CAI Le Touquet: Stefan Ulrich Continues Winning Streak, Dutch Pony Drivers at the Top
One of the final international outdoor driving competitions of the European season took place this weekend in the northern French seaside resort of Le Touquet. Despite the many international competitions and championships held over the past few months, a large proportion of the competitors were Dutch and Belgian.
The standard was particularly high in the 3* pony pairs and horse pairs classes. Five of the nine pony drivers recorded dressage scores of around 45 to 50 penalties, while in the horse pairs no fewer than thirteen of the fifteen combinations achieved scores within this range.
Dutch victories in pony pairs and Four-in-Hand
Rodinde Rutjens held a comfortable lead after two phases, but saw her advantage shrink considerably in the cones (128.27). She eventually finished just 0.11 penalties ahead of fellow Dutch driver Cas Hendriks (128.38), but it was enough to secure the overall victory. The difference between Cas and Belgian driver Pieter Van Den Broeck (129.11) was also small, with Cas Hendriks taking second place.
Pony Four-in-Hand driver Marijke Hammink produced the best dressage score of the entire weekend, finishing on 42.90 penalties. In this class, which featured Dutch and Belgian drivers as well as one Irish competitor, she won all three phases and claimed a convincing overall victory with a final score of 119.87 penalties.
Another victory for Stefan Ulrich
Swiss Single Horse World Champion Stefan Ulrich was also competing in Le Touquet. This time he was driving a pair, and World Champion Bombardier was once again part of his team!
After the dressage and marathon, Stan van Eijk led the provisional standings after finishing second in both phases. However, marathon winner Stefan Ulrich managed to overtake him in the cones, producing the only double-clear round in the class. Stan van Eijk finished third in the cones and took silver overall, ahead of Germany’s Lars Schwitte.
Individual World Championship silver medallist and team gold medallist Mario Gandolfo was also competing in the Single Horse class, this time with a different horse: Johnson du Signal. The Swiss driver also performed well with this horse, finishing on 136.55 penalties. He took second place behind France’s Alexandre Thibaudeau, whose exceptionally strong marathon performance had laid a solid foundation for the overall victory on 135.76 penalties. Belgium’s Lisby Bastin finished third on 137.62 penalties.
Source: Hoefnet. Reproduction without permission via info@hoefnet.nl is not permitted.
Also read
