Super strong Danish CDI3 Grand Prix Special at Blue Hors today
Blue Hors Zepter and Daniel Bachmann Andersen - photo credit: Thomas Bisgaard
Top top level for today’s CDI3 Grand Prix Special at Blue Hors in Denmark
A true pleasure to follow the Danish top riders today, showing so much potential for the future with top horses.
And today’s top horse is a horse with all 3 basic gaits, expression, power and suppleness, all put together for the demanding top sport. It was certainly not just top 3 showing top qualities.
H2R comments during the tests today:
Blue Hors Zepter DEN - super halt, good diagonal, well balanced uphill half pass left, good transition passage, good passage/extension, superb half pass right swinging uphill power, passage becomes sharper, good walk tour, small misunderstanding into 1st piaffe but well managed, nice 2 piaffe with good transitions, super canter half passes, super 2 times, small error hind parallel for 1 times, super sit and balance for both pirouettes, nice final small lack of forward search for final meters.
Blue Hors Zatchmo DEN - lack bit more steady halt, good diagonal, good half pass right, nice transition passage, need bit more let go for extension, good half pass left, good walk tour, bit cautious 1st piaffe, good passage, better 2nd piaffe, good transition to canter, error change between half passes, good series, super straight one times, super quality 1st pirouette, 2nd short neck into but nice balanced, good transition to trot, super nice final.
Heiline’s Danciera DEN - bit unbalanced halt hind, expressive diagonal, active supple half pass right, smooth in and out passage with lovely suspension, supple half pass left, trend 79,5%after trot! nice relaxed walk tour, good into 1st piaffe bit unbalanced steps, better balance for 2nd piaffe smooth transitions, good into canter, good half passes, super series, good extension, good pirouettes with nice timing, nice 1 times, easy transition to trot, super nice final bit forward final piaffe.
VIDEO - Anne Troensegaard with Trakehner gelding Kipling TSF winner of CDI3 Intermediaire I at Blue Hors
Kipling TSF and Kipling TSF - photo credit: H2R
Today Anne managed to keep Kipling focused all the way and showing a powerful and expressive test without any technical issues. Lovely balanced trot tour all the way, good walk and solid canter tour, showing a bit of tensions for some moments, but Anne manage to keep Kipling focused.
Impressive 77,324%!
VIDEOS - 🇩🇰CDI3 Grand Prix freestyle podium today at Blue Hors
Bakkely´s Onandt and Lone Bang Larsen
Enjoy the three Danish ladies in top of todays international Grand Prix freestyle.
🥇76,655% Bakkely´s Onandt and Lone Bang Larsen
🥈74,120% Rustique and Mai Tofte Olesen
🥉74,115% Aston Martin and Helene Melsen
See the full results here.
VIDEOS - Impressive Danish dominance for today's CDI3 Grand Prix at Blue Hors
Overall very strong tests from all Danish combinations with very few technical issues and also clearly reflected by the scoreboard with 7 combinations in the absolute top of the class, while just one Danish combination Mai Tofte Olesen and her long time Grand Prix partner finished just outside the placements today.
Enjoy the Danish combinations from 3rd place (No 1 and 2 are public in a separate news earlier today).
Thank you to Jørgen Konge for capturing all the videos. Saturday and Sunday Zibrasport will be live streaming from the entire event - price 99 dkr. (link available via H2R calendar).
VIDEOS - Super comeback for Blue Hors Zepter with Daniel Bachmann Andersen in today's CDI3 Grand Prix
Blue Hors Zepter and Daniel Bachmann Andersen - photo credit: Thomas Bisgaard
Totally 🇩🇰Danish dominance for tonights CDI3 Grand Prix at Blue Hors
As the class is still running the result is still not definite, but no one can touch Blue Hors Zepter and Daniel Bachmann in the leader position with impressive 78,717%. Zepter has been out of competition since last year in Stuttgart due to an injury but is fit for fight again showing a lot of high quality for today’s CDI3 Grand Prix, though a tiny bit rusty for the regularity of the passage tours, and for sure not asked for full power by Daniel.
The 8 year old Danish Warmblood mare Heiline´s Danciera with Carina Cassøe Krüth wants to play with the big ones, even though Danciera is still very inexperienced at this level, the test is shown with so much natural power and expression all the way, no technical issues and with just some tiny unbalanced moments for the piaffe tours. Seen from the sideline they looked even closer to Daniel than the scoreboard tells.
