WELLINGTON, Fla.--Germany’s Anna-Christina Abbelen on Sam Donnerhall won the final ‘Friday Night Stars’ freestyle class under lights at the Global Dressage Festival on March 29.
Anna Christina Abbelen on Sam Donnerhall (Photo by Susan Stickle)Trailing Abbelen by just 0.045 percentage points, and placed first by four of the five judges, was Sweden’s seven-time Olympian, Tinne Vilhelmson Silfvén on Esperance who, in just the stallion’s fourth big tour CDI, scored 75.86% to place second.
Charlotte Jorst on the 11-year-old Zhaplin Langholt, the youngest horse in the class, had a personal best score of 74.375% to finish third.
Sam Donnerhall, at 17, was the oldest horse in the class, and Abbelen is carefully considering his future.
“At every show he keeps getting fresher and fresher,” she said. “Today he was really on his peak. The floorplan is quite difficult, and the feeling was actually really good, especially in the passage and the piaffe. And the whole canter tour was mistake free. But due to his freshness the first halt, which is usually a strong part, was not really good."
“At the very end, in the music I put in a little thank you to my horse because this was maybe my last show with him," she said. "I don’t know. But he’s at his strongest at the moment and he’s so fresh and I learned everything from him. I did so many great five star shows with him and learned a lot. I thought if this was a really good one today, then I’d be happy to say that maybe I’ll just do smaller shows, or even just ride him at home. I owe him everything.”
VIHELMSON SILFVEN rode Esperance at AGDF in 2017 at small tour, but the horse was dogged by injuries and only did three CDI shows over the following four years.
Esperance is now back, and this was his first experience of the atmospheric ‘Friday Night Stars’.
“This was his first show in one and a half years and only his second freestyle ever,” she said. “I’m so proud of him. I’m still speechless because he was such a star. He didn’t care about anything in there. I used music that I made for Paridon Magi, but I redid the floorplan this week to make it a little bit easier because I had no idea how he would be in there.”
Vilhelmson Silfvén, who also won the CDI4* Grand Prix the previous day with another horse in her string, Hyatt, will fly back to Europe after the conclusion of this year’s AGDF to prepare for a summer of European competitions.
Jorst was riding to new music, put together specifically for Zhaplin Langholt, that was very patriotic.
“I came here from Denmark when I was 23 and I think a lot of times we forget all the freedom and all the great things that we have in this country,” she said. “I’m really grateful to be an American and I want to express that.
“For a horse like that, who is so young and only did his first grand prix a few months ago, and I’m so grateful to have had this show circuit to really make him a grand prix horse," said Jorst. "He always gives me a good feeling and I’m so proud of the way he looks; he’s just a great type for me.”
