WELLINGTON, Fla.--Evelyn Eger of Germany on Dancing Darkness won the Grand Prix Special CDI3* on Saturday, March 1, in week eight of the Global Dressage Festival.
Evelyn Eger on Dancing Darkness (Photo by Susan Stickle)The top four in the class all scored personal bests.
Eight riders represented seven different nations, with Eger winning with a score of 72.362%.
Susan Pape of Great Britain, winner of the qualifying grand prix on Thursday, was second in the Special on Harmony’s Giulilanta on a score of 71.766%.
Harmony’s Giulilanta has made a fantastic return to competition after a two year absence due to injury, and this was her second ever CDI Grand Prix Special, her previous best being 70.851% achieved in Festival 7.
Callie O’Connell on Eaton H was third on