Today we saw two Danish Olympic combinations! Judge for yourself here below.
While the class is still missing the final combination it still looks like a pure international 🇩🇰night at Blue Hors with only Danish combinations in top 7!
VIDEO top 3 - Betina Jæger and Belstaff winner of national Grand Prix at Blue Hors today
Belstaff and Betina Jæger - photo credit: Thomas Bisgaard
VIDEO of top 3 - Young Alexander Helgstrand winner of national Prix Sct. Georg at Blue Hors today
Greven´s Sa´Va and Alexander Helgstrand - photo credit: Lily Forado
Grevens Sa´Va and Alexander Helgstrand 73,903%:
Franklin and Betina Jæger 73,202%:
Slæbækgårds Santino and Michael Søgaard 72,631%:
Placed combinations:
VIDEOS - Great national Intermediaire II debuts for both Blue Hors St. Schufro and Blue Hors Zee Me Blue
Nanna Merrald and Gørklintgårds Quater Boy - photo credit: H2R
The international CDI3 event at Blue Hors this weekend takes parallel place with a huge national event, where today was with Intermediaire II debut for more exciting combinations.
It was pure Blue Hors podium by Nanna Merrald with winner position for Gørklintgårds Quater Boy with 72,939%, 2nd place again for Nanna this time with her debut stallion Blue Hors St. Schufro with 72,894% and 3rd for another Inter II debut for Blue Hors Zee Me Blue with Daniel Bachmann Andersen.
Videos of top 3 from today’s Intermediaire II captured by Jørgen Konge. The entire class is available via Facebook “Heste arrangementer, oplevet af Jørgen Konge”.
Nanna Merrald with Gørklintgårds Quater Boy:
Nanna Merrald with Blue Hors St. Schufro:
Daniel Bachmann Andersen with Blue Hors Zee Me Blue:
See the entire results here.
OLD stallion licensing and auction comes up 21 - 23 November
39 stallions are selected for the licensing
As usual there is only presentation videos of the stallions for both licensing and auction.
Asgard´s Ibiza is at top of the list with 4 sons for the licensing.
Could be very valuable for everyone to have a look at all the possible new breeding stallions, and not just the ones available at the auction.
Nevertheless there has been a few public videos after the pre-selection and particular stallion caught H2R attention - he looks like a Champion.
HP Valentino by Vitalis - Apache - Fürst Romancier, bred by HP Horses and owned by Helgstrand Dressage.
H2R favorites for the auction:
See the collection of stallions for licensing and auction here.
World Cup entries for Stuttgart including young British Charlotte Fry with KWPN stallion Everdale
Charlotte Fry and Everdale - photo credit: Van Olst Horses
15 - 17 November with 3rd FEI World Cup leg at Stuttgart
CDI4 and World Cup entries:
HANN auction 9 November with video from the training
Another huge collection comes up for the auction this weekend. Many interesting breeding combinations but just a few horses with good qualities.
Among them no 1 here below look like the coming top price.
See the entire collection here.
Most expensive horse by Shomari S at DSP riding horses auction sold for 54.000 euro
Presentation video of no 16 HERE.
Full list of prices here below, but the hammer price for no 16 was 54.000 euro sold to Austria.
Norwegian Grand Prix rider Cathrine Rasmussen winner of 4 year old national indoor championship
Cathrine Rasmussen and Hesselhøj Gnags. Private photo.
Norwegian Cathrine Rasmussen is a very experienced Grand Prix rider with more talented young horses at her own stable at Kristiansand, and she is also a long time business partner and co-owner of more top horses from Helgstrand Dressage like the stallions Valverde and new World Champion Jovian.
Back in 2018 at Danish Warmblood spring auction which takes place during the stallion licensing in March Cathrine Rasmussen purchased the 2,5 year old Danish Warmblood Premium stallion Hesselhøj Gnags by Grand Galaxy Win / Tailormade Lancelot, bred by Dorthe and Hans Jørgen Hoeck, DEN.
Since the preparation for the stallion performance test last autumn pro-rider Allan Grøn has been responsible for the riding and baby education of Gnags, and they have been successful winning a preliminary round for the Danish national federation Young Horse Championship mid September, and were then qualified for the finals. At the finals mid October Hesselhøj Gnags and Allan Grøn were placed 7th.
