Adriaan van Wyk
Dominey Alexander and Don Natiello
The Big Tour comprising of the Intermediare II, Grand Prix and Kur was a van Wyk “whitewash” with Adriaan van Wyk and his gelding Othello 216 winning all three tests. This partnership is beautiful to watch and it is clear that Othello is even more powerful and balanced than at the last CDI3* show. In the Intermediare II Joy Morf – Studiger and her giant of a horse Dreamer T came second. Dreamer T has a massive extended trot with very expressive front leg action. Joy who is not the tallest rider, does an incredible job of keeping him balanced and with her. Andrea Harrison – Buchmann and Jenny Neill’s Marinier were third with Marinier having a moment of excitement in the test that belies his age. When asked to comment, Andrea laughed and said that “Marinier had conveniently forgotten his age for the test.” In the Grand Prix Candice Hobday and her well-loved mare Filina came second with her canter work as a real highlight of the test. Third was Joy Morf-Studiger and Dreamer T. The Kur saw Candice Hobday and Filina taking second place
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SPORTING HORSE Issue 19
to Adriaan again. Unfortunately a technical glitch with the music for John Smith and Joy Morf-Studiger resulted in the class running almost an hour late which played havoc with some of the later combination’s warmup. Candice introduced her new freestyle which suited the elegant mare and Candice’s sense of humour down to the ground. Candice rode polished trot work to Aretha Franklin’s “It’s Raining Men” It was heartening to see the Big Tour well supported by local riders, with a new combination of John Smith and his ride Gabriel Trevor. As always a show of this caliber is only possible because of the incredible hard work of so many dedicated people behind the scenes as well as the sponsors. A huge thank you goes out to The Dressage South Africa Committee, The Gauteng Dressage Committee, our dressage representative on EXCO Mrs Lynda Records and all the sponsors.