Andrew Hoy and Cheeky Calimbo were impressive in the dressage
It was a quiet start in the Deutsche Bank stadium for the eventing dressage – maybe the German fans were still recovering from the celebration of their win in the FEI Nations Cup Dressage competition the day before or maybe the cold, damp day put off a few spectators. However they should have been there to see some other German heroes and impressive dressage riders
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Paul Tapner was the first rider out for the Australian team riding the dark bay stallion Wickstead Didgeridoo. The 11 year old Irish Sport Horse/TB, bred by Paul and his wife Georgina at Wickstead Farm, was maybe not on his best form today showing a bit of tension in some of his work and giving a couple of nods to the judges when they were not required.
The judges today were C: Christoph HESS (GER) H: Christina KLINGSPOR (SWE) B: Marilyn PAYNE (USA).Both Christoph and Christina are no strangers to Australian riders, having judged them here and in Europe; Christoph was the judge at Melbourne 3 Day International 3 Day Event recently when many riders were unhappy with the discrepancy in scores.The judges pretty much agreed today however and marked Paul’s test down the field with a score of 56
Only two horses later Michael Jung was in the arena and showed the first really good test of the day riding his first horse Halunke FST, a horse he has said may be capable of better dressage than La Biosthetique Sam. Today however, although Halunke took the lead at this point on a score of 39, Sam later outdid him with a score of 36.40 to be in fourth place after the dressage.
The German team coach, Yorkshireman Chris Bartle is one of the happiest looking coaches you will see at a Championships – probably with good reason! As each of his riders came out they were met by a beaming smile and he was clearly very happy when Andreas Ostholt riding So is et came out after a very good test to take the lead on a score of 33.80. Andreas deserves extra marks for looking so fabulous in a uniform and saluting so perfectly – indeed he got a 10 for his final movement, including the salute, from Christina. Not surprisingly, his face was wreathed in a grin too as he exited the arena.
Bill Levett and Silk Stone (above) performed their test well but the very elegant Silk Stone seemed a little tense – many horses were spooking as they first circled the arena and Silk Stone was no exception. Bill settled him in rising trot and then entered in a much more settled frame to put in a good performance. A blip in the rein back and the second flying change brought the score down slightly but the judges marked Bill well for his riding and he certainly looks the part. Bill is not a very tall man but sitting on a horse, his legs seem to stretch down forever and he is an elegant and effective rider. Having finished the test, Silk Stone decided to put in another big spook after completing as if to say “Told you there were gremlins out there”
Murray and Under the Clocks, next to the clock
Murray Lamperd, riding as an individual, is the least experienced Australian rider at this level of international competition but certainly didn’t disgrace himself on the talented thoroughbred Under the Clocks. Their extended trot work still needs some work but they finished above Paul Tapner on a score of 52.60.
The young British riders Gemma Tattersall and Izzy Taylor are both elegant dressage riders too and did good tests as a part of the British team. The British tailcoats are my favourite and make everyone look like Laura B or Charlotte Dujardin, which can be no bad thing. Maybe it’s time the Aussies have a team colour for their tails? At the moment Chris Burton looks as if he is riding for The Netherlands, thanks to his new sponsor, but thank heavens he isn’t.
Chris looked super relaxed as he circled the arena on Holstein Park Leilani and the pair certainly know their job together now. The rain was coming down now but the test was fluid with good transitions and super consistent – just lovely to watch. Chris had a smile on his face as soon as he had finished and this was accompanied by a thumbs up as the scores were announced on his way out – 35.6 and interim second place behind Andreas Ostholt.
But there were still some heavy hitters to come who were to challenge the leaderboard. By the lunch break the beautiful Sara Algotsson-Ostholt, Swedish sister-in-law of the then leader, Andreas, performed a very good test on Reality 39 to slot in just behind Chris, Andreas Dibowski and FRH Butts Leon then moved in to fourth for Germany, Jock Paget and Clifton Lush were in fifth and Michael Jung on Halunke in sixth.
Michael was the first rider on after the lunch break and his Olympic mount La Biosthetique Sam didn’t disappoint to score 36.4 and move into third place. The last seven riders were riding for the teams but first Ingrid Klimke on Tabasco, this time riding as an individual, rode a light and elegant test to move her into second place just ahead of Chris on 34.80.
She was soon trumped by Australia’s Andrew Hoy on the relatively inexperienced Cheeky Calimbo. It was a lovely test to watch and Andrew’s riding is always impressive. This 11 year old gelding by Contendro has a wonderful walk and canter (not a bad trot either!) and performed some great flying changes to pull in several nine’s from the judges and finish on a score of 32.6. National Performance Director Prue Barrett certainly looked happy on the sidelines now!
But Chris Bartle still had Sandra Auffarth up his sleeve, or in the arena and this test shone. Riding her gold medal Olympic mount Opgun Louvo, the young German rider performed a test that just got better and better. Strangely this was the test where the judges seemed to differ with Christophe and Christina having her in first place (which I would agree with but I am no expert) whereas Marilyn Payne had her in 11th place with a variance of 8.4% between Christophe and Marilyn.
The last rider into the arena was the world’s number one – Andrew Nicholson riding Quimbo. I couldn’t quite work out why Andrew’s girth straps were hanging so low and flapping around which to be honest were really distracting me (didn’t seem to bother Quimbo at all!). It wasn’t Andrew’s best test but he seemed really horrified by the score of 40.20 and 12th place as he rode out.
The dressage over the riders and horses now waited for the jumping to start at 6:15pm, this time in the Main Stadium. Again, although the stands were by no means full, this arena is huge and imposing, especially for less experienced horses or riders.
Former Badminton winner Paul Tapner is no stranger to large arenas and was having a fabulous clear round on Wickstead Didgeridoo (above) until the very last fence. Paul smacked the front of his Aussie helmet with his palm in frustration as he flew through the finish flags but also picked up one time penalty. It was still a very promising round for the good looking stallion (WD, not Paul)
Michael Jung and Halunke jumped out of order to have an early rail but then jump a steady round to finish with just the four penalties. Poor Bill Levett had a bad start to his round with Silk Stone kicking out behind on the first fence to bring down a rail and a rail at the second. A third rail later on dropped him down a few places.
Clarke Johnstone put in a nice clear round riding Incognito, which turned out to be the only clear round for the New Zealand team.
Murray Lamperd has been working hard on his show jumping recently with Gilbert Bockmann but it is always hard to make changes in a short period of time, especially leading up to a major event. Murray would no doubt be disappointed with 20 jumping faults and 3 time faults but this combination are learning so much on this overseas campaign and will benefit enormously from it.
Chris Burton and Lani (above), again in their Dutch colours, jumped a lovely clear round in time moving him up the board. Michael Jung and Sam rattled the rail at the second fence but it stayed in place or a clear round; Ingrid Klimke and Tabasco never looked like touching a thing and jumped a great clear round.
Like Paul Tapner, Andrew Hoy looked as if he were to have a clear round but had one rail down close to the end dropping him to fifth place while Sandra Auffarth and Opgun Louvo (below) jumped a clear round with some huge leaps to maintain the lead.
Germany go into today’s final phase, the cross country in the lead on a score of 113.40 followed by Great Britain, whose young team are certainly making an impression, with 132.60. Australia has dropped to third on 133.20 and New Zealand fourth on 137.80. You can never discount the Kiwis, especially when they have Andrew Nicholson on their side, looking a bit dark at the moment.
Cross country is a whole different ball game and having the cross country last may prove influential compared to the usual three day event format.
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Afraid we can't help with translation but we figure you'll get the drift!
