15 September 2022
The World Single Driving Championships in Le Pin au Haras has started
The first dressage day of the World Single Driving Championships is over. The first 34 combinations drove their test under beautiful dry weather conditions. The ground was still a bit wet in the morning and therefore somewhat heavy. The best score was driven by the Austrian Alexander Bösch with 51.71.
Alexander Bösch took the lead on the first day of the competition
Photo: Melanie Guillamot
The reigning Austrian champion drove a good test with his horse Finesse. While there were differences in the scores of the 5 judges in some tests, with Bösch the scores were close to each other. His solid performance was a pleasure to watch, with his horse working
in a constant connection. The French Claire Lefort scored the second best result today with 52.84. The elegant combination showed a nice, smooth test and made no major mistakes.
Comeback
Three Dutch drivers came into action today. Dirk van Beckhoven was the first of them to appear and had to start early. He skillfully sent his 10-year-old Havilina around. In the first extended trot he had a short break into canter, the reinback was a bit crooked and the horse briefly broke out of the canter in one of the canter movements. The test was rewarded with 66.69 (currently 20th). “My horse was super and relaxed in the ring for the first time. I made those mistakes myself. I started to get after myself too much. We
changed the preparation slightly and it worked. I’m very content. It is only her 6th competition, so I have to make do with what I have,” he evaluates. His KWPN mare is a harness horse bred with a dash of Gelderlander blood (Waldemar x Sander). Dirk got the
mare at the age of 2 ½ years old and trained her himself. The competition in Haras du Pin is familiar territory for Dirk. His last competition with his successful pony Frits (with which he won World Cup silver in Catton Hall in 2005) was in 2006 at this location. That is why it is special for him to be here again. He had not counted on participating in the World Championship this year. “Ad (Aarts, ed.) called me and asked ‘Do you want to go to the World Championship, or is it still too early?’ I thought ‘I’ll just do it’. So I have no expectations and we’re just going to see what happens. And I have to get back into it myself. The marathon is tough enough and takes a lot of strength. For me as a driver it is really necessary to pay attention because it is a lot of steering work.”
Frank van der Doelen is 7th on day one
Photo: Melanie Guillamot
Inexperienced
Frank van der Doelen’s horse, the 8-year-old chestnut Iverno, is not that experienced either. The image was beautiful and fresh, but just like Dirk, Frank struggled with some mistakes. “I drove for everything I’m worth,” he responds. “At this level, I think it’s only the
4th or 5th competition for my horse. I just have to make do with this. It certainly didn’t go wrong. The footing was a bit heavy and Iverno just hasn’t had enough experience yet, so I had a few small things.” Frank is in 7th place after the first day with a score of 60.03.
For Rudolf Pestman, the presentation of the inexperienced Lord Latimer (of Gerard Leijten and Valerie Deweer) was less fortunate. It was ‘survival’ in the test and the score of 80.81 puts him in last place. Something we are not used to from the reigning Dutch champion. Tomorrow the other participants will start in dressage. For those who stay at home, the competition can be followed via the livestream.
Click here for the results and starting orders
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