I have taken a different approach to the reporting of the Special and have looked at this event from a judges perspective.  When you look to observe the mistakes and how the marks were lost, it becomes somewhat negative and will appear to contradict the usual form of positive journalism which says what was so good about the performance. 

I would like to say the it was a great thrill to see these horses work as all 25 of them were fantastic.  It is very clear that the spectacular moving horses  have an edge and the judges are also looking for correct training and adherence to the requirements of the test.  I hope you enjoy this appraisal of the horses in the Grand Prix Special.

At 8 o' clock when the competition began the weather was calm and very pleasant, but hot.  By the time the top ten were scheduled to go the wind had whipped up and the gusting got the overhead flags flapping and a general disquiet that does not make ideal conditions for keeping horses calm.

The Special is an important factor in deciding the Gold medal winner.  Most people thought  that short of a serious mishap, that Ulla could not be beaten.  However, the German favourite lost her advantage in the windy conditions that the Greeks call the Meltemi.  The 16 YO Rusty made several mistakes.  He shied at M and kicked the arena surrounds and made more mistakes in the flying changes.
Their score in the Special was 74.84% and this takes their total to 76.62%

Defending gold medallist Anky van Grunsven from the Netherlands was able to close the gap of almost 4 percent by producing a 77.80% test on her 10 YO Salinero.  Anky took all precautions in the preparation for this ride and the hot and reactionary Salinero was worked twice in the morning.  It is reported that he alsmost bucked Anky off at the first work out early in the morning.  Their score coming into the final is 76.00% making it entirely possible for her to keep the gold for another four years.

The third spot leading up to Wednesday's final is held by Spain's Beatriz Ferrer-Salat and she rode the second best Special, scoring 75.76% and taking  her aggregate to 75.21% and keeping Beatriz within reach of being Spain's first Olympic gold medallist in Equestrian.  It would be a fantastic reward to to the many people who have focused national attention on improving the performances of the Spanish team, of which Beatriz is a member. 

So the final will be a very exciting one now the gaps have closed.

With horses working in the reverse order of the placings from the first two day's competition, the first to go is the Russian combination.

Balagar and Alexandra Korelova.  This is a horse that you would not pick as an Olympic Dressage horse but boy, can he piaffe and passage!!! He looks a power pack from up higher where I was sitting today.  The Special suits a horse with Balagar's qualities ... and it is a good sequence of loops of piaffe and passage and a solid transition to canter.

The judges may feel that he gets a little hollow at times, and is not always through to the bit and off the rider's leg. The zig zags may have been more flowing.   The two's were nice and forward and stayed on a straight line, unfortunately there was a little too much tail swishing with the horse's head too deep in the ones.  A very nice pirouette right and the 9 ones went well.  The second pirouette was larger and would not have scored as well.  The final piaffe at X was really sitting and regular.  This was a very solid test and a great opening to the Special.  For 65.92% and this test scored less than their day one test of 68.25%

Problensk and Iryna Lys from Belarus.  This is a very elegant horse and I loved their Grand Prix test two days ago.  Iryna opens with a beautiful loose extended trot and again she shows the strong piaffe and passage got her through to the top 25.  This horse has wonderful paces and shows the lightness that I like to see.  A perfectly anchored sequence of piaffes would keep the marks well up.  In the steep angle of canter zig zags when travelling to the right, she lost the quarters. The two times and one times changes were really nice, forward and straight.   The first canter pirouette rotated somewhat but the second one was better, the 9 ones joined them well and the movement was well placed on the centre line.  The final centre line contained the same good quality of work and it earns a score 65.96% which is  lower than their day 1 score of 67.08%.

Salieri CH and Silvia Ikle for Switzerland are next in the countdown of the final 25.  Silvia is very experienced (she is the oldest competitor in the dressage) and it shows in her execution of the test. This is a heavier and more 'old fashioned' type of horse and has the more powerful movement that often goes with this physique.  The quarters were leading a little in right half pass.  The extended trot was not as expressive and some other horses,  but adequate.  The half pass left maintained a better position and into a really snappy passage.  This horse keeps a very steady frame and good posture throughout his work and this is something that I felt was missing from many of the higher marked horses. The loops of piaffe and passage were pretty good with just a little loss of straightness through the changeovers. The canter half passes were nice but the change at tat M was unbalanced.  The two times were very secure, as were the one time changes.  The horse came above  the bit slightly in the change after the ext canter.  The pirouettes on the centre line were both too big but the 9 changes were clean.  The final centre line was of good quality and straight.    71.16%.  They scored 67.04 in their day 1 test, so this was a good improvement. And takes them from 28th ranking after day 1 to 12th finish today and 18th  overall.  Silvia only got into the Special because of the  withdrawal of a couple of the qualified combinations.

Nina Stadlinger and Egalite from Austria. Egalite is a lovely strong bay but sometimes a little tight in the neck.  He also opens with strong passage and then immediately into the extended trot - but his neck was tight.  He has a very up-hill frame and good posture.  The walk is a weak link and lacks the marching quality that is highly prized. 

This level of competition makes one realise that the piaffe/passage tour is a most important component in a top scoring Grand Prix test. This group of horses are all talented in this regard, and the results came down to how well they put together the rest of the test. 

Egalite performed the canter half passes very well and the twos were nice.  The one time changes lacked flow and there was some head movement which would have cost marks. The extended canter was nice, but the change at F unbalanced.  The first canter pirouette on the centre line was very nice and the changes great.  The horse changed legs just before the second pirouette (right in front of the judges) and this unbalanced the pirouette.  The final centre line was strong and completed a very solid test.  64.92%.  This was a lower score than day one which was  67.37%.

Falada M and Karen Tebar from France.  Falada is a lovely chestnut and looked good warming up.  He shied backwards at the first halt, and this would have put the judges on alert that  the horse is not securely on the aids or perhaps lacking submission.   He is a very expressive horse and Karen really rode the trot half passes very forward  and perhaps lost some of the collection?  Neat well balanced passage and into the extended trot, then passage again and a lovely half pass trot left.  This horse is as rhythmical as a metronome and he steps into a lovely flowing walk.  The second short diagonal at walk became a little hurried. The sequence of piaffe/passage loops is very nicely done.    Some head tilting spoilt the canter half passes.  The twos are clean  and the ones correct, but perhaps a little too fast.    The extended canter great, but Karen finished 3 meters before the marker.  The first pirouette was laboured the changes good and the quarter swung in the second pirouette.  Again I make the point that they were very small errors, but at this level this is the difference that separates 25 outstanding horses.   67.44% today and this is down a  fraction on their previous ride.  Their Grand Prix score was 67.95%.

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© Cyberhorse 2004 Berni Saunders