2006 World Equestrian Games

WEG Dressage Freestyles - Anky van Grunsven Kur Icon

Anky, on the other hand, was not always on her music during her freestyle. The Esprit Chanson program, designed by Slings and Kerkhof, has been performed enough times that most fans of dressage freestyle have seen her ride it better on other occasions – in Las Vegas, for example. She was behind her music going into the first halt, and it took her some time to catch up.

In the press conference following the freestyles, Mariette Withages, who was the technical delegate for the dressage at WEG said: “Anky and Salinero have been growing in this freestyle. It is so precise.” It’s unclear to me why she was giving the comments and not one of the ground jury, who were not present. It is also unclear how she could say how precise the freestyle was when Anky wasn’t right with her music on several occasions. Of the five judges, Stephen Clarke gave her the highest artistic mark, 94%. That means she must have received nines and tens for music interpretation and difficulty.

Which leads me to another point. Anky’s freestyle has one of the easiest patterns, with the fewest transitions between paces, in current use internationally. She uses the same basic template for all her freestyles since Bonfire: start in passage, then do the trot tour; then half the canter, walk and the other half of the canter, finishing with a second passage tour. The tempi changes, just one line each of twos and ones, are on straight diagonals. It is one of the most puzzling aspects of the judging of her freestyle: why she gets such high marks for difficulty with such a simple choreography.

The one thing that can’t be disputed is the unsurpassed quality of Anky’s music. Kerkhof and Slings are masters of arrangement and the music very much suits Salinero’s expression. I know that the music is not a universal favourite, but I personally love it. As a freestyle designer I look at Kerkhof and Slings the way riders look at Anky and Isabell, as icons.