Moorlands Totilas ridden by Edward Gal led the Dutch team to the top three places and winner of the Nations Cup in the CDIO5* Grand Prix Thursday, while an improving Germany made strides in returning to form for second place and the touring Canadian squad were third. Edward Gal and his wonderful black stallion Totilas impressed all judges and was awarded 82.705%
Adelinde Cornelissen and Jerich Parzival and Imke Schellekens-Bartels and Hunter Douglas Sunrise, the two combinations who, to be members of the Dutch team at the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky, were second and third, respectively, on 78.480 per cent and 74.225 per cent. The battle in Holland is for the fourth place on the WEG team, and Thursday Hans Peter Minderhoud and Exquis Nadine were the next ranked Dutch combination in sixth place on 72.644 per cent.
Adelinde was happiest with the “absolute absence of tension” in Parzival, and the gelding’s focus. She said the pair are returning to the form they exhibited at the European Championships last year when they beat Edward and Totilas with a world record score in the Grand Prix Special.
Only Matthias Alexander Rath with Sterntaler Unicef was able to enter the top class on a fourth individual place and with his teammates Hubertus Schmidt, Christoph Köschel and Monica Theodorescu the Germans were second.
In the nations cup today six countries competed, Canada ended on a third position. Individually Edward Gal and his wonderful black stallion Totilas impressed all judges and was awarded 82.705% while Adelinde Cornelissen and Parcival were the undisputed number two. Isabell Werth, the top German, did not compete here.
Sweden was fourth in the Nations Cup and Belgium fifth while Denmark did not post a team result when Anne Troensegaard on Seduc retired with no score.
At this CHIO Rotterdam seven judges watched the competitors and besides there was a Supervisory Board installed looking after the judge performances. This was part of a special pilot program following the recommendations of the FEI Task Force Dressage. In Aachen next month there will be another pilot. Today all judges, riders and organisation felt this was a positive experience and good next step in a better system.