Photo credit: Roger Fitzhardinge

By Roger Fitzhardinge

The Saddleworld EA FEI Medium Tour Freestyle CDN saw only three horses in the class. Needless to say three good horses and the winner to Fairbanks Jazz Time for Jenny Gerkhe. This new class , Medium Tour, is in place to encourage the small tour horses up to Grand Prix and it is a great initiative. The freestyle for this class is always well accepted and Jenny scoring 68.63% was a good score indeed. In second place was GB Winchester for Gary Lung on a 66.45% and for sure a very good percentage. Again if you don't have any piaffe and passage then you are not going to score in this test and one thing Gary Lungs horse has is a piaffe. The problem at this level is it is hard to see the definition in the paces.
.......collected trot or passage
........collected and extended walk.
...........half pass with quarters trailing?
....................extended trot

It's all about being confident and really making the judges feel positive in their feeling of the actual movements you are doing. It is the underlying thoroughness that enables a constant balance with in the adjustability and suppleness.
On talking with Gothilf Reixinger (GER) he was most impressed with the well-matched music to the horses that he judged. He agreed that the standard has improved dramatically over the past few years and that it was due to a few areas and the first was that the starting point of the better quality of the baseline product the Horse has not doubt improved.

It was again a very small field of only five that made an appearance in the Prydes EasiFeed Grand Prix Freestyle. The weather was cold and there was a good crowd huddled under blanket and with over one hundred VIP at tables along the long side and seated to a sumptuous meal.

To see that the judges scored between 68.075% and 71.70% for the five horses. Remmington and Sue Hearn with a new freestyle won with a 71.7%. The test was fluent and more impulsive than their Grand Prix and with no mistakes in the one tempis. The extended trot was really forward and despite Sue saying Remmington was a little tense he certainly did not look like that at all. In fact they looked sensational. In second was Utopian Cardinal from Heath Ryan and a great score of 70.65%. This horse was better in the frame and great half passes and double pirouettes and again great music that was easy to relate to all the paces and movements with crescendos in all the right spots.

In third was the newest comer in Brentanus and how amazing that they scored a 70.57%. They went effortlessly through the test as if they had been riding at the level forever. Ricky MacMillan actually had them in first place in her scores. This is a big bold horse and there is plenty of room still for better sitting and collection and when this strength develops the marks will really start to flow. Tori is only twenty six and then to also have Glogau in the class as well she is certainly really showing her talent and to think that both these horses she has brought on from young horses is quite exceptional for this young rider.Glogau was fifth with a score of 68.07%.

Jeremy Janjic and Django of Cacherel was absolutely the best he has ever been. As always the music from Kung Fu Panda was inspiring and the horse was as best I have ever seen.

The degree of difficulty was high and all worked. One tempis on the circle to two tempis was a real highlight. Django was on fire and then Jeremy was able to sit confidently and wait for the horse to do the work. It was a fantastic effort and well worthy of a 69.175% the presentations were well run and the crowd stayed to watch a short quadrille with four horses and Jeremy on foot who did absolutely run the whole choreographed performance. Jeremy was the star of the night and so was Django.

Great competition despite the small numbers but quality was wonderful and the judges positive and very open.


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