Rio 2016 Olympic Team Dressage, Day 1 - Grand Prix

If you want to know about every or any ride from yesterday's first day of Olympic Grand Prix competition, here's the full run down!

Suzanne Hearn & Remmington: 65.343%

• Hearn rode Remmington in a frame that was nicely up and open in the throatlatch, though sometimes Hearn’s soft adjustments would make the horse tilt a little. The first extended trot was rather irregular. The trot half-passes lacked energy and didn’t go all the way to the rail at B. The piaffe was a bit slow, but clearly diagonal and springy. The extended walk needed more impulsion, but collected was clear and relaxed. The horse’s passage had rather limited elevation, though it improved after the second piaffe. Hearn had trouble getting the twos going, and when she did they jumped quite a bit from side to side. The canter zig-zag was energetic, but the changes were flat. There was another error in the ones. The first canter pirouette was controlled, but not uphill, while for the second, the horse turned around his middle rather than around a carrying hindleg. The final centerline was pleasant, with Remmington’s head just wobbling a bit from side to side.

Valentina Truppa & Chablis: 65.971%

• Chablis looked bouncy and energetic entering the arena, but Truppa appeared not to ask for any extended trot across any of the diagonals. The trot half-passes were flowing, but Truppa rode them by cheating a bit and letting the haunches lag. Chablis’s passage was springy and light, but in piaffe, the horse never found his rhythm, and for the second Truppa didn’t get even 12 mediocre steps, giving away a lot of points. The twos jumped brightly off the ground and the zig-zag was expertly ridden. The ones has air-time, but didn’t fill up much of the diagonal. Truppa didn’t get much collection for the pirouettes, so they were a bit big and low in front. The final piaffe was the best.

Claudio Castillo Ruiz & Alcaide: 69.814%

• Alcaide is an energetic Spanish horse with a lot of knee action but very little suspension. Castillio Ruiz rode nice swinging trot half-passes that were among the better ones of the day. Both early extended trots were had lots of impulsion, but lacked enough uphill balance. The activity behind in piaffe came with the horse loading his weight a little in front, rather than sitting. The two tempis were big, the extended canter, a little rushed. The changes in the zig-zag were a bit unbalanced, and the first, almost in two parts. The first canter pirouette had a huge first couple of strides; while the second started better, Alcaide broke out of the canter at the end. On the final centerline, it was noticeable that the elevated passage and piaffe jumped a little from side to side, rather than stepping straight.

Akane Kuroki & Toots: 66.900%

• Kuroki had Toots looking very friendly, but needed from the start a little more impulsion. The second extended trot had more power than the first, but the big black gelding got a little heavy in the bridle at the start of the first passage. The passage needed to show more push from underneath the horse and in piaffe, the legs tend to step up and out behind in a bit of a shuffle more than up and under. The two tempis were big and fluid. The first change in the zig-zag was short behind and overall, Kuroki needed a bit more control of the haunches in the zig-zag. The first pirouette was a bit close behind, the second quite nice in the canter and well-balanced. She finished with some nice passage up to the final halt.

Perdro Tavares de Almeida & Xaparro do Vouga: 65.714%

• There was certainly a good Brazilian crowd out there to cheer the arrival of their first home-team rider. The first extended trot was rather irregular with the horse continuing to lean on Almeida’s hand into the trot half-passes. The passage was a bit laboured and the horse got rather deep in the bridle in piaffe. The passage after the walk was significantly more uphill, though it still needed more energy. The half-passes in zig-zag were obedient but showed limited movement sideways. Overall, the test was friendly, but not in front of the leg enough to pick up marks.

Ludovic Henry & After You: 69.214%

• After You is a fancy mover with a lot of front leg action. The horse is clearly loose in the body, but at times this means the horse gets a bit irregular or the haunches swing out. In piaffe, the horse gets so narrow at the base that he is not quite balanced, even though he is quite active behind. Henry did a nice job in the twos keeping them lofty and up in the bridle when the horse showed a little inclination to pull out in the contact. The ones needed to be straighter and there was an error at the end. The horse got quite slow behind and rotated too quickly in the canter pirouettes. The passage on the final centerline was big, but needed more controlled power to really earn the marks.

