pirouette right was more uphill. The passage half-passes for the final centerline were expressive and had good crossing. Hester rode precisely to the music, which was dramatic without overwhelming the horse. 

Pierre Subileau & Talitie: 70.450%

• After the first centerline, Subileau began with huge trot half-passes with lots of swing. Unfortunately, the passage half-passes became a little slow behind. The piaffe came up nicely in front but was a little stuck behind. The canter half passes were energetic and stepped well sideways and forward, but the horse sometimes became slightly unsteady in the contact. The canter pirouette left was very resistant. The tempi changes were uphill and well engaged. The final piaffe had the best activity behind. The music over all was a little bit much, but the choreography had good musical transitions to match the transitions in the gaits. 

Charlotte Dujardin & Uthopia: 81.600%

• In an example of how a freestyle can really be used to show off the strengths of a horse, Dujardin's test began with a power extended trot down the centerline. As in the Grand Prix, there was some unsteadiness in the transition to and rhythm of the piaffe. Uthopia's passage was really expressive in front and springing from behind. The second piaffe had slightly better rhythm, though there was a double step in the transition to piaffe and a few steps of the passage afterward were a little uneven behind. The extended walk stretched nicely but could have been looser through the back to get more over-track. The canter pirouette left was very small and really sitting but sometimes a bit big in the steps around. Dujardin rode a lovely light footed flat serpentine of two-tempi changes. The second canter pirouette kept very good canter. Before turning up the final centerline, Uthopia showed a lovely soft transition from huge extended trot to airy and effortless passage. 

Anders Dahl & Wie Atlantico de Ymas: 73.525%

• The first piaffe was very regular and even from front to back, though the second piaffe lost some of its rhythm. The half-pass right had a nice trot but the haunches were lagging slightly, the half-pass left was more parallel but lost some of the engagement of the trot. The extended walk did not show much over-track. The canter pirouette left was small and uphill. The one-tempi changes that followed were short and rather flat. The strides in the two-tempi changes were bigger. The transition from canter to piaffe on the final centerline stuck a little at first and the piaffe became a little frantic and Dahl tried to get Wie Atlantico active again. The tempo and energy of the music seemed decently appropriate for the horse and the transitions in it were good. 

Jessica Michel & Riwera: 74.025%

• Michel's test was starting with nice energy, but unfortunately Riwera broke into canter and at the end of the extended trot. The passage afterwards was uneven, and then the piaffe was very small. The pair was not quite in harmony in all the trot and piaffe-passage work. Her music is a version of the Totilas music in few parts! The canter pirouettes were small and uphill really carrying weight behind in lovely way—obedient and controlled. The canter music had a good rhythm for the horse but did not have much variation. The canter half-passes were really nicely balanced uphill and stepped energetically sideways. The final trot extension could have shown longer strides, but was uphill and powerful.