Day One Dressage
Day One Dressage
Apr 27th, 06
Day One Dressage In the capricious, and unpredictable world of three-day eventing, surprises are considered commonplace; and never was this more evident than during the first day of dressage. For the first time in several years, a crowd of nearly 10,000 enjoyed near-perfect weather. Rather than buying raincoats and rubber boots, spectators scoured the trade fair for T-shirts and tank tops, and left the Horse Park sporting slight sunburns; yours truly included. Another surprise came at the end of the day when dressage scores reveled that the top two places were held by 10-year-old thoroughbred geldings making their Four-Star debut. Mara Dean riding Willow Bend LLC’s Nicki Henley stands in first place with a score of 43.2. Hot on Mara’s heels is Becky Holder aboard Mr. Tom Holder’s Courageous Comet with a score of 43.7. Breathing down both Mara and Becky’s neck is Stephen Bradley, and Maria T. Land’s From, who finished today with 43.9 penalty points. Stephen and From were 5th at last year’s Rolex, and are known for their clean and fast cross-country rounds. As the nature of eventing changes, more emphasis is being put on the dressage and show jumping phases. The test being used at this year’s Rolex is the 2005 FEI CCI Four-Star Test B. Half-passes at the canter, and more collected work are just a few of the challenges riders now encounter, but it was obvious today that the “bogie” movement for most riders is the flying lead changes. Several horses were very reluctant to change, and some didn’t perform the movement at all. Other horses were a bit “on the muscle,” and tense. However, the top-placing riders made the test look effortless. Stephen took an early lead with a dynamic and accurate test. From broke in his first medium trot, but that was the only flaw in an otherwise foot-perfect test. A nicer test wasn’t seen until Mara rode later in the afternoon. “Nicki” produced beautiful extended work, and had only one bobble during a lead change. Mara attributes Nicki’s improvement to training with Olympic dressage rider Robert Dover, noting that, “Robert has stepped up the level of my riding.” Becky also praises Robert for his help with “Comet.” “Robert wants me to be more expressive, more of an artist, I’m trying to ride at the international level. Because today’s cross-country courses require a straight and rideable horse, dressage becomes more and more important.” Both Becky and Mara think that Saturday’s cross-country course looks big, but the footing is perfect. And I’m sure that many of the competitors share Mara’s sentiments, when she says, “I’m going to have to walk the course a few more times before the jumps begin to look smaller. The second day of dressage begins tomorrow at 9:00 am. The first pair to start off the day will be Boyd Martin riding his own Ying Yang Yo. See you at the Horse Park, and don’t forget the sunscreen! Alden Murray