Dongseon Kim & Bukowski: 68.657%

• Kim started with quite a crooked centerline, but had pleasantly lively trot work. The passage was relaxed and regular, but could have stepped a bit more under behind. The extended walk was quite limited and didn’t really stretch into the bridle. The second piaffe started with quite a bit of engagement, but the horse then got deep in the bridle and heavy in front. The twos were smooth, but small. The zig-zag was quite bold and well-managed. The canter pirouettes needed more elevation in front. The moments where Kim asked Bukowski to stay more up in the bridle were quite nice, and the test would have been even better if he had managed more of them. The passage was definitely the pair’s highlight.

Spencer Wilton & Supernova: 72.686%

• Supernova looked quite impressed by the Rio arena, looking around with big eyes in the first halt. The trot half-passes were very rhythmical and lofty, but a bit slow in rhythm and not really bent. Both extended trots could have been bolder. Wilton had trouble establishing the first piaffe, with the horse getting a little sticky off the ground. The extended walk was active, but the horse was not stretching into the bridle. The second piaffe was rhythmical and straight and the passage out of it quite powerful from behind. Wilton had an error in the ones, which was a bit surprising since they looked to be going smoothly. The first canter pirouette was nicely uphill, but the second lost some of the activity of the canter. Overall, the horse stays short in the neck and leans a little forward in the shoulder despite Wilton’s soft contact and needs to step more from behind into the contact.

Anders Dahl & Selten HW: 69.900%

• Selten looked a little laboured in the trot half-passes, not powering sideways quite enough. The first piaffe was up in front, but rather irregular. There was an early error in the twos. The extended canter was conservative, but still showed Selten’s ability to open up his stride. The ones were quite short. The controlled canter pirouettes needed more support from a more active canter. The final passage and piaffe was nicely elevated, though the piaffe swung a little from side to side. Dahl kept the horse in a very nice open frame, but seemed to be a bit conservative about asking for power from behind, perhaps to keep tension at bay.

Megan Lane & Caravella: 71.286%

• Caravella is a bit ponyish in here movement, but nicely balanced in her movement in front and behind. The extended trots lacked some engagement behind, as did the first passage. The piaffe crept significantly forward, but Lane got the mare to nicely lower her croup. The zig-zag was quite well controlled. The mare shows huge shoulder freedom in the tempis, but could jump up more from behind. Lane rode very pleasant uphill canter pirouettes. The final passage needed more energy from behind, but the piaffe was nicely rhythmical. Lane was the first rider of the day that really gave the impression of having her horse truly in front of the leg.

Allison Brock & Rosevelt: 72.686%

• Brock started with some nice forward riding in the trot, though her stallion wasn’t quite obedient in the bend in the trot half-passes. The extended trots really pushed uphill from behind, but Brock had a little more trouble turning that into carrying power for the passage. The horse looked motivated and relaxed in the extended walk. The second passage and piaffe were small again, but regular. Rosevelt could separate his hindlegs more in general in the canter work, and in fact, the pair had and error in the twos. The zig-zag was a little flat. The one tempis were small, but accurate. The canter in the pirouettes was also flat. Overall, the trot work left the best impression. The work was quite consistent, but the horse needed to show a little more power in the work that really required him to carry behind, like the passage and canter pirouettes.

Christian Zimmerman & Aramis 606: 63.271%

• Zimmerman had quite a bit of trouble with the first halt, stepping back and sideways before finally trotting off. They had a big rhythm error before starting decent trot half-passes. The horse then stopped before the first piaffe. The passage after had potential, with nice elevation, but Aramis again looked ready to put on the breaks. Aramis showed an elevated uphill extended canter, but Zimmerman looked to be working for every stride. The canter pirouettes showed a clear canter. The final passage was lofty, if not the most energetic.