Right after the Danish championships Gnags moved as planned to Cathrine Rasmussens own yard in Norway, and as Cathrine tells: “He is such a handsome young horse, well behaved, very nice to handle and not least quite easy to take over from Allan Grøn, who has done a great job with him. So when I realised this opportunity to start him, here in Norway at home soil, for the indoor national championship, it was an easy decision.”
Cathrine and Gnags won both yesterday’s preliminary test with 86,4% and today’s final with 87,2%.
Clip from today’s test:
VIDEO - Escolar with another top performance winning CDI4 Grand Prix Special today at Oldenburg
Annabel Frenzen with Kiefferhof´s Imperius with last ticket for Nürnberger Burg-Pokal final today
Kiefferhof´s Imperius by Imperio / Florestan I and Annabel Frenzen.
12 finalists ready for the prestigious final in December in Frankfurter Festhalle
Huge judging disagreement (from 67% to 75%) about Top Gear and Isabel Freese today which seems to be the reason why they didn’t get the ticket for the final.
🇩🇰Danish Dufour and Bachmann Andersen each with two horses in top 12 at FEI World Ranking
Historical FEI World Ranking with two Danish riders each with two horses in top 12
Nice and easy CDI4 Grand Prix victory today for Hubertus Schmidt with Escolar
Smooth and effortless test by Reitmeister Hubertus Schmidt with 10 year old Westfalian stallion Escolar. Nothing seems to difficult and the entire test is shown with nice forward flow, only minor issue is at the zigzag canter with a transition with a small change for one transition.
British Laura Tomlinson is ready with a very interesting just 9 year old mare by Bordeaux / Florestan I. Today with some judging disagreement, but for sure an interesting mare with top qualities and a real Laura horse.
FEI PRESS RELEASE - Werth pips Dujardin in exciting second leg at Lyon
It’s three-in-a-row at the French fixture for the defending series champion
Germany’s Isabell Werth showed exactly why she is known as The Queen of international dressage when, on her debut in the 2019/2020 FEI Dressage World Cup™ Western European League at the second leg in Lyon, France today, she produced yet another of her right-royal victories.
Partnering the 13-year-old gelding Emilio she was pinned into second place in yesterday’s Grand Prix won by Great Britain’s Charlotte Dujardin and her latest shining star, the 10-year-old mare Mount St John Freestyle. But today the German legend did what she does best and fought back to win the Lyon leg for the third consecutive year when putting a massive 87.090 on the board.
There was great anticipation of the clash between Werth, who has taken the series title a total of five times including the last three in succession, and Dujardin who was twice crowned champion with the great Valegro. It was at the 2014 Final in Lyon that the British rider first lifted the coveted FEI Dressage World Cup™ trophy, and fans are super-excited to see her back fighting for the supremacy she held in the sport during the heady years before Valegro’s retirement in December 2016. She’s aiming for a spot at the 2020 Final in Las Vegas, USA next April so made a great start to her points-campaign when collecting the maximum 20 today - as defending champion Werth doesn’t need to collect points, instead she is only obliged to compete twice with her horse of choice in order to qualify.
Werth is the ultimate competitor, already relishing the return of potentially her biggest rival over the coming season and beyond. She always says that competing against the best raises everybody’s game.
"Welcome back Charlotte! It’s good to have the best in the field, and that is also what the public like to see! It’s great to have Charlotte away from her island - now the World Cup season will be really exciting!"
Isabell Werth (GER)
said the lady who is herself a longtime legend, with more medals in her trophy cabinet than any other athlete in the history of equestrian sport.
When she came into the ring, fifth-last to go, she was chasing the leading score of 80.015 set by compatriot, Frederic Wandres, riding Duke of Britain. And the crowd were clapping even before she started. “It was a wonderful crowd, the stands were full and the atmosphere was great. This is the second time I rode this Freestyle with this music and I really like it. I’m really happy and proud of Emilio. When you ride the last line and the crowd starts to clap you know you are in a good position!” Werth said after putting that 87.090 up in lights, despite taking the time out during her test to signal, on three occasions, for her music level to be turned up.
