26 March 2023
CAI Exloo 2023: Exciting final day
The last day in Exloo brought exciting sport with two beautiful cones courses on the main terrain. Fortunately it was dry today. The beautiful arena did not show that so much rain had fallen yesterday. There was one arena for the single horses and one arena for the other classes.
DDesiree van Lambalgen ended her international debut with a second place
Photo: Wilco van Driessen
In the two-star single pony ponies, three participants drove clear within the time limit. Desirée van Lambalgen was one of them. She drove a nice round and ended up in second place in the final ranking. Last starter Klaas van der Sande had a huge lead. On obstacle 6, one of the oxers, he knocked a ball off and he also did not make the time allowed. But with 5.20 he remained the best overall. “My pony is getting better in every way. I make the mistakes myself,” he says. “My pony is amazing. He is now 17 years old and comes from Finland. If you drive singles, they have to be good in all parts and he can do that! I had a good start to this competition with the dressage. I drove a forty for the first time. The marathon also went well. The water obstacle turned out very nice the obstacles three and four are also beautiful and kept a good surface despite the weather.”
Clear rounds
None of the single horses in the two-star competition remained clear. Christian Prinz (GER) maintained his leading position. In the three-star singles competition, Peter Zeegers won the cones and moved up to second place in the final ranking. The Norwegian Maria Henriksson took first place.
It was exciting for the pony singles in the three-star competition because the differences in the top 8 of the ranking were small. Four competitors remained clear and that led to shifts in the standings. Giles Pirotte (BEL) took the overall victory thanks to a clear round and Anniek Schuiling finished second.
Sietske Flobbe drove 0.68 time penalties
Photo: Wilco van Driessen
Flobbe wins
There were also quite a few clear rounds in the pony pairs. Rowan Timmer (2*) and Sietske Flobbe (3*) maintained their leading position. Sietske left all the balls on top, but just missed the time (0.68 penalty points). She was relieved when she learned that she had nevertheless won the competition. “We trained for dressage all winter. My youngest pony sometimes wanted to hop on a bit. He is only 7 years old and finds it quite difficult. But we are now so far that they really become a pair,” she says of her progress. “These ponies work well together, they have a lot of power, but they won’t go crazy and stay calm.”
Young talents Joris Wouda (pony team **) and Eline Mentink (horse pair **) won their class. In the other categories it was the experienced drivers who set the tone. Francisca den Elzen won convincingly in the paras and Marijke Hammink and IJsbrand Chardon were the best in the Four-in-Hand classes. Bernd Brüninghoff was the only one who remained double clear in the 3* horse pair class. Tor van den Berge received only 0.01 penalty for exceeding the time. With that he won the competition and Max Berlage referred to place 2.
European Championships
Tijdens de prijsuitreiking werden de prijswinnaars in het zonnetje gezet en sprak IJsbrand Chardon nog enkele woorden. “Het is geweldig wat alle vrijwilligers van het organisatieteam en Lieuwe Koopmans hier hebben neergezet. Ik reed de marathon in de stromende regen, maar de bodem in de hindernissen was nog prima. We gaan hier eind augustus een prachtig EK krijgen en ik hoop dat jullie daar allemaal weer bij zijn. Ik kijk er naar uit.”
During the prize giving ceremony, the prize winners were put in the spotlight. IJsbrand Chardon spoke a few more words. “It’s great what all the volunteers of the organizing team and Lieuwe Koopmans have put up here. I rode the marathon in the pouring rain, but the footing in the obstacles was still fine. We are going to have a wonderful European Championship here at the end of August and I hope you will all be there again. I look forward.”
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IJsbrand Chardon is looking forward to the European Championships
Photo: Wilco van Driessen
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