Yvonne Losos de Muniz & Foco Loco W: 61.300%

• Losos de Muniz rode her horse quite deep in the bridle at many points in the test and often over-bent in a way that restricted the horse’s forward movement. The horse stepped under well in passage, but got a bit croup-high in piaffe. Losos de Muniz again seemed to block the horse from really stretching in the extended walk. There were a few errors in the twos as the horse got rather tense in the back. The first of the ones was short behind and they were quite deep in the bridle. The horse humped his back, getting stuck in the second canter pirouette. Losos de Muniz then had a major rhythm error in the passage in the final centerline.

Mads Hendeliowitz and Jimmy Choo SEQ: 71.771%

• Hendeliowitz raised the bar with half-passes for the day: they were elevated and rythmical. The first piaffe showed activity behind that wasn’t sufficiently matched in front. Jimmy Choo was swinging through the back well in extended walk. The passage was bouncy, but not maintained in the most consistent collection. The twos were ground-covering and the extended canter bold. The changes in the zig-zag were a bit unbalanced. The canter pirouettes seemed to lead a little with the haunches, making it a bit difficult for the horse to really jump from behind. The final centerline was clear and springy.

Julie Brougham & Vom Feinstein: 68.543%

• Brougham started with a diligent square halt. The trot work was very peppy, though the flashy front Vom Feinstein showed in the extended trot wasn’t quite matched behind. There was no halt before the reinback. The passage was bouncy, but not really engaged behind, and the piaffe was small. The extended walk didn’t have the greatest overtrack, but the horse marched energetically forward. The passage after the walk was more under behind. Both sets of tempis didn’t cover a lot of ground, but were light-footed and easy looking. The first canter pirouette was tiny, but a bit resistant; the second, a little flat. Overall, this was a really pleasant test to watch, with horse and rider appearing to be on the same page.

Tanya Seymour & Ramoneur 6: 63.929%

• Ramoneur looked quite jazzed right from the outset and was a bit tight in the body for the trot half-passes. The reinback was frantic and there was no halt before it. The stallion had a tendency to nod his head down in passage, showing a lack of balance. He jigged in the collected walk and Seymour just could not finesse the movements. The horse had a stellar piaffe—sitting and totally rhythmical—with only the tension marring it. There was an error in the early twos and the horse seemed ahead of Seymour’s aids in the zig-zag. The line of ones also contained a mistake. The final centerline was almost a serpentine, and Seymour looked disappointed with her horse’s tension.

Adelinde Cornelissen & Parzival: RET

• Cornelissen nailed the first halt, but Parzival’s tongue was clearly sticking out the side in the first extended trot. The half-passes were surprisingly laboured and the first steps of passage was almost stuck in place and very irregular. I felt quite bad for Adelinde when she retired, but she made the right move. On the walk out, the horse’s tongue was hanging out—such a disappointing start to the day for the Dutch.

Sönke Rothenberger & Cosmo: 77.329%

• This pair, however, brightened the mood. Peppy Cosmo bounced across the arena in the first extended trot, with just a minor rhythm bobble at the end. The first half-pass was fluid, but the haunches were lagging a little. Rothenberger was having a bit of trouble keeping away from the boards, maybe the nerves coming though. The passage had super engagement, but got a bit too open in the frame. The collected walk showed very nice overtrack. After the walk, the passage was more closed in the frame, though the piaffe took a big step forward halfway through. The two tempis were expressive in front and so light-footed. The extended canter was big while appearing to barely touch the ground. The first of the one tempis could have jumped through more, but Rothenberger opened them up well. The pirouettes were big, though the canter activity was good. Cosmo faltered in the down-transition to trot, but then lifted off into a super extended trot. The final piaffe kept quite a bit forward, but the passage was loft and regular. Maybe a bit of nerves made this not Rothenberger’s best test, but it was still unquestionably the best of the day thus far!

Mary Hanna & Boogie Woogie: 69.643%

• This young horse was really pretty and lively, but had quite a few minor contact issues from the start, curling and bobbing a little through the corners and tilting in the half-passes. The horse sat so much in piaffe he had a little trouble picking his hind legs up off the ground. Boogie Woogie really had his knees up in the passage. The twos were lovely and fluid, but started swinging a bit too much and the horse missed a change behind. The canter almost got four-beat in the zig-zag and couldn’t get the last change to come through behind. The first canter pirouette was really sitting in a clear canter rhythm, the second, nearly as good as well. The passage on the final centerline was lofty and uphill and the piaffe solid.