She was still holding sway when, last to go, Dujardin came into the ring, aware that her mare was more tense today. “Yesterday at the prize-giving she was quite stressed and today when she saw so many people she thought we were doing another prizegiving. I felt her stressed and a little worried going into the arena but I’m very proud and happy with how she behaved. She lacks experience and I have to keep her with me, but this was super experience for the future and I think she will become hard to beat!”, she said after putting 83.925 on the board for runner-up spot.
Dujardin is already looking down the road to the series Final, and the experience her mare can pick up along the way. “I will go to Olympia (London, GBR) and this will again be a big show with a big crowd and a great atmosphere. Then I plan to go to Amsterdam and hopefully Las Vegas!” she pointed out.
Third-placed Wandres, who posted a mark of 80.015, was delighted with his result. “When I saw the rider-list here I thought it could be difficult to do well, but now being third behind the two Dressage Queens is fantastic! With Duke it is special as we learned together. It is now our second Grand Prix season and we keep progressing”, he said.
Today’s winning Freestyle score was just fractionally below a personal-best for Werth and Emilio as a combination, and the lady who is in the privileged position of having multiple top-rides including her two super-mares Weihegold and Bella Rose is delighted that the 2019/2020 Western European League is off to such an impressive start. “Herning (the first leg in Denmark) has already taken place and the level was already very high. It is not only Charlotte but lots of good riders taking part, so it will be interesting to see what will happen in Vegas”, said the rider on whose home ground in Stuttgart (GER) the third round of the 11-leg league will take place in two weeks’ time.
Result here
WEL Standings here
Charlotte is back!
Photo credit: PSV
Press release from Longines Equita Lyon, Concours Hippique International
FEI Dressage World Cup Grand Prix presented by CREARA // CHARLOTTE IS BACK !
British rider Charlotte Dujardin was the fourth rider to enter the dressage arena for the FEI Dressage World CupTM Grand Prix presented by CREARA, and she managed to put in a great performance to hold off the competition. Taking first place in the provisional ranking with 79.978%, she held on to her lead throughout the class, even finishing ahead of Isabell Werth, who scored 77.826%.
This morning's result in Lyon represented a major comeback for the English star. Indeed, she had not competed in Lyon since 2014, riding her famous Valegro. Today, Charlotte Dujardin introduced the ten-year-old Mount St John Freestyle to the judges. It was a first for her horse, which was participating in its first FEI World Cup class. “I’m so happy. This was Mount's first indoor World Cup class. She is really courageous and has worked a lot for this event. I felt great and I think it was one of the best dressage tests we have done together. Looking forward to tomorrow, I adore Freestyle and I love my music - The Snow Queen! - and my horse loves it too! This is the second time that I'll be presenting this routine. It's great music for horseback riding."
The event was also a first for Anne-Sophie Serre and her very young mare Actuelle de Massa. Tenth in the final ranking with a score of 70.565%, the French rider can be extremely proud of her performance. The couple performed a very pretty, fluid routine, under the watchful eye of the French coaches. When she left the arena, Anne-Sophie could not hide her joy: "This is a first for me and my horse in a World Cup! I am really happy about the way I felt in the arena and with how Actuelle behaved. She was really concentrated despite her young age and the little experience she has at this level. This is just our fifth Grand Prix together, so she is newcomer at this elite level. So, I am really pleased to be part of the event and with my horse's performance. Tomorrow I'll be doing my third Freestyle to music test, but I was particularly under pressure today, because the first class is often decisive for the rest of the competition. So, I have done what I set out to do, so far. I did a little over 70% by doing a routine without pushing things too much, so now it's just about having fun!"
The top French rider in the ranking was Morgan Barbaçon-Mestre on her faithful Sir Donnerhall II Old, with 72.109%. The couple finished eighth in the class. Finally, a quick word about the third French couple involved. Despite their 13th place with a score below 70 (69.739%), Amorak and Stéphanie Brieussel completed a nice, smooth dressage test. "I am very happy with the performances of all three of them, since they managed to complete the tests without making any faults, as they say," said Emmanuelle Schramm, Deputy Technical Director in charge of dressage for the French Equestrian Federation.
1 – Charlotte Dujardin (GBR) and Mount St John Freestyle – 79.978%
2 – Isabell Werth (GER) and Emilio – 77.826%
3 – Jessica von Bredow-Werndl (GER) and Zaire-E – 76.435%