July 13, 2020: Six competitions with five wins

That was definitely a great weekend! OK, I was exhausted Sunday night, but completely satisfied. I guess that is no wonder when you take part in six competitions and take five yellow ribbons with you... My horses were in top condition.

Escorial went really well and deserved to win the Grand Prix and the Spécial. The competitors were not only numerous (33 starters), but also considerable: In the Grand Prix he left Dorothee Schneider behind him. In the Spécial, the lead of more than three percent over the runner-up was also respectable.

Denoix PCH also won his two tests. In the opener for the Louisdor qualifyer our Beryll had to line up directly behind him - after I had taken the lead with him early on and was able to hold it for a long time... It was a particular pity that Beryll once jumped out of a piaffe in the actual qualification. Of course, that was very expensive because it certainly had an influence on the obedience score. But for him it was still about the qualification! Even in spite of this major hiccup, he earned 72.6 percent, which unfortunately meant "only" fourth place. Denoix, who had already qualified in Hagen, received the second winning ribbon, well deserved with 76.5 percent.

The seven-year-old Vainqueur is to qualify for the Nuremberg Burg-Pokal. I really think a lot of the beautiful chestnut stallion, but as this was his first S-level dressage ever, plus we had the last show two years ago - I wouldn't have placed any bets. However, the Vivaldi son showed himself to be great in the warm-up test and qualifier, which can also be seen from his scores. Both times he received more than 75 percent, which meant he won the second section in the break-in test and was second in the qualifier.

Not to forget about the other Fleyenhof riders, who were also doing very well. Charlotte Tollhopf and the Escolar son Embrace won an L-level dressage horse test and qualified for the Bundeschampionat (score: 8.5). Ivan took D'Alessandro to third place in the medium class for young dressage horses, and they are now also qualified for Warendorf (8.4). Ivan and Dünensee finished seventh in the well-filled Grand Prix with almost 70 percent. Katharina and Signorina also scored a good 69 percent in the entry test for the Louisdor Qualifier. And Karolin put in a very strong round in the Piaffe-Förderpreis and finished fifth.

It is also very important to me to thank the Hess family for the dedicated and loving organization of this tournament. It is certainly anything but easy to create a more or less "normal" sports event these days! The Bettenrode team has done a great job. The regulations still do not allow for larger audiences, but at least the horse owners were allowed to come and watch. Also, it is certainly not easy to keep the sponsors happy... It was very clear in Bettenrode that the active riders are happy about starting opportunities: They came from Hamburg and Munich, and the large numbers of competitors in most classes also speak a clear language. Many thanks, dear organising team!