Hagen's Grand Prix Special was won by Isabell Werth and Viva Gold; Katharina Hemmer and Denoix rode a solid round

Today’s Grand Prix Special in Hagen was one of—perhaps even the best—performances that Isabell Werth’s Louisdor Prize winner, Viva Gold OLD, has ever delivered in the arena. The ten-year-old Oldenburg stallion performed largely without any errors in his movements, showed finer contact, and delivered several highlights, such as the walk-walk combination, the right-hand pirouette, and the final line.

The piaffes, passages, and transitions also received mostly scores of 8.0, and in some cases 9.0. To convince all the judges to award a “very good” here, the son of Vivaldi still needs to gain strength so that his forehand appears less lagging and more supportive. There is no question that he has the talent to do so.

The double changes were executed quite confidently, though they required a lot of physical effort on the part of the rider; the single changes were flawless but not yet 100 percent relaxed. Overall, however, Viva Gold appeared content, attentive, and willing.

Isabell Werth was also visibly pleased as she waved to the crowd for the second time and lavished praise on “Viva.” The judges were impressed as well: 78.894 percent. The pair had only scored higher in their very first Grand Prix Special in Herning this spring, when they earned 79.042 percent.

Denoix with a clean lap

Katharina Hemmer and Denoix confirmed their form from the Grand Prix—where they had even outperformed Viva Gold—with a score of 77.362 percent. As the pair entered the arena, the wind picked up considerably. Denoix reacted to that, Hemmer explained later. He had been “on,” and she had to keep him under control. In fact, the 14-year-old son of Destano wasn’t quite as responsive to his rider’s driving aids today as he had been in the Grand Prix, so she had to prompt him every now and then. This didn’t always work right away, so the Oldenburg chestnut’s neck would occasionally tilt behind the vertical. The fact that he still completed a clean test without any dressage errors speaks to the good rapport he and Hemmer have now achieved. They received 77.362 percent, and there’s still plenty of room for improvement. With this performance, the pair once again put themselves in contention for the World Championships squad in Aachen.

Total Hope

Isabel Freese and Total Hope delivered the best canter of the day. The Totilas son may not appear particularly large-framed, but he moves with great stride, and this is especially evident in his canter. He received a 9 on multiple occasions for his flying changes—both two-tempi and one-tempi.

During the trot-around, the contact was better than it had been in the Grand Prix, where the black horse at times resisted quite noticeably. But there is still room for improvement in terms of self-carriage—and at times, the curb bit seems to have a more pronounced effect than the snaffle bit. Especially in the first half of the trot sequence, Freese had to literally hold the Weihegold son together during the transitions and the passage repetitions. However, this improved in the second half and even more so in the canter sequence. With a score of 75.553 percent, the pair took third place.

Incidentally, the contact was particularly beautiful with Dr. Svenja Kämper-Meyer and her Amanyara M. Unfortunately, the pair had some issues during the canter sequence today, so they didn’t score higher than 68.340 percent (13th place). But you could really say that the rider didn’t just have to ease up—she didn’t even have to hold her back at all, yet the mare was still ahead of her.

Forster with Highlights and Two Blunders

Anyone who loves horses can’t help but be charmed by Tobias Nabben’s Finest son, Forster. This delicate son of Feinrich is certainly no wonder of movement. But he is the most attentive, willing, and dedicated sport partner a rider could hope for. On top of that, Nabben always manages to present him with good side profile, and the black horse’s piaffe-passage work is close to ideal by classical standards. The pair made two major mistakes today: once when breaking into a canter from the passage, where Forster initially took an incorrect stride, and then during the single changes on the diagonal, where he skipped a beat. Added to this was some slight tension during the walk-around. Although 71.489 percent marked a personal best on the international stage, it was lower than the scores they received in Balve, where they had already come close to 74 percent. Nevertheless, the trend is clearly upward.

Dieudonné – Sticking out his tongue, but …

The reason Raphael Netz and Dieudonné had to settle for ninth place and 69.851 percent today was that the Dante Weltino son stuck his tongue out during the trot sequence—it even seemed to be hanging over the bit. However, he still remained stable in contact—as far as one can speak of that—and made no real mistakes in the dressage movements. The tongue issue was frustrating. At the same time, it also demonstrated just how independent of the reins the gelding is.

You can find all the results here.