Week 10 of the Adequan® Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) is well underway in Wellington, FL, with the second day of competition welcoming a robust line-up of twenty horse-and-rider combinations into the Stadium at Equestrian Village to contest the Fair Sky Farm Grand Prix CDI3* for Special. France’s Morgan Barbançon brought victory home on her own Bolero. AGDF 2023, which hosts seven weeks of CDI competition over three months, runs through April 2.
Barbançon and the 17-year-old KWPN gelding (Glock’s Johnson TN x Vincent) rode to a score of 71.152%, the only pair to touch 70% in the class, and the last combination to go.
“Today, the piaffe was really good,” said the French Olympian. “The pirouettes, too. Everything was good today, the two tempis could have been straighter, but everything else was solid and he put in a solid test. I’m so proud of him. He carried me through that test today. I was really not mentally on my game based on my other rides I’ve had this week, so I’m super proud of him.”
Barbançon and Bolero are no strangers to the international ring together, marking over 50 CDI starts despite an injury that sidelined the gelding for two years. “Bolero had a long-time injury,” Barbançon explained. “But he is back in shape now and feeling great, and he proved that again today. He’s a very solid, consistent horse, I know that he’s not always a high scorer, but he is always there to do his job and is very consistent. He gives me the mileage and show experience which is really important.”
Barbançon, who is based in Switzerland, is having a successful first season in Wellington with several mounts. “I’m super happy with my season,” she noted. “The horses have improved tons. The horses that I have now are not indoor horses, they are sensitive horses, so I am happy to be competing outside, and we are now going to be ready for the outdoor season; the horses will already be in the mood for the shows. I don’t need to show them so much in Europe to get ready for the Europeans, because they are getting their mileage and experience now.”
Second place in the Fair Sky Farm Grand Prix CDI3* for Special went to Dong Seon Kim (KOR) and Sportpferde Galleria’s 13-year-old Westphalian gelding Galleria’s Bohemian (Bordeaux 28 x Samarant) with 69.978%. Third place was awarded to the USA’s Susan Dutta riding her and Tim Dutta’s own 13-year-old Hanoverian gelding (Der Designer x Sir Donnerhall) Don Design DC to a 68.739%. (The only Canadian in this class was Mathilde Blais Tétreault, who placed 8th riding Fedor with a score of 67.065%)
In the Donato Farms Prix St. Georges CDI1*, Kevin Kohmann (USA) and Equitas LLC’s 13-year-old KWPN stallion (Amazing Star x Jazz) Five Star came to shine, besting the class of 31 with a score of 73.284%.
“I think some highlights today were my trot work,” said Kohmann. “There were highlights in the canter, and the extended canter – that’s always a highlight with this horse – I’ve gotten 10’s on that movement before with him. All the extensions he loves, anything really forward. The walk is amazing on the horse, normally his extended walk and extended canter is the highlight with him.
“The horse was simply amazing,” continued Kohmann. “He really helps me in the ring all the time, which is so nice.”
Out of 25 international starts together, the pair has had 15 wins, and Kohmann has goals to make a Pan Am team with the horse this year. “We have not been riding Prix St. Georges/I1 for a long time at this point,” he explained. “We have been showing nationally at Grand Prix but it is not quite right in the big ring yet, and in going back to small tour, we might have a chance to qualify for Pan Am Games. After the CDI’s we will just see where he’s at and evaluate, but he’s basically ready for it.”
The pair will finish out their season here in Wellington next week, and then head north to Ocala to continue their campaigning. “We are going to do every CDI that’s left now,” Kohmann concluded. “There’s one next week and then we will go to both CDIs in Ocala and try to collect the points we need.”
Second place in the Donato Farms Prix St. Georges CDI1* was captured by Denmark’s Alexander Yde Helgstrand on Belantis, Helgstrand and Madeleine Winter-Schulze’s 14-year-old Danish Sport Horse gelding (Benetton Dream FRH x Expose 5) with 72.647%. Third went to Kristina Harrison-Antell (USA) and Jocelyn Towne’s 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood NA gelding (Fidertanz x UB40) I Felix, with 71.569%. (Top Canadian in this large class was Megan Lane with Fürst Foundation, who placed 9th with 68.921%.)
Competition at AGDF 10 will continue tomorrow with a full schedule of classes before the Wellington Equestrian Realty Grand Prix Special CDI5* beginning at 6pm, followed by the highly anticipated CaptiveOne Advisors Grand Prix Freestyle CDI 5* at 7:20pm in the International Arena at Wellington International. For more information and to see a full list of results, visit www.globaldressagefestival.com.
Results here.
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