Hannah Biggs (pictured) and her coach Emile Faurie bagged two top ten placings each during their recent trip to a fairytale Austrian venue for the CDI4* at Fritzens Schindlhof 12 – 14 July.
Emile (below) rode Julie Bradley’s Topolino for the Special, qualifying in the Grand Prix on a score of 66.596% for ninth place.
The pair posted consistent marks across the GP with mostly solid sevens, as well as a 7.5 and two eights during their nine two-time changes - more than enough to get them through to the Special, where they bettered their own positioning to finish seventh overall on 66.563%.
In the Special there were a couple of mistakes in the 15 flying changes that cost marks but the pair boosted their score during the second sequence of nine changes, with eights from the judges at H and B topped up with sevens from the remaining three judges.
It was the seemingly effortless performance of Italy’s Valentina Truppa that led the field with wins in both the qualifying Grand Prix (71.170%) and the Special (72.688%) on her ride Fixdesign Chablis.
For Emile’s pupil, 34 year old Nations Cup rider Hannah, this was a restorative trip after a difficult competition with Weltzin at Aachen CDIO just ten days previous.
Following a massively successful season up to that point, the privately sensitive horse had tried too hard for Hannah and, in her words, ‘pushed himself over the edge’.
But the philosophical and fair Hannah chalked it down to experience, heading to Fritzens to put things right.
She said “Aachen was a bit of a disaster, Weltzin tried too hard and pushed himself over the edge. Not many people realise that he’s actually a really emotionally sensitive horse and it really affected him, so this was a chance to redeem ourselves and get back on track.
“Fritzens was the perfect remedy at just the right time, the setting was truly magical and so peaceful – it was like a dressage dreamland!"
The pair rode Grand Prix for Freestlye – a break from their usual Special over the past few months – and produced a consistent qualifying round for sixth place and 68.489%.
“I wanted a break from the Special and as our new music is nearly completed (Hannah and Weltzin will debut their new music, produced by Tom Hunt, over the winter World Cup season), I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to give our current score one last run.
“I was pleased with the Grand Prix, we had no major mistakes but I could feel that Weltzin was still a little tense so I kept my foot off the gas because it was important that I give him an easy confidence building round.”
The strategy paid off as Weltzin went on to produce a relaxed Freestyle to finish on 73.65% for fifth place and a PB for their record books. “We just went in there and enjoyed ourselves – Weltzin felt in a better frame, both mentally and physically, and we came out with a Freestyle personal best. It couldn’t have been a better result and we’re both coming home feeling a lot happier.
It was the unstoppable Italian Valentina Truppa who again topped the leader board across the Grand Prix for Freestyle, this time on Fixdesign Eremo del Castegno, scoring 76.553% in the GP and 79.48% in the Freestyle.
For full results visit the Fritzens Shindlhof website here.