ANDREAS HELGSTRAND - WEG2006 Freestyle Final

[Reijel's Mom]

THANK YOU for sharing - that was AMAZING - I got tears in my eyes watching it, it was just too beautiful!!

 

[rabbitsfizz]

I cannot believe Salinero beat Matine- I do like Anky but that horse was just a beautiful "robot" in that test- Machine was performing for herself, not just her rider, surely that counts in Freestyle???

 

[tagalong]

I cannot believe Salinero beat Matine- I do like Anky but that horse was just a beautiful "robot" in that test- Machine was performing for herself, not just her rider, surely that counts in Freestyle???

Yes - but things still need to be smooth and flowing. If you watch Matine's freestyle carefully - she had a few not-so-smooth moments... and the one obvious bobble. ANY mistake at that level is major.

Salinero was perfectly in time with his music... and what he lacked in over the top enthusiasm and expression, he made up for in quiet finesse.

I agreed with the commentators... Salinero's test was the winner. Matine was more brilliant - but the gelding's overall "picture" that evening was better. Matine won her Grand Prixs and was third in the Grand Prix Special to Satchmo (Isabel Werth) and Salinero...

 

[justjinx]

OUTSTANDING! incredible talent and training. great connection between the pair! THAT is horsemanship! jennifer

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Salinero's a stallion, right???

Matine is a mare..............

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[sfmini]

Wow, I have seen a lot of Grand Prix level dressage horses but never anything like this, and I am talking years of watching long listed Olympic hopefuls! She is stunning, I have never seen such powerful and smooth piaffe to passage transitions, and long times of passaage. What a powerful, strong mare. Just stunning.

 

[anoki]

Was it not Salinero that bolted while leaving the stadium after one of his tests??? (or was it Satchmo?) Anyways had to be stopped by the mounted security!!!!!!!! :new_shocked:

As for the freestyle, because of the music and 'fluidity' of Salinero's test he got more points.....I agree that the Matine was better, but the fact that the music was dead on with Salinero was what it took. That's why I said it was really too bad that they didn't have MUCH better music to go with Matine.....they may have won it, had they had better music......

and yes, I do agree with tagalong

Salinero was perfectly in time with his music... and what he lacked in over the top enthusiasm and expression, he made up for in quiet finesse.

My coaches own 2 geldings. One is an unbelievable mover, very pretty, big, but isn't 'steady'. The other gelding is an alright mover, very plain looking, not that big, but is super steady (actually he's a half brother to Brentina). Guess which one cleans up at the shows??

the one with the quiet finesse.....can't wait to see what happens when they compete at the same level against each other!!!! lol

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~kathryn

 

[hobbyhorse23]

That. Was. AMAZING. :new_shocked:

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: :aktion033:

I've watched more than a few dressage videos and have to admit I usually feel disappointed that the joie de vivre (sp?) just doesn't seem to be there, or they're talking about how perfect the test was and all I can see is the disconnected hindquarters and toe flipping. Argh! But this mare just blew my mind. She really was dancing to the music as well as throwing her heart in that ring with her rider and it showed. I don't know how Kur is judged so I speak as an amateur when I say that I preferred her music, all I know is she electrified that stadium in a way Salinero just couldn't do. I agree, he was robotic. I kept finding my eyes drifting away from the screen as usual and had to remind myself to watch him. I'm all for quiet finesse and don't mind that he won with a better technical go, but in my mind Matine was the hands-down winner of the evening! :aktion033:

I wanted to jump up and down and punch the air and hug that rider while I cried. That is my kind of horsemanship.

And you know, the longer I watched the more I became convinced she was swishing her tail to the music and not because she was wringing it! Astonishing. That mare is a incredibly powerful, graceful, incandescent spirit, and I've not seen her like more than once or twice before in any form. What a blessing.

Leia

 

[rabbitsfizz]

That tail swishing is counted as a resistance, isn't it??

I am not familiar with freestyle rules but it would not be acceptable in "ordinary" dressage.

I agree though, I watched and thought she had blown it with the tail then I though, No , it is in keeping with her overall style.

I know in Obedience, although we are used to seeing Collies Velcro-ed to the leg, GSD will work differently and Dobes differently again- when I asked about this one of our top judges said it was the dogs consistent way of going that counted- if it worked three inches off the leg (as Sam did or I would fall over) ALL the time, it was OK.

