CDI Villach Treffen 2013 - Grand Prix Freestyle

Again, I decided to slack off and only watch a few rides of the Grand Prix Freestyle, but I couldn't resist seeing how Edward Gal did on "home" turf (okay, not really). The freestyles I saw all were ridden with nice contact from supple horses, making them a real pleasure to watch.

Edward Gal & Undercover: 83.450%

• The trot work from this combination's ride was exemplary, adding more suppleness and relaxation to their usual activity and power. The extended trots did not only reach up and forward in front, but had power from behind creating good ground-cover. They were also more uphill than usual. Gal increased the tempo of the collected trot, getting Undercover to carry and step under more. The trot half-passes were powerful, cadenced, and in soft bend—the best I've seen from this combination. The power of the piaffes really moved over Undercover's back into a nice frame. The canter work was slightly tense today. Gal rode tiny, active pirouettes, but the canter was almost too quick and Undercover turned more around his middle than his haunches. The two-tempi changes were nice, but the ones were not sufficiently ground covering. Even with the small weaknesses in the canter, it is hard to beat Gal's precise riding and the seeming effortlessness of the test. 

Milczarek Katarzyna & Ekwador: 75.500%

• Milczarek rides Ekwador in a lovely soft frame: he is up in the bridle and moves through his spine into a contact where his nose is just in front of the vertical. The passage has nice cadence and elevation, though could perhaps Ekwador could step more underneath himself in it. The piaffe was the weakest part of this test: it was very small and slow in the rhythm. Ekwador's elastic trot carried through into half-passes with good crossing. Unfortunately, to the right, the half-pass slightly lacked bend and in both the haunches were lagging slightly too much. In his relaxed extended walk, Ekwador stretched into the bit and showed good over-track. The pirouettes were the highlight of the test: closed at the base, uphill, in-place, light in the contact, and maintaining a good collected canter. Both the one- and two-tempi changes were uphill, straight, light-footed, and ground-covering. Milczarek's music is very pretty and it's lightness suits the apparent lightness of her huge horse, though if I were to nit-pick, the transitions in the music are not always smooth. This test was the best I have seen from this pair and left a wonderful impression.

Juan Manuel Munoz Diaz & Fuego de Cardenas: 79.225%

• Fuego showed his excellent piaffe and passage which have lots of expression and strength behind. Although they lacked some cadence, the extended trots were very ground-covering and showed lengthening of the frame and stride. Fuego sometimes became slightly short in the neck. The collected walk was diligent, but slightly short in the strides behind. There was much better over-track and relaxation in the extended walk. The transition from extended walk to collected canter was effortless, a reflection of the horse's training and attentiveness. The canter pirouettes were executed in a good collected canter, but were slightly big. The one-handed changes down the centerline were straight, effortless and uphill, but Fuego could have stepped under more. The music—the same as from the 2010 WEG—was still great for the horse.