FEI European Dressage Championships 2013 - Grand Prix Freestyle

Charlotte Dujardin & Valegro: 91.250%

• Valegro was, as always, a little slow out of the halt in his freestyle, but once his wonderful passage and piaffe begin, it was easily forgotten. The rhythm and elasticity of the half-passes was lovely, both in trot and canter. The extended trots had such articulated strides that reached powerfully across the arena. The extended walk was relaxed and striding. Valegro's canter pirouettes were uphill and small, with every step measured and balanced; the tempi changes, near perfect. The only mistake was a little lurch out of the last pirouette; every other step in the test was exactly correct. The final piaffe pirouette was impeccable: closed at the base, springing evenly from behind off the ground. Dujardin kept Valegro consistently in a beautiful round frame through his body. With such a deliberate and correct test, Valegro was untouchable.

Helen Langehanenberg & Damon Hill: 87.286%

• Damon Hill entered on his super high-stepping and engaged passage, then powering down the centerline on extended trot. The trot half-passes had huge stretch sideways. The piaffes crept forward or lost a bit of rhythmicality, and a few pulled down slightly. The extended walk was enormous and supple. Langehanenberg transitioned effortlessly from collected walk to extended canter. The first canter pirouette was sitting but very big. The tempi changes jumped boldly up and forward, but in both lines of ones there was a stride where the horse jumped together or late behind. The final extended trot polished off her test with Damon Hill's easy power. With a couple rhythm errors in the trot tours, mistakes in the ones, and a little unsteadiness, she couldn't quite catch Dujardin, even with Damon Hill's jaw-dropping talent. 

Adelinde Cornelissn & Parzival: 86.393%

• Parzival moves in the arena with so much life, and Cornelissen did a lovely job achieving control without tightness. The extended trots and half-passes were not ridden with full power. The piaffes were absolutely beautiful: totally even, bouncing off the ground. The trot half-passes had good crossing, but could have had a little more sideways energy. The extended canter showed good lift in the shoulder and lots of power. The pirouettes were tiny and absoluetly balanced sitting collection. Parzival's final piaffe pirouette was super; he was stepping under himself with such spring. And, of course, Cornelissen's timing was impeccable.

Edward Gal & Undercover: 84.911%

• Gal let Undercover move much more forward today to excellent effect. The passage sprang better forward, and the piaffes were amazingly light off the ground. The trot half-passes were soft and swinging. In extended trot, Undercover should still lengthen his frame more and step under better behind, but covered ground well. The canter half-passes reached sideways so softly in lovely bend. The tempis traveled across the across the arena well in each stride, as well as springing off the ground. The canter pirouettes were active and small, with the first showing decent sit. The transition from canter to passage was very difficult. The final passage to a non-halt was elevated and lovely. 

Kristina Sprehe & Desperados: 81.875%

• The electronic energy of Sprehe's music was great for Desperados's lively movement. The piaffes crept forward, but were bouncy and light in front. The supple and energetic half-passes were ridden with a perfectly smooth change of direction. The strides of the extended trots were huge. Sperhe rode quite big canter pirouettes with lots of sit. The one tempis showed a clear, jumping canter, but were a touch stuck. The final passage showed such natural suppleness and spring. The test was not super controlled, but beautifully dynamic.

Carl Hester & Uthopia: 81.661%

• The extended trots showed such effortless suspension. The passage half-passes sprang sideways—the best of his excellent passage—changing direction to swinging trot half-passes. The piaffe was still quite insecure, with slightly lurching transitions into the elevated passage. The walk was tight behind. Uthopia was lightfooted and uphill in his ground-covering tempi changes. The contact to the bridle in canter was a bit hesitant. The tiny pirouettes (except for one to the right) showed a lovely clean canter. The music changes a great deal in its emotion and volume, highlighting each movement to its full potential. 

Anna Kasprzak & Donnperignon: 80.161%

• Kasprzak started her test on Donnperiginon's super canter pirouettes on the centerline, both small, engaged, and uphill. The piaffes had a little more lift than usual, though the horse struggled with a clear rhythm. The music really carried Donnperignon's driven extended trot. The walk tour was a little tense in the strides. Kasprzak's choreography includes the very difficult canter pirouette to canter half-passes with counter change of hand to canter pirouette. She missed a change in her two tempis on a circle. The one tempis jumped up across the diagonal with much power. 

