Leslie Morse and Tip Top 962 Win FEI Grand Prix Freestyle at the Palm Beach Dressage Derby CDI***/CDIY
Monday, March 6, 2006
All three of the top-placed horses are stallions and both Holzer and Parra were riding their mounts from the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. Morse was a member of the 2005 Bronze Medal winning team at the 2005 CDIO in Aachen, Germany, with her stallion Kingston. Tip Top 962 is a 12-year-old black Swedish warmblood stallion that Morse has owned and ridden for three years.
Morse choreographed her own freestyle with a music track created by Karen Robinson. She had practiced it only once before debuting it at the Palm Beach Dressage Derby. Morse noted one of the most technically difficult aspects of the ride she created was the passage half-pass followed directly by a trot half-pass. “Basically I think the reason the trot and passage tour is challenging is because of all the transitions, which Tip Top does so beautifully,” Morse pointed out. “His rhythm is such that he can go from passage to extension to passage to trot. He has an amazing elasticity so I really try to show that off in my choreography.”
Morse’s soundtrack is a medley of danceable swing music. “It’s like real dance music that people dance to,” she said, noting that she particularly wanted to illustrate the concept of dancing with her partner in her freestyle. “The overall freestyle really shows the elasticity of Tip Top and the fact that he just leads me along – it’s all about lightness and ease and really fun music.”
Morse assessed that Tip Top’s best execution of a movement was in the two-tempi changes on a 20-meter circle. “I’m really proud of those.” She also was pleased with Tip Top’s double-canter pirouette. “It’s a hard freestyle,” Morse stated pointing out how rapidly the movements follow each other in the performance. Morse also noted that she got ahead of her music in the canter coming into the one tempis and described how she got back in time. “I had to sit there on the half halt and wait four steps while the music was playing,” she explained. “What I love about Tip Top is that he’s so on the aids that I could push him in and out of the four steps and make him wait on a half halt until the music changed. Again that shows the elasticity and the suppleness of him.”
Overall, Morse’s impression of her musical freestyle was very positive from several perspectives. “I’m elated! I’m very excited about it,” she enthused. “I’m so glad that it got such a rave review. All of the spectators loved it. I just felt that excitement and it was a blast. I felt everyone having fun with it and that’s what we want to do with freestyle. That’s the point of freestyle – to show the fun side of what we do.”
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Tip Top
Kingston
Galant Du Serien
Karen Robinson - applausedressage.com Freestyle Design
Holzer was awarded the Gifted Memorial Trophy, the perpetual trophy for the CDI Grand Prix Special. Olympic Team Bronze Medalist Carol Lavell (Gifted’s rider at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics) and her husband Tom Lavell made the presentation.
Gambol is a 12-year-old Oldenburg by Gabor out of Arella by Lector, and owned by Diane Fellows. She has had the ride on the talented black for four years and is competing him in his first year of Grand Prix. Though the warm-up ring put three stallions and a mare together prior to the ride, creating some distraction for Gambol, Holzer noted that in the arena, the stallion was all business. “Once he’s being ridden and he canters down that centerline it doesn’t really matter what’s going on, he will put his mind to the job and he just does his job,” explained Holzer. “It’s a very difficult test for a horse in his first year of Grand Prix, but he doesn’t really seem to be put off by the difficulty. He really finds it easy and he almost likes it more. He likes to do his job.”
Holzer acknowledged that she has been on a winning streak, but described her philosophy on the string of victories. “I’m not going out to win. I’m going out to just ride good clean tests,” she said. “My horses are going well, I have a good team, and I’m getting good coaching. My horses are right where they need to be right now. I’m surrounded by a lot of positive people, which I appreciate, especially before the World Equestrian Games.” Holzer also noted that her teammate at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Evi Pracht, has provided excellent help for her in Florida. “She knows the right thing to say to keep me relaxed and focused on riding – not focused on winning.”
Holzer is aiming to qualify both Gambol and Imperioso for the 2006 World Equestrian Games in Aachen, Germany, and explained that the experience at the Derby CDI was helpful to her in the Canadian rider rankings and in preparation for the ‘head-to-heads’ in Canada that will determine the team. “It’s a great positive thing for me to have this under my belt – to know that I can ride well, and that I can ride clean and I can do well – that’s a very good feeling coming into the finals.” Currently the two stallions are one point apart in the Canadian rankings. “It’s a very amazing spot to be in,” Holzer said.
Assessing Gambol’s winning performance in the FEI Grand Prix Special today, Holzer said that what she appreciated most was, “his effort. The horse just puts out every time he goes down the centerline. I know he will fight for me and that’s a great feeling. There are lots of horses that you can’t count on, and that’s not the case here. I can completely count on him.”
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Gambol
Christopher Hickey riding Regent earned 69.6% for second place. Emily Gershberg aboard Pancratius also earned 69.6% but was awarded third place as the tie was broken on the ‘artistic’ score (in addition to the percentages, freestyles also earn a score for artistic and technical aspects). In fourth place was Canada’s Dominique Culham riding Matisse who earned 68.700%. Fifth place was awarded to Canada’s Tom Dvorak aboard Fortissimo, who was awarded 68.05%. Two riders tied for sixth place with a score of 67.425% each – Sharon McCusker with Weltheir and Brazil’s Pia Aragao riding Nirvana Interagro.
Leah Wilson Wins FEI Young Riders at the Palm Beach Dressage Derby CDI***/CDIY
Earlier in today’s CDI classes in the international Arena 1, Leah Wilson riding Amusanat won the FEI Young Rider Freestyle with a score of 68.875, topping the three-horse field. Tara Dougans aboard Nashua placed second with a score of 62.250%. Catherine Golulet riding Orgon was third earning 61.792%.
Results
High Score for USEF Training Level:
Gwen Poulin, Marjan De Destinada, 78.846
High Score for USEF First Level:
Kelly Irving, Woden, 72.963%
High Score for USEF Second Level:
Krystalann Shingler, Tiuidor, 71.622%
High Score for USEF Third Level:
Cesar Parra, Furst Fabio, 67.556%
High Score for USEF Fourth Level:
Diane Creech, Fabiene, 69.302%
High Score for USEF Prix St. Georges:
Jennifer Staton, Al Pacino, 68.250%
High Score for USEF Intermediaire II, Grand Prix, and Grand Prix Special:
Nancy Polozker, Day Dream, 66.585%
High Score of the CDI***
Ashley Holzer, Pop Art, 73.333% (Intermediaire I)
The Derby 2006 Overall High Score Winner
Gwen Poulin, Marjan De Destinada, 78.846 (Training Level Test 4)
Special Thanks to Phelps Media Group International and Mary Hilton for coverage of the CDI Division at at the Palm Beach Dressage Derby CDI***/CDIY
HorsesDaily 'On the Scene' at the Palm Beach Dressage Derby CDI***/CDIY
