A successful competition
Sunday 6 June 2010
The 1st edition of this CDI was deemed a great success by the riders, trainers and judges. Some of the English riders even asked for the event to be kept a secret! The members of the Compiègne Equestrian Association are encouraged to pursue their ambition to make this a long-term international dressage event and do not intend to carry out the latter request to the letter.
The quality of the ground, the stabling of the horses in permanent stalls in the heart of the forest and the presence of renowned judges are the strengths of the competition which were stated the most often. Without forgetting the geographical situation of Compiègne, north of Paris, which is favourable to making the best nations of the discipline come to the event. So we will see you here next year in 2011!
Compiègne favours Victoria Van Den Berghe
In sports terms, the Grand Parc Equestrian Stadium will remain synonymous with the first victory of Victoria Van Den Berghe as a junior rider. The rider and her horse Scalia which she has been riding for just under 9 months won the individual competition and the Freestyle to Music test having taken part in only 5 competitions together since the end of March. The rider and horse pair, which are very elegant and are already harmonious, were awarded a score of 73.667 % in the Freestyle to Music test ahead of the Dutch rider Maxime Osse. Victoria's two victories allowed the Marseillaise (French national anthem) to be played twice and confirm her rapid progression during her first season as a junior rider.
As for the pony and the young rider category, two rider and horses pairs were victorious: the Dutch rider Dana Van Lierop & Wengelo’s Ricardo (ponies) and Anna-Katherine Elkjaer-Holm with Rohmario (Denmark) for young riders.
The Jump television programme on location in Compiègne
The team of Jump, the weekly equestrian sports television programme on the Equidia television channel, established its set onsite and filmed the arenas of the equestrian stadium today. The principal guests of Natacha Harry were Raphaël Saleh, the president of the jury and Victoria & Marina Van Den Berghe. The programme will be broadcast tomorrow, Monday 7 June, at 9.30 pm on the equestrian television channel.
The MARSEILLAISE (French National Anthem) rings out
Saturday 5 June 2010
The French supporters enthusiastically waved their flags to proudly congratulate Victoria Van den Berghe & Scalia at the prize giving ceremony for individual junior riders. The rider and horse pair won having been awarded a wonderful score of 70.351 %. Yesterday, they were 2nd and they improved their score by almost 3 marks.
An encounter with Victoria
After two seasons riding ponies, during which she was an established member of the French team, the daughter of Marina Van Den Berghe is beginning her 1st year as a junior rider. It was with Scalia, a 9-year old black mare by Sandro Hit that she made the change from ponies to horses. She went to get her in Germany with her mother and Marc Feller, the owner of Marina’s horses.
Scalia arrived at the Haras de Champcueil in September 2009. In particular, Victoria had to adapt to the change of locomotion, which is completely different between ponies and horses.
After training throughout the winter, which allowed her to discover a willing and courageous mare, Victoria competed with her for the 1st time in Compiègne, at the end of March. She was placed 2nd in the Grand Prix Amateur1 category. She then competed in Jardy and Le Mans before taking part in her 1st International Junior Competition in Saumur where she obtained scores between 67 and 68 % allowing her to be placed 8th in two classes. In the Grand Parc arena, the rider and horse pair continued their rise. On the 1st day, Victoria & Scalia were placed 2nd in the “team” event. This was already “an unexpected surprise” admits the young 16-year old rider. The victory in the individual event today, with a score of 70.351 %, before the eyes of part of the jury who will be present at the European Championships in July was almost the icing on the cake! Coached by her mother and Dolf Keller, the German trainer, Victoria Van Den Berghe is thinking about being selected for the 2010 European Championships.
“Scalia is easily distracted and a bit anxious but as soon as she enters the dressage arena she is very attentive”, states Victoria, on whom many of the French hopes will be placed tomorrow for the Freestyle to Music test.
News about riders in the other categories...
There were no changes with regard to the winners of the other competitions. Dana Van Lierop (the Netherlands) won again today well ahead of the other riders with a score of 71.930 % in the pony category. The young French rider Céline Miereanu improved on her previous day’s score and finished in 6th place with Oualidaluna. In the last competition of the day (for young riders), the Danish rider Anna Katherine Elkjaer-Holm & Rohmario held on to their 1st place by improving their previous day’s score. Pauline Leclercq & Khallgazel du Maupas (France) finished 2nd with a score of 66. 667 %.
Riders from Picardy
Charlotte Catry (young riders) finished 17th, Capucine Merlotti (juniors) was 14th and Caroline Dufil (ponies) was 32nd.
Dutch and Danish riders have the place of honour
Friday 4 June 2010
The young dressage riders discovered the Grand Parc site with summer weather.
Pony and young riders got things underway this morning. Of the 21 riders taking part in the junior "team" event, it was a Dutch rider who finished in 1st place, confirming the nation’s international domination in this discipline. Maxime Osse, who was riding two horses, was awarded a score of 68.108 % with his KWPN Navarro. The French rider Victoria Van Den Berghe followed close on his heels with Scalia and was awarded a score of 67.748 %. This was a wonderful performance by the rider and horse pair, which was the only one to represent France in the final standings. In joint 9th place, three French riders were awarded the same score of 64.144 %: Ninon Vandenabeele, Jessica Hel and Hélène Legallais.
In the competition for pony riders, Dutch and Danish competitors shared the final podium together. Dana Van Lierop and her Welsh pony Wengelo’s Ricardo obtained a score of 72.222 % and went into the lead in the standings. She was a member of the Dutch team who won the silver medal at the last European Championships and also finished 4th individually. The best French rider was Céline Miereanu who was 8th with Oualidaluna (67.315 %).
The 21 young riders began competing this afternoon. With a final score of 69.825 %, it was a Danish rider who was first: Anna Katherine Elkjaer-Holm. She was the bronze medal winner at the 2009 European Young Rider Championships in the team event with her fellow countrymen and was riding Rohmario this afternoon in Compiègne. Two English riders Emily Harris & Melissa Beer completed the line-up on the podium. Pauline Leclercq and Khallgazel du Maupas, members of the French team at the last European Championships, went into 5th place with a score of 64.649 %.
The last to go were the three riders who had entered the competition reserved for under 25 year-olds. There was another Danish victory thanks to Lisbeth Seierskilde and Jonstrupgaardens Raneur (69.123 %).
