OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2018 THE RIDER /33


FEI World Singles Driving Competition: Kronenberg, Netherlands


When Winston


Churchill stated that “the outside of a horse is good for the inside of a man” he must have foreseen the opening day of the FEI World Championship for Singles & Para Driving in Kronenberg, the Nether- lands. On a warm, sunny August 29/18, over 100 im- peccably turned out horses paraded before a panel of seven distinguished judges for the horse Inspection. A small number were rele- gated to the holding area for a soundness examination carried out by an equine vet- erinarian and then returned for an additional walk / trot past the judges. All but two made the cut and were ac- cepted by the private ballot procedure used for a final decision by the judges. This is the eleventh


all 5 judges. And Francisca Den Elzen’s (NDL) score of 39.69 was also the first place winner of the 5 judges for Groups 2. The Open Dressage


competed over the next two days. It is interesting to note that all of these top horses are 13 yrs old…three geld- ings and one mare. It is also interesting to note that only 7 mares and 7 stallions are competing in this event...all the rest are geldings. The ages range from 8 to 17 years of age. Rudoph Pirhofer (AUT) topped the competitors with a stellar 46.73, followed closely by Renaud Vinck (FRA) at 47.58 and only 0.05 better than Saskia Siebers (NDL) at 47.63. And a milestone was made today with 51.58 for Kelly Houtappels- Bruder (CAN) making her


are particularly worthy of praise. As Para driver Bob Giles (USA) stated “when you consider the physical handicaps that these fellow participants have had to overcome, and then go on to conquer the demands of this sport, it is truly mind bog- gling.” In Group 1, Martje Mitvoet (NDL) won with 81.55 followed by Jaques Poppen (FRA) who is a paraplegic following a car accident in 1995 with a score of 82.51. In Group 2, Francisca Den Elzen (NDL) won with a 78.74 score fol- lowed by Alexandra Roder (GER) with only .05 differ- ence at 78.79. Roder has a left leg prosthesis and was 2014 World Champion (Gr2)


Of the 82 Single


Drivers, Jean Michael Oliver (FRA) who started


Witvoet (NDL) won Bronze with 148.38. The Dutch au- dience was ecstatic with the excellent showing from their homeland. The same countries


repeated their wins in Group 2 Para. Francisca Den Elzen (NDL) continued her lead in all three divisions for Gold with a total score of 121.43, followed by Silver for Alexandra Roder (GER) at 135.29 and Aad Marwijk (NDL) with 153.80 taking home Bronze. The Singles exhibited


Para Driving World’s Com- petition which started in 1998. But this is the first time it has been held in con- junction with the World Sin- gles. Nine nations represented by 24 Para en- tries and eighty-two Singles drivers representing twenty- three nations were present. The Para drivers are divided into two groups; Grade 1 and 2 depending on the severity of their handicap. Each team consists of a min- imum of two drivers and a maximum of three, with a minimum of one Grade 1 driver per team. A warm breeze and


overcast skies ushered in the Para Dressage on the after- noon of Aug 29/18. But in- termittent showers didn’t inhibit the determination of the twenty-four Drivers who all completed excellent per- formances of FEI Dressage Test No. 4 PE. From ex- tended trots, to 10 second halts, and from 20 meter cir- cles to five loop serpentines, the judges had a hard time to differentiate the scores which in many cases only separated drivers by a few decimal points. The Nether- lands stunned the crowd with impressive scores in both Groups 1 & 2. Jacques Poppen’s (FRA) Dressage score of 37.78 in Group 1 was the universal winner by


the leading Dressage con- tender from North America and 14th out of 82 in Dres- sage. Kelly started driving Welsh ponies at age 8 and at 18 took up ridden Dressage which led to Canadian Jun- ior Equestrian of the Year in 1999. In 2008, she moved to Europe and now operates a small training stable near Steensel NL with her hus- band Frank. Kelly states “I am really happy with Flip, he did his very best today and, for where he is in his training, there wasn’t a lot more I could ask of him. I’ve had him only two years so I’m so thrilled with the progression we have made.” The weather could


not have been better for the Marathon…a bright sunny day, but not excessively hot. The crowds turned out in huge numbers to cheer on their favorite competitor. And cheer they did ! There was a wave of orange shirts following the eight Single drivers and six Para partici- pants from The Netherlands. From obstacle to obstacle, with flags waving and loud encouragement, it was not difficult to identify the sup- porters from the host coun- try.


The 24 Para partici-


pants went during the mid- dle of the day and completed 6 obstacles. They


some excellent drives with six, yes six drivers going double clean. It was any- body’s game right to the end. Saskia Siebers (NDL) came into this final phase with 139.45, only 0.18 be- hind leader Barlomiej Kwiatek (POL) and went clean in Cones but had a 0.41 time penalty giving her a final score of 139.86. When Kwiatek entered the ring, the whole crowd went silent as we all sat on the edge of our seats. To hold onto his lead, he had to avoid a 3 point penalty knockdown & stay very close to within the 180 sec- ond time allotted. Everyone held their breath as he passed cone after cone. When he finally completed the course double clean, the crowd erupted into cheers lasting several minutes. I cannot imagine a more ex- citing finale to any sporting event. Bronze went to Mar- ion Vignaud (FRA) with a total score of 144.00. The colorful final cer-


driving at age 11 was indi- vidual Marathon winner with a score of 88.04 fol- lowed by Bartlomiej Kwiatek (POL), a consistent champion in Poland, who scored 89.82 and Jens Chladek (GER) with 90.01. A nail biter finale: the


sun shone brightly on packed stands at both sides of the Cones arena. The course was challenging…3 sets of serpentines, 4 sets of “skinnies”, some doubles and lots of tight corners. The “order of go” was reverse from the accumulated scores of the other two categories of Dressage and Marathon which puts the best scorers at the end of the day. The Para entries


drove during the middle of the day and were a treat to watch as they maneuvered the course. None went clean but Jacques Poppen (NDL) had the fewest penalties with only one ball down. So, his cumulative score (A+B+C) of 123.29 made him the overall Gold winner in the Group 1 category of Para drivers. Heiner Lehrter (GER) maintained his over- all second for Silver in this division with a score of 142.29. Handicapped by thalidomide, he is the only German driver that has com- peted in all World Champi- onships. And Martje


emony celebrated the Team victories of The Netherland taking home Gold with a cu- mulative score of 283.87, France achieving Silver with 287.73 and Poland tak- ing Bronze with 293.44. Canada’s team also


included Pierre Guillemette (CAN) from Becancour Quebec. Pierre has had horses all his life and started competitive driving in 2007. He also drove in the filming of Hunger Games. While Canada had only two drivers on the team, Kelly finished 9th overall out of 82 drivers in the individual ranking. Pierre put in a valiant per- formance on a leased horse that he had only been work- ing with for three weeks. In 2020, he hopes to qualify again and bring his own horse to the Worlds. With greater financial support, it would be possible for Canada to field a team of three in 2020. Let’s make it happen! There were so many


highs during the past five days that it is not possible to rank them. But we will all look forward to the next World Singles in Pau France from October 21 – 26, 2020 - Don’t miss it!


Prepared by: Bob Thomas, Union, Ontario Canada. September 25, 2018


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