Tinne Vilhelmson-Silfvén & Don Auriello: 80.071%

• Vilhelmson-Silfvén entered on Don Auriello's floating extended trot. The trot work, unfortunately, looked particularly slow behind today, though there were some very good moments behind in the passage half-passes. The half-passes in trot were even, well-bent, and showed nice crossing. Don Auriello steps under very nicely in his tempi changes, but could jump forward a bit more. Vilhelmson-Silfvén rode a one-handed pirouette in each direction on the centerline. Her test had a very high degree of difficulty with movements stacked one after the other and still well-executed.  

Nathalie zu Sayn-Wittgenstein & Digby: 79.554%

• Nathalie entered on half-passes that seemed particularly inelastic, with Digby stumbling at the end of the second. Her second pair of half-passes had much better swing. The springy piaffes had a near perfect frame through the body. The extended walk—placed between canter half-passes—had good activity and stretched nicely into the bridle. The one tempi changes got a little short in the strides towards the end. The pirouettes were super small, with Digby showing lots of sit without getting close behind. The lines of the test were ridden such precision, clearly showing her intent and hitting the musical transitions every time. Zu Sayn Witegenstein jumped up and down with delight when she received her excellent score. What a wonderful test for the charming Digby to retire on.

Fabienne Lütkemeier & D'Agostino: 77.411%

• Lütkemeier chose very dramatic classical music for her test. The first passage was right on the beat of the music, but had a couple double-steps behind. The extended trots were very good.  Lütkemeier seemed a bit behind her music at the end of the trot and showed a particularly disorganized piaffe pirouette. The walk was lovely, with big strides. The canter pirouettes turned a bit around the middle of the horse. The tempi changes were dead straight and jumped up and forward with a lovely canter. In extended canter, D'Agostino dropped his croup to push across the diagonal with enormous energy.

Minna Telde & Santana: 76.589%

• Telde entered on a huge passage that was a little speedy for her music. In the super suspended trot half-passes, however, she was right on it. The passage often became a bit high behind. The extended canter was an explosion, not hurried or tense, but leaping across the arena. The tempi changes were uphill with lots of jump. In piaffe, the horse crept forward quite a bit and the the head was often unsteady, but Telde chose a piaffe half-pirouette on her final line that improved the movement. The Queen choreography was excellent.

Victoria Max-Theurer & Augustin: 75.518%

• Augustin propelled himself very nicely forward in extended trot. The first piaffe was a little sluggish.  The walk tour was relaxed, with Augustin showing off his beautiful overstride. At the end, Theurer picked up her reins with hardly any contact in the curb. The tempi changes got quite short in the stride, even though they jumped forward. The horse really sat in the slightly big canter pirouettes. Augustin got upset by the crowds clapping at the end of the test, creating multiple double beats in the final passage, which before had shown lovely spring.

Danielle Heijkoop & Siro: 75.304%

• The first extended trot was a little hectic and irregular. The piaffes were excellent with Siro showing good rhythm and shoulder freedom. Heijkoop did not show much half-pass in trot, going only from centerline to rail. The first pirouette was quite big. Heijkoop missed a change in her canter half-pass changes of hand. The one tempi changes were planty airborne, but Siro pulled down slightly in the bridle. The passage had more elevation in the left front diagonal pair, but was consistently big and powerful.

Claudia Fassaert & Donnerfee: 74.786%

• Fassaert rode to sparkly versions of Disney tunes; though not my favourite sound, the tone was appropriate for this light-moving mare. The piaffes were held for a long time, but were quite small. The two tempi changes hit the music exactly. Donnerfee sprang up and forward in her huge extended canter. There was a mistake in the one tempis. The canter pirouettes were rather big. Fassaert's test ended on an extended trot that powered down the centerline. 

Michael Eilberg & Half Moon Delphi: 74.232%

• Their test began on Delphi's lovely expressive piaffe and passage. The piaffe had excellent sit and elevation. The half-passes flowed very nicely sideways, but could have shown a little more lateral reach. Again, the contact was unsteady in extended walk, and the music in the pace was too quick for the beats. Eilberg executed nice two-time changes on a circle, but with two mistakes. The double pirouettes were both uphill with a very clean canter beat, though the one to the right was a slight bit bigger. Unfortunately Eilberg made a mistake in the second line of ones. In canter, the mare frequently became a bit behind the vertical. The final line of passage and piaffe got the crowd clapping to the music, but the mare held on, and Eilberg even finished in one-handed passage.