Bernadette Pujals & Rolex: 66.757%

• Rolex is a bit of a clunky mover, but Pujals was all business coming in. The extended trots had plenty of pushing power behind. The piaffe was quite small, but the passage was springy, though it could cover more ground. Pujals lost the rhythm and contact in the second piaffe and the horse humped his back a little. The twos didn’t jump much off the ground, but filled the centerline quite well. Pujals had a mistake in the ones. The canter pirouettes were quite on the forehand. The final passage had good engagement, though the piaffe drifted a little.

Jose Daniel Martín Dockx & Grandioso: 70.829%

• Grandioso really pushes his neck out underneath and needs to reach more into the bridle. Still, the movements are solid and obedient. The flashy extended trot is supported by power behind, but still too tight in the neck. The extended walk was friendly, but didn’t show enough stretching all the way through. Dockx got a step of canter out of the walk before picking up the passage, though the piaffe was strong. The twos were crooked, but forward. The pair had a counting error early in the zig-zag with a change coming a stride late. The ones were expressive, but not really pushing forward from behind. The canter pirouettes were tidy, if not the most uphill. The passage to finish was a little out behind, but the piaffe super straight and rhythmical.

Kiichi Harada & Egistar: 68.286%

• Egistar leans a bit on the bridle and needed more correct bend in the half-passes, though they were fluid. The horse got rather tense at the end of the reinback. The first passage was quite flat and the piaffe small. Harada had the horse very relaxed and moving through the back in the extended walk and so steady in collected walk, picking up marks where he could to make up for weaker elements. The twos were sleepy, but clear. The zig-zag was very laboured to the right. The ones were nice. The canter pirouettes were both very classy: uphill and controlled. Calling the final line passage would be quite generous, but the overall picture was friendly.

Giovana Prado Pass & Zingaro de Lyw: 67.700%

• Prado Pass had a lovely soft seat, but didn’t ride very boldy. The extended trots showed about the energy needed for a good collected trot. The piaffe was very flashy in front, but not very motivated behind, the second showed better matched diagonal pairs. The one tempis were a bit more forward and ground-covering than the twos. The canter pirouettes barely kept any canter rhythm. Still, every step of the test was pleasant and Prado Pass rode totally smoothly.

Stephanie Briuessel & Amorak: 65.114%

• The half-passes early in the test were bouncy and fluid, though the haunches were really lagging in the one to the right. The horse drifted a few meters sideways in the first piaffe after a quite sticky passage. The extended walk had overtrack but no stretch in the neck. The passage and piaffe after the walk was springy, but the horse dropped quite far behind the vertical despite the delicate contact. The twos were clean, though a bit hurried. To call extended canter conservative would be a bit of an understatement. Amorak jumped together for a couple strides at the end of the zig-zag. Briuessel had trouble keeping her horse straight preparing for and exiting from the canter pioruettes. The final passage was looking springy, but the horse exploded for a couple strides before the piaffe.

Fiona Bigwood & Orthilia: 77.157%

• Bigwood rides with the curb rein almost dropped which makes a lot of sense for such a sensitive mare who has a bit of a tendency to pull down. The trot half-passes could have had better bend and a more fluid trot, but both the early extended trots were lofty, with reach in front and pushing power from behind. The extended walk could have had a touch more overstep, but the mare actively reached into the bridle. The passage had such easy engagement. The piaffes needed to be more in place and on the haunches, but just sprang off the ground from one diagonal pair to the other. The twos were a little reserved and could have been more uphill. Bigwood needed to have asked for a little more canter throughout to earn even bigger marks. The canter pirouettes were small and controlled, but could have had a tiny bit more uphill energy. The final passage was so straight and springy and showed no change of rhythm into and out of the piaffe.

