29 March 2018
Exloo: Dressage victories for Karel van Kekem and Marijke Hammink
This afternoon at noon the first drivers entered the two dressage arenas at the Equestrian Centre in Exloo, home of the second edition of the CAI2* competition. The pony pair and pony four-in-hand classes were completed today in which Dutch drivers Karel van Kekem and Marijke Hammink were victorious.
Karel van Kekem
Photo: Krisztina Horváth
Pony pairs
Despite several hailstorms and winter temperatures, the competitors did what they could. Van Kekem took the lead in the pairs class, followed by his compatriots Rodinde Rutjens and Melanie van de Bunt. Claudine Laplume from Luxemburg achieved the best foreign result. The differences however are very small, which will result in an exciting marathon.
Marijke Hammink
Photo: Krisztina Horváth
Pony fours
Marijke Hammink showed a good test with her four Welsh ponies and stayed one points ahead of local favourite Jannes Kinds. Joey van der Ham finished third place, René Limpens came fourth. This promises a good battle in the marathon as both Hammink and Kinds are true marathon specialists.
Frank van der Vegt
Photo: Krisztina Horváth
Singles
The first group of the 56 single horses entered the arena in Exloo today. The goal for many is to meet the qualification criteria to be able to compete at the World Championships in Kronenberg later this year. Twenty drivers finished under the 65 points-limit and will have to complete the competition without being eliminated or being disqualified. Dutch driver Frank van der Vegt took the lead, followed by the Netherlands-based Canadian driver Kelly Houtappels-Bruder and Saskia van Heesch.
The first single ponies also came into action today, in which Sandra Schäfer from Germany took the lead, ahead of Belgium’s Sven Tinlot and Anne Zaayer representing the Netherlands.
The second part of the single drivers will drive their dressage test on Friday, as well as the pair and four-in-hand drivers and the para equestrian competitors.
