‘She's taught me patience'

Future talent is on display across the levels, with Vivaldi offspring asserting themselves

- STEPHANIE BATEMAN

AMID preparations for the Tokyo Olympics, ultimate professional Charlotte Dujardin remained focused to land the Grand Prix riding the stunning 11-year-old Vivaldi mare Florentina VI. In a mistake-free test, highlights included flowing half-passes, tiny canter pirouettes, and balanced canter zig-zags to score 76.48%.

The mare only completed her first Grand Prix at Wellington a few weeks previously where she was second to Charlotte’s Tokyo ride Gio. Here, she showed maturity and confidence.

“It’s taken me two years to get her strong enough to come out and be able to do it,” said Charlotte. “She’s taught me a lot, mostly to be patient and wait for her to be ready. She could piaffe and passage, but putting the combinations together was the tricky part and she found it difficult. There are a few things to improve on, but I couldn’t have asked for more.”

Vivaldi offspring dominated the top Grand Prix placings, with Laura Tomlinson’s 11-year-old gelding Fallatijn Van Kairos scoring 73.5% for the second.

The big, expressive chestnut showed a huge talent for the piaffe and passage tour, scoring plenty of eights throughout.

“He was very enthusiastic,” laughed Laura. “His half-passes and extensions are improving loads and the test overall was really pleasing. He just needs to be a little bit more relaxed in the ring now for the top marks.”

The third Olympic medallist in the class, Spencer Wilton, was on a new ride who earned him a sixth-place with 68.26%. The 15-year-old Hanoverian gelding Stansfield belongs to German couple Nikolas and Kathleen Kröncke who have 10 horses at Spencer’s Cotswold yard.