In the first half of the qualifications for the 6-year-olds at the World Breeding Dressage Championships for Young Horses is the KWPN-stallion Gunner KS on the sixth position currently the best placed KWPN-horse.

 

Gunner KS (Belissimo out of Ronnevanck ster pref prest sport-dres by Vincent, bred by A. Kleijwegt from Heinkenszand) was ridden by Dana van Lierop. The stallion started with a strong trot that showed off his beautiful frame. Midway through the test the stallion got tense and some small glitches were seen. Dana: “It surprised me that the stallion got so tense, but he kept going. You can see that back in the grade for the submission. He has such a pleasant character and I am happy that he went on with the test so well.” With a 9.4 for the canter, the highest awarded grade for that gait today, Gunnes KS scored 80.5, resulting in the sixth position.  

 

Kim van der Velden performed a lovely test with last year’s bronze medal winner Guadeloupe-Beau. The daughter of Bordeaux (out of Beau Vierina elite by Vivaldi, bred by P. Rulkens out of Biest-Houtakker) moved nicely uphill through the arena. The flying changes were not optimal which resulted in some tension in the canter and a disappointing score. For the trot, she received the topscore of 9.4, but the walk got an 8.5 and the canter a 7.8. The tension in the flying changes lowered the submission to a 7. The final score was an 8.18. Kim van der Velden was somewhat disappointed: “I knew the flying changes are still a bit green, but I thought it was quite harshly punished. You come here to ride as well as possible, but today was not optimal. Nevertheless, she is still an amazing horse.” Guadeloupe-beau is currently in 8th place.

 

The first Dutch duo to enter the arena was Joyce Heuitink with the by H. W. Broos from Annen bred Gaudi Vita (Apache out of Vita elite pref prest IBOP-dres by Welt Hit II). The elegant mare performed a good test with an exceptional uphill canter and lots of expression in the trot. Unfortunately, she did a change in the medium canter. With an 8 for the trot, a 7,7 for the canter, an 8.5 for the walk, 8 for submission and 8.2 for perspective the test was rewarded with 8.08. Joyce was very satisfied: “Too bad we made a small mistake, but I was still very happy with the way it went. She is a true sporthorse and is not impressed by anything, which is very nice in the ring.” Gaudi-Vita is currently in ninth place after day 1.

 

The first on the starting list was last year’s silver medal winner Quel Filou. The gelding by Quarterback put a top score on the board with three 9.2’s. Severo Jurado Lopez received a 8.98 and did not leave the first position anymore. The Danish bred Red Diamant is current runner-up with a 9 for the walk, a 9.2 for the trot and a total of 8.88, closely followed by Nymphenburg’s First Ampere (s.Ampere) with 8.86.

 

Tomorrow the second group 6-year-olds will ride their qualification. Then the KWPN-horses Graaf Leatherdale, Genua TC, Gerio, the KWPN-stallion Governor-STR, Go on Top MP and Great Lady TC will make their appearance.

 

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