Chere Burger excels at 2013 South African Dressage Championships

Chere Burger and Adelprag stud’s impressive Adelprag Arjen were back with a bang at this year’s South African Dressage Championships and CDI 3* show held at the Kyalami Equestrian Park on 10 – 15 September 2013. Chere was invincible at this show taking both first and second with Candice Hobday in third.

It was a nail-biting afternoon of competition in the Grand Prix with every combination showing a marked improvement from the CDI show in May earlier this year. As spectators, we were incredibly impressed with the obvious time and effort our Grand Prix riders have put into preparing themselves for this show. We can only say – hats off to all of you!

We knew we were in for a tense day of competing when the first combination, Chere Burger and Adelprag Arjen, entered the arena brimming with confidence. The trot tour was impressive with Arjen showing lovely half passes, good passage and piaffe, although the transition from piaffe to passage at D was a bit sticky, and ground-covering extended trot. The transition into canter was a little messy but the canter work that followed made up for this. The canter zigzag was spot on, the two’s were uphill but there was an unfortunate mistake in the line of one’s, and both pirouettes were small, centered and showed good sit. Chere’s harmony with her long-time partner Arjen shone through in this well-ridden test that scored them 63.021% with Kerstin Holthaus scoring her a high score of 65.213%.

Chere Burger continued to clean up at the show with her second ride of the day aboard Adelprag Fernhill Derry. Chere and the Danish-bred gelding are starting to form a formidable partnership and their progress at this level has been an exciting one to watch. The pair performed a sparkling test to go into second with a score of 62.362%. Fernhill Derry shows a talent for piaffe and passage and a lovely shoulder action that gives him the ability to produce an extravagant extended trot. An unfortunate spook in the rein back at C was costly but Chere did a sterling job of bringing Fernhill Derry’s focus back on her, which resulted in some lovely moments in the test.

 

Candice Hobday and her bay mare Filina continued their good form from the Gauteng Championships in August to claim third place with a score of 60.732%. Candice rode with her usual flair to produce a very polished test with Filina showing some great moments throughout the test. This combination goes from strength-to-strength at each show and we are excited to see what they have in store for us in their next Grand Prix test.

A special mention must go to the organizing committee’s who made this year’s SA Champs and CDI 3* such a resounding success. They were brave enough to bring us one step closer to international standards with a new computerized system to record the scores. There were a few teething problems to start but it was a welcome change to have the scores recorded neatly and clearly. With our Grand Prix riders improving the standard of competing and our organizing committee’s improving the standard of our shows, the path is clearly paved for South Africa to start competing at international standards.

 

Article by DressageAfrica Team

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