Colombia's Dr. Cesar Parra of Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, riding his 2004 Athens Olympic Games mount Galant du Serein won the FEI Grand Prix Freestyle CDI 3* at the Zada Enterprises, LLC WEF Dressage Classic CDI3* CDIY in Wellington, Florida, yesterday. The duo bested a class of 15 horses with a score of 71.925%. Horses Unlimited based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, owns the 12-year-old Selle Francais stallion by Apache D'Adriers out of Sojoreat.
Katherine Bateson Chandler aboard the Olympic veteran FBW Kennedy for owner Jane Forbes Clarke placed second, earning a score of 71.10%. Canada's Jacqueline Brooks riding Gran Gesto, her Team Silver mount at the 2003 Pan Am Games, claimed third scoring 70.75%.
Parra said that what he liked most about his horse's performance was that the ig, 17.2-hand bay stallion was much fresher and more attentive to his leg. Parra explained that Galant du Serein (known as 'Tiny') had lately been leaving his best performance in the warm-up ring – but not today. “He was willing and he was happy,” Parra pointed out. “Sometimes in the pirouette he was not right on and that dropped the score a little bit. I thought it was going to be a better score. But I'm very happy with it. For me it's a dream because it has been a lot of work with this horse. He's a breeding stallion, and he's not so easy, but now it all came out great and I'm very, very excited.”
The scores for the freestyle were very close, with two of the five judges placing Parra first, two having Bateson-Chandler first, and one marking Brooks highest. “The competition was tough.
The judging is very good and last night we saw it with the League Final,” Parra noted, referring to last night's U.S. League Final, the official selection for the World Cup held at Wellington. “So having that precedent the scores weren't so high today. You have to ride really well in order to deserve the points. The judging today was excellent.”
Parra designed his choreography with the help of his friends and also selected his own music, which Terry Gallo arranged for him in a nicely segued soundtrack. “It's Colombian music,” Parra said, with the featured track entitled 'Let's Dance'. Parra explained that his method of creating choreography was to tell a story. “A story has to start with something a little bit dramatic but not so dramatic that it will ruin the end. But at the end you have to say okay and this is what we can do.” Parra noted that for his stallion, that is the piaffe. “Then we throw in something very dramatic, which is the walk, piaffe, and walk again, to get the people really excited and then relax again, and excited again, and then the series of pirouettes with the changes. What I'm trying to do is not leave blank spaces in the ring.”
Parra's trainer is Hubertus Schmidt. Parra represented his native Colombia at the 2002 Jerez World Equestrian Games (WEG) and is currently aiming Galant du Serein for the 2006 event in Aachen. “My goal is to be in the World Equestrian Games and to be in the top 20 if it's possible,” Parra stated. “I think if we are in the 70s we'll be okay. We have to work for it. I don't think we're ready yet by that's our goal.”
In other CDI competition, Caroline Roffman of Wellington, Florida, and Bulgari 5 won the FEI Young Rider Freestyle CDIY with a score of 69.675%, topping the five-horse class. Leah Wilson aboard Amusant placed second with 68.425%. Laura Noyes with Syncro placed third, earning 65.800%.
Wrapping up the CDI competition, the seemingly unbeatable Canada's Ashley Holzer of New York, New York, and Pop Art won yet another class the FEI Intermediaire Freestyle CDI, topping a field of 15 horses with a score of 74.225%. Christopher Hickey aboard Regent earned 71.075% for second. Marco Bernal riding Halbgott scored 70.575% for third.
Results (19.03.06)
Zada Enterprises, LLC
WEF Dressage Classic
FEI Intermediaire Freestyle CDI
1 Ashley Holzer – Pop Art – 74.225%
2 Christopher Hickey – Regent – 71.075%
3 Marco Bernal – Halbgott – 70.575%
4 Jane Cleveland – Kavalier – 69.625%
5 Cheryl Meisner Linssen – Lucky Strike – 68.425%
6 Silke Rembacz – DaCapo – 67.775%
7 Pia Aragao – Nirvana Interagro – 67.650%
8 Susanne Dutt-Roth – Rheirattack – 67.500%
9 Diane Creech – Wiona – 67.400%
10 Bent Jensen – Liberty Light – 67.200%
FEI Grand Prix Freestyle CDI 3*
1 Dr. Cesar Parra – Galant du Serein – 71.925%
2 Katherine Bateson-Chandler – FBW Kennedy – 71.100%
3 Jacqueline Brooks – Gran Gesto – 70.750%
4 Heather Blitz – Arabella – 70.550%
5 Evi Strasser – Quantum Tyme – 70.150%
6 Charlotte Bredahl Baker – Komo – 69.025%
7 Suzanne Dansby – Phelps Cooper – 68.250%
8 Jon Costin – Wholio – 67.675%
9 Lisette Milner – Eminence – 66.950%
10 Julia Vysniauskas – Syntax – 66.400%