Deborah Hunt and Ravel, winners of the Adult Advanced 2 at Nissan Easter Festival 2013
Ravel, Verdini Wagner and Marinier were the winners in their respective classes at the start of the 2013 Nissan Easter Festival, which took place at KEPon Saturday 23 March 2013.The day’s classes continued with a background soundtrack of tractors, trucks, and TLB’s. It was encouraging to see work on the Peter Minnie arena continuing despite being the weekend and the start of the show.
The dressage classes were moved to the refurbished May Foxcroft arena due to the ongoing work on the Peter Minnie Arena, which handled incredibly well, with many riders commenting on the improved arena surface. However, the thick and almost unrideable warm-up arena overshadowed the improved May Foxcroft. Some competitors resorted to warming up in the grass arena, whilst others opted not to risk injuring their horses and scratched from their class completely. It is a pity that the warm-up arena was not up to par, but it serves as a reminder that a complete overhaul of some of KEP arenas is now an urgent necessity.
Advanced 2
In a closely contested competition, the experienced Debbie Hunt won on Ravel with only a 0.5 difference between her and second placed Emma Brown and Voigtskirch Dekan from Natal.
Debbie Hunt and Ravel performed a smooth test, which paid testament to their experience at this level. They impressed with their consistency which earned them a winning score of 63.45%.
The exciting partnership of Emma Brown and the eye-catching VoigtskirchDekan were a close second with 63.36%. They showed some lovely moments in the trot and canter work but a mistake in the tempi changes affected their score.
Mareli Smalberger and her imported Rotspon mare, Royal Fleur, came third with 60.60%. This partnership performed a good test with some highlights in the trot work but their inexperience at the level showed with a few green mistakes.
Johan Roodt and Verdini Wagner, winners of Prix St Georges class at the 2013 Nissan Easter Festival
Prix St Georges
The vastly experienced Johan Roodt on his stallion Verdini Wagner won the Prix St Georges class with 65.07%. The stallion’s highlights are his trot extensions, which were fluid and expressive. This partnership constantly grows from strength to strength
Second and third place were closely contested between Jaco Theron from the Free State and Gauteng based Elena Jankowitz (Bosman). Both riders steered their thoroughbreds expertly around the test with Jaco Theron coming out tops with 63.55%.
Elena Jankowitz and Gold Print consistently excel at this level. The partnership scored 63.49% and impressed with their bold trot and canter extensions.
Intermediate II
Unfortunately, the poor going in the warm-up arena resulted in Candice Hobday scratching Filina from the class. This left Andrea Harrison and Marinier as the default winners with 60.20%. Despite being a relatively new partnership, Marinier is starting to show more relaxation and confidence in his work. The canter pirouettes and transitions into and out of piaffe and passage were good, but mistakes in the 1’s and an unscripted flying change coming out of a pirouette proved to be costly and affected the overall score.
The dressage at the 2013 Nissan Easter Festival continues until Monday the 1st of April 2013.
Article by DressageAfrica Team
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