Agnete Kirk Thinggaard & Jojo AZ: 72.229%

• The frame on the horse is quite good, with the horse’s nose consistently in front of the bridle. The first extended trot was a touch irregular and the half-passes a little underwhelming. Kirk Thinggaard had another rhythm error in the second extended trot. The piaffe wasn’t huge, but it was on the spot and rhythmical. The passage transition out of collected walk was quite early and the passage could cover a little more ground. Jojo stepped nicely underneath himself in the smooth tempi changes, though he swung his body a touch from side-to-side. Neither canter pirouette was really up in the shoulder. The final centerline showed their best piaffe and passage and a very good final halt.

Kasey Perry-Glass & Dublet: 75.229%

• In an unfortunate early error, Dublet crossed his legs into the first halt. The first extended trot was powerful, but took a little time to develop. The half-passes lacked bend and needed to swing more sideways. The first passage was so lofty and stepped with no change in rhythm to a clear, if slightly small, piaffe. The transition from passage to a forward, stretching extended walk was immediate but smooth. The only fault in the piaffe-passage picture was the slightly too short neck. The two tempis were big and ground-covering and the extended canter truly forward. The zig-zag could have been a bit cleaner, as it was not quite evenly matched across the centerline. The ones, like the twos, were very strong, except for one that was a bit close behind. The canter pirouettes were uphill but a tiny bit big. The final line was super strong, and I think she could have scored higher.

Juliette Ramel & Buriel KH: 74.943%

• This horse is an uphill powerhouse. Ramel was one of the few riders whose horse pushed sideways in the trot half-passes, really showing a good degree of crossing. The passage bounced off the ground with elevation in front and transitioned seamlessly to piaffe and out again, though the horse is a tiny bit more engaged with the right hind than the left occasionally. Buriel could have stretched more into the bridle in the extended walk. The twos were big and powerful. Ramel had some trouble managing the horse’s tension at the beginning of the canter zig-zag and he got a little deep in the frame, and issue that carried over into the twos. Buriel also got quite close to jumping together behind for the pirouette right, but the one to the left was cleaner and up in the shoulder. The horse looked a touch tired on the final centerline: though he sprang off the ground, he started to lean a little on Ramel’s hands.

Edward Gal & Voice: 75.271%

• Voice has such an odd way of going, like his round neck is just stuck on his body disconnected from his rather flat back, making it very difficult for even Gal’s finessed riding to put the whole horse together over the back. Gal had him really wrapped around his legs and reaching sideways for the trot half-passes. Gal asked for almost no second extended trot. The first piaffe was rhythmical but small, and the passage active, but with a hind end swinging around like a turning boat. The transition from the passage to canter was a little resistant. Voice swung his haunches in the two tempis, but unlike Undercover or Totilas, they took up the diagonal. Gal had some trouble controlling the haunches again in the zig-zag and the straighter ones were much less ground-covering. The canter pirouettes were really sitting, but the canter needed more jump. The final passage and piaffe were rhythmical, but needed to come more under behind.

Dorothee Schneider & Showtime: 80.986%

• Schneider picks up a lot of marks by riding a horse that is really even on both sides of his body and straight. The contact is also so soft and consistent, though the horse could seek it more. The first half-pass could have had more bend, while the second was better and both had lots of crossing. The piaffe was closed at the base, but didn’t have quite enough sit. The passage had tons of suspension, but a few irregular steps. The extended walk was huge and active, though as in the other gaits, Showtime needed to reach more into the bridle. The expression in front and behind was really well matched in the passage after the walk and the piaffe had better sit. The transition out of piaffe is a bit of a struggle for the horse though. In the two tempis, the horse gets a bit tense and the canter rhythm for them could have been more fluid. The zig-zag was super well-balanced. Schneider really rode for forward ones and was successful in getting her horse to cover more ground. Showtime got quite braced and stilted in the first canter pirouette, switching leads at the end, and the second was a bit big and rushed. The final extended trot showed lots of power and Showtime really stepped underneath himself, though the final passage was not quite as under behind. The final halt was excellent.