Belgium repeats home victory from the Dressage Nations Cup in Lier

There is no question that Joker Zonik Plus with Justin Verboomen was the cherry on the cake for the Belgian team at the Dressage Nations Cup in Lier. But the results of the European champion’s teammates were also impressive.

It started straight away with a 71.630 percent score for Wim Verwimp and Jedai de Massa, which was ultimately good enough for sixth place. Charlotte Defalque and First-Step Valentin were the second pair to deliver the team’s strike result (69.848).

The Neumünster World Cup winners Larissa Pauluis and Flambeau were the second-best pair in the test with 73.522 percent. And Justin Verboomen and Zonik Plus were in a league of their own with 80.391 percent – albeit not without faults.

Verboomen had announced in advance that Lier would be the last competition before the WEG in Aachen and that he wanted to be able to take the feeling from home, the good contact and the suppleness in canter, into the competition. He succeeded in doing this for large parts of the test. However, at the beginning of the test, the stallion showed clearly passage-like gaits in the collected trot. The series changes, for example, have become much better because they are more relaxed. There was a costly misunderstanding on the last line, when Zonik Plus seemed to think for a moment at X that a pirouette was required instead of a piaffe.

In the end, Belgium scored 225.543 points, leaving the British team behind (213.391) and relegating Germany to third place (211.804).

Three Grand Prix chicks for Germany

Yes, you can speak of a German “junior team” for Lier, at least on the horse side, as three of the four pairs in the team were still competing in the Louisdor Prize in December. Semmieke Rothenberger’s Farrington has plenty of experience, but starting in a senior Nations Cup team was also new territory for her. The quartet’s premiere was impressive.

Global power with a lot of power

Evelyn Eger and Global Power kicked things off today. The pair competed in their first ever international Grand Prix a few weeks ago in Fontainebleau and raised high hopes with a harmonious performance. You can tell that the only nine-year-old Oldenburg gelding has already gained strength in this short time between Fontainebleau and Lier, and as a result he really kicked off energetically on the last diagonal in a strong trot today. The contact was also very nice overall, as was the lateral pattern.

The fact that she still didn’t score more than 68.391 percent was mainly due to mistakes – a very hesitant backing up, a short canter in the first passage, a lapse in the – otherwise very beautiful – ones, a somewhat large second pirouette.

On the plus side were, for example, the trot extensions and the passages, when they were faultless, and the first pirouette to the left, which looked as if it had been painted. The Grey Flanell son still needs to gain more confidence, especially in the piaffe, which is classically correct in its approach.

Personal Best for Forster

There is no other way, you simply have to like Tobias Nabben’s Forster! The dainty black horse is certainly not a horse that immediately attracts everyone’s attention. But when he springs off with his ears pricked up, you can just see that this horse enjoys his job and has confidence in his rider(no wonder, given his history). But he doesn’t just enjoy his job, he also does it really well.

The Finest son scores particularly well in piaffe and passage with his springy, active and absolutely tactful movements. He simply glides from passage to piaffe and back. Nothing is difficult for him here.

I would have liked a little more pep in the canter. Everything is good and correct in the approach, what still needs to mature with time, strength and self-confidence is the activity. Before the pirouette to the right, the eleven-year-old black horse jumped over once and the backwards was not completely clear here either. But apart from that, the pair delivered a ride that was all of a piece, scoring 71.152 percent. This is by far the best result the pair have ever achieved on the international stage.

Change knots at Wagner

Thomas Wagner’s Escolar’s Emil is actually a horse that is light-footed and elastic for all his massiveness, which is precisely why he was able to score points again today. The strong canter, for example, is an absolute highlight. It is incomprehensible why two judges only gave him a 7 here.

The single changes started well. But then the pair had a lapse and needed time to find their rhythm again. The first pirouette – also one of the highlights of the Louisdor Prize runner-up – went well. In the second, the gelding seemed to be distracted for a moment, straightened up and got stuck. Too bad!

Overall, the judges would have liked to see even more hand independence and a clearer line from back to front. The judges awarded 68.087 percent.

The youngest with the most experience

No, Semmieke Rothenberger has never ridden in a senior national team. But she knows exactly what it feels like to perform under pressure. After all, from pony to U25 age, she was part of the successful German teams year after year and was usually the most important team member. This was also the case today, when she had to enter the arena with her Farrington as the final rider.

You could say: mission accomplished. The pair’s last competition appearance was the freestyle in Hagen, where the chestnut was not quite free of tension and quite firm in the contact. That was much better today. Semmieke kept giving way and Farrington appeared calmer and more relaxed than in Hagen. The first piaffe-passage tour went very well. After that, the 16-year-old KWPN gelding immediately marched off in a relaxed and ground covering manner and allowed himself to be guided back into the collection in a safe and controlled manner. And so it continued. It was a one-piece test – except for the single changes. The pair also had a brief but costly lapse today. In the end, they scored 72.261 percent and came fourth in the individual classification.

The second-placed Brits

The best British pair was Susan Pape and her very confident KWPN mare Giulilanta with 72.065 percent.

The Hagen discovery Sadie Smith and Swanmore Dantina(you can read the whole story of the pair here) had great highlights in the changes, but still lack security and consistency in the piaffe. They are not yet secure in time and need to be more on the spot in the long term (71.239 percent).

Lewis Carrier and his now 18-year-old successful partner of many years, Diego V, achieved the best Grand Prix result they have ever achieved at a CDI outside their British homeland with 70.087 percent.

Laura Tomlinson and the home-bred Fürstenball son Full Moon delivered the team’s strike result today with 68.913 percent.

You can find all the results from Lier here.