So maybe this was the same, because she swished and whirled her tail ALL the time, it was consistent behaviour.

Anyone know the correct answer to this???

Me, I love it, whether it is right or wrong.

In freestyle I will take that mare over any "perfect" stallion, any day!!!

 

[anoki]

That tail swishing is counted as a resistance, isn't it??

Not necessarily.....like you said with the dog example, it was pretty consistant throughout. Had she just done it for certain movements she would have been nailed for it (but how much....at the judge's discretion....I believe it's about 2 marks/movement it's shown in, because, yes then it would be resistance.) And it was more of a swishing than a ringing...she may have been docked marks at the bottom of the test for 'submission', but again that may have only been 2 marks, and because she was soo spectacular she may have made up for those lost marks elsewhere. (I was at a judges clinic with Linda Zang, who was one of the judges there, but I can't remember if she touched on that or not...I wasn't taking notes on all that stuff, I was too busy scribing!!)

I think it was Rusty that had a 'hitch' in his passage & piaffe. They had him checked and re-checked by vets and could find no problems, so the judges just accepted it and stopped penalizing him for it!!!!! :new_shocked: WHICH I still don't agree with, but that's dressage!!!!!

She could have been really wound up (ok I'm pretty sure she was)....I believe that was her first BIG competition, and by the 3rd day, I'm sure she may have been a little tense! Plus it's at night, lots of lights, lots of noise!!! I mean the ending where she just kept passaging...she wasn't doin' that "just for fun", believe me....she was wound!!! Easy to get them to passage when they are wound up

: :bgrin

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The judges may have cut her a bit of slack, because she is an amazing YOUNG MARE!!!

~kathryn

 

[disneyhorse]

I don't ride dressage but the people who own the barn where I board my minis do. They have Andalusians and Friesians that do high school dressage and upper-level movements. It requires a lot for the horse and rider to perform.

The tail wringing is most definitely a "fault" as it shows the horse has some resistance and is not "forward". They say the tail is the only part of the horse that a rider has no control over! So that, coupled with the small bobble by Matine is what allowed Salinero the edge.

Both horses are absolutely amazing! I did have a more emotional reaction to the grey mare, she has a lot of pizazz~!

I watched both videos but watched Matine's go twice, and then brought my fiance over to watch it too!

Andrea

 

[tagalong]

Well, the bottom line is... on that night, Salinero rose to the occasion and had one of his best tests ever... and Matine - still young and relatively new to that high level - was spectacular - but a bit wound up - as Anoki said.

Salinero's a stallion, right???Matine is a mare..............

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Salinero is a Hanoverian gelding.

And yes - Matine is a mare - I never said otherwise.

She needed to be a bit smoother throughout... and that was all. That one obvious bauble meant silver.

Anky and Salinero rode that same freestyle at the FEI World Cup finals earlier last year and scored 87.75 %.

Amazing...

Non-dressage people may not realize that getting into the 70s percentage-wise is great - and the 80's - mindblowing!!

 

[Charlotte]

Oh Carol. Thank you for posting that. It simply brought me to tears.

Charlotte

 

[hobbyhorse23]

The tail wringing is most definitely a "fault" as it shows the horse has some resistance and is not "forward". They say the tail is the only part of the horse that a rider has no control over!

I agree, and that's why I was so confused watching her. That mare was the most forward, stretchy, bouncy horse ever! She would never have been able to get so much spring in her hind legs with a resistant topline. So how could her tail be wringing by the classic definition? When I looked closely she never clamped down her topline, never lashed her tail angrily between her legs or at the rider, never clamped her tail to her rump and scrubbed it back and forth, nothing that I would traditionally call "wringing." Her ears never pinned, her eyes were large and soft the whole time, she was positively joyful. That mare's body posture was not resistant in any way. Keyed up, but not resistant!

I think she's just one of those odd ducks who doesn't fit the mold. What she reminded me of was someone at a concert listening to good music and bobbing their head in time to it. Heck, I swear in one of those final passages she was head-banging with those ears flopping forward and back! LOL. It may not have been perfect according to tradition, but it sure fit the spirit of dressage. How wonderful.

Leia