- The highly acclaimed winner of the CDI4* Freestyle: GLOCK rider Edward Gal (NED) and Glock's Undercover doing the piaffe © Michael Rzepa
08 Grand Prix Freestyle
Goose bumps and absolute silence for freestyle by Edward Gal and Glock's Undercover
What a finale, what a setting, what an atmosphere! There was not a seat to be had round the standard dressage arena this afternoon. Like yesterday evening, suspense was in the air as everyone waited for Edward Gal and Glock's Undercover to make an appearance and perform their new freestyle to music for only the second time after the Olympic Games. Only a few bars into it the audience was completely captivated. With goose bumps at what the Dutchman presented today on the 11-year-old Ferro son, the fans were only capable of one thing: absolute silence.
- The highly acclaimed winner of the CDI4* Freestyle: GLOCK rider Edward Gal and Glock’s Undercover doing the passage © Nini Schäbel
The piaffes were perfect, the canter strong, the half-passes smooth and the pirouettes incredibly light footed, making 83.775% for a win in another league!
Olympic rider Valentina Truppa with her Eremo del Castegno danced an amazing freestyle to Italian melodies. At 79.950% it also gave her a high score and a well-deserved second place. Isabell Werth (GER) kept the promise she made at the Intermediate I freestyle prize giving. El Santo NRW was much livelier and showed stronger movements than yesterday in a successful routine. She finished on 77.575% for third. Fourth place went to a happy Hans Peter Minderhoud who soon had the audience on his side riding a dynamic and expressive Glock's Tango to music from Zorro. Andrea John (Tyrol) achieved Austria's best result with her Esperanto and 68.350% for sixth place.
Quotes:
Edward Gal:
He gives me such a fantastic feeling, I even got goose bumps myself. You'd think he could piaffe for ages and not get tired at all. The whole venue was awesome again today. I just want to thank the Glock family and everyone who came here to the show!
On the piaffe:
we are trying to teach the horses to take the initiative themselves. We are working with transitions so they learn to react faster.
On the pirouette:
it is difficult to start in this freestyle because it comes right after the fast canter. Once he gets into it, you get the feeling he could keep on turning, he does it that effortlessly.
Halt:
he still has to learn how to stand still. He is still excited here, but you need a horse that wants to move forward. That still works against me as it were just now, but it all takes time and then it will be fine.
08 Grand Prix Freestyle (to music)
1. Glock's Undercover Gal Edward - NED - 83.775 Punkte
2. Truppa Valentina - Eremo del Castegno - ITA - 79.950 Punkte
3. Werth Isabell - El Santo NRW - GER - 77.575 Punkte
4. Minderhoud Hans Peter - Glock's Tango - NED - 75.675 Punkte
5. Merveldt Anna - Coryolano - IRL - 72.925 Punkte
6. John Andrea - Esperanto - AUT (T) - 68.350 Punkte
7. Hartung Amanda - Wolkenritter - AUT (T) - 66.725 Punkte
8. Jungwirth Markus - Count Basie - AUT (NÖ) - 65.800 Punkte
9. Soldi Ester - Harmonia - ITA - 62.300 Punkte
Results link