Richard's first halt was sloppy and not square, not a good way to start. They  progressed into a nice trot half pass right and then some solid passage. The extended trot transition was hollow and the horse ran.  The half pass left  was forward and flowing and then securely into their lovely balanced passage.  The horse broke in the extended trot and that sees the end to Richard chances for a go in the Kur!  The collected and extended walks did not show enough definition and the reins were loose in the extended walk.  The first piaffe was 3 meters before the centre line and the passage was a little hollow.  Again Richard decides to give his horse room to 'creep' and asks for piaffe well before the centre line.  This will be very costly as the previous horses were spot on marker.  Nice canter half passes into correct two time changes. The one time changes were accurate and straight but lacked flair.  The  extended canter was modest.    The first pirouette saw the horse curling a little and the 9 one times were over just after X.  The second pirouette also lost some balance and the final line was correct but not soft.  66.16% .  He would have been hoping to better his first day score of 68.54%

After the test Richard said,  "I could have ridden a lot better today, I did stupid riding and I feel like I want to shoot myself.  My horse and I usually do not have the lack of communication that we experienced this morning.  I think she was a little tired, because this has been a long program.  My mare is a fantastic horse with a lovely personality.  She is strong minded and gives everything back.  She will show you when you have done a mistake and crossed the line.  When she competes, she loves being in the box and having all these people watching her.  Her groom gave her the name "Big Bird" and I think it suits her fine". 

Jon Pedersen from Denmark on Esprit De Valdemar.  This is a very experienced combination and were part of the action in Sydney four years ago. This is the oldest horse in the competition, but he looks very well and fit, for an 18 year old.  Again the halt is not square and this cannot be a good start.  A very powerful extension gets things going and the half passes have plenty of energy.  Very well engaged hind legs make the passage attractive, but sometimes there are some irregular steps.  The horse's neck was tight in the half pass left but the next passage and following extensions  were nicely done.   The walk is big, ground covering and marching.  Jon maintains the contact ... and this is the correct way for the extended walk.    It is not a good transition from walk to piaffe at G and some unbalanced steps in the passage on the centre line right, in front of the judges will prove costly.  It was a clean transition into canter at X and then on to the half pass on the sort diagonal.  The horse has really curled his nose now ad makes the movement tight.  Correct twos and ones then a nice forward extended canter.  The first pirouette was well centred and kept the line.  In the second pirouette, there was a little too much head nodding and this detracted.  The final centre line was good to X, but the horse shot out of the piaffe into passage with the resultant loss of rhythm that will affect the score for the movement and submission.  69.16% which is very close to the score that brought them through to the special (69.00%)

Jon said when asked how he went,  "I am satisfied.  I did a few mistakes.  The extended trot did not go so well.  They were all my mistakes.  My horse is sensitive to the crowd, especially the sounds.  I have him since he was three and during the first three years he was difficult to handle.  Most of the time I had to  dismount and drag him out of the arena.  Through the years it got better and better".

Victoria Max Theurer and Falcao are next.  This is a truly lovely horse with wonderful posture and balance.  He has such an extravagant front leg action and it  says 'look at what I can do"  The passage/extensions highlight Falcaos natural talent and give him the opportunity to impress the judges. The walk is very nice and has the marching quality that is pleasing, particularly when the mark carries a co-efficient. Some resistance spoilt the first piaffe at G, but it got better at L.  The passage in-between was full of expression and the canter depart at X was clean.  Good posture and bend in the tight angles of the canter half pass and then on to the two times changes, which could have been a little more forward, as too could the ones.  The first canter pirouette was very nice and 9 ones were expressive and clean . The second pirouette was a little large and this is right in front of the judges on the short side, so will not go un-noticed.  The final centre line was without errors and completes a nice test.  The few little insecurities will no doubt be costly.68.84% and again the score is very close to their qualifying mark.  So the judges are showing a great deal of consistency in how they score the work. 

Victoria commented about her Special ride, "I did as good as the other days, although it has been a long test and the weather was really hot.  He was really fresh and I am proud of him.  He looks like an easy horse, but he is not.  He is too forward.  These are his first Olympic  Games and he is the youngest horse".

Cavan and Andreas Helgstrand.  This horse was a stallion for quite some time and was ridden by Lars Pedersen Sydney.  He was a little disappointing in the qualifier, but  opens well today with half passes that are very expressive ... but perhaps, slightly lost the quarters.  The passage extended trot is up-hill and the frame is well maintained.  The  passage is a specialty, and the horse is very well balanced and into the bridle.

The loops are quite nice, but some little losses of steadiness in the transitions into and out of  the piaffe/passage.  The transition to the canter at X is positive, forward and straight.   A flowing canter half pass on both short diagonals to the left and back to the right were nicely done.  The horse keeps lovely posture in the correct and flowing two times changes and the ones are also very balanced and well placed.  A lovely extended canter with absolutely no resistance back to collected at F and the change.  The first pirouette is great and so too are the 9 ones.  The second pirouette was very good, almost on the spot and well maintained.  The  piaffe at X saw the legs become a little closed, and indicate a loss of balance.  But this was a very solid test from the young rider who took over the ride on this lovely horse.  73.96% confirms my positive remarks, and improves greatly on the first score of 68.33%

Andreas commented later, "We got a very good score and generally I am satisfied with my performance.  Everything went as planned today.  I didn't go so well on Saturday and today I really wanted to do a good test,.  My overall score and place in the rankings would be totally different if I had done well on the Grand Prix test.

Note:  Lars Pedersen is now based in the USA and training riders there.  The Americans have got themselves some great trainers ... and look what has happened to their International ranking.  If Lisa Wilcox and Relevant had experienced a good year leading up to Athens,  the USA may well have seriously challenged the Germans for the Gold.  The results register a bigger gap than really exists.  Watch out when everything gets back on track!!!

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© Cyberhorse 2004 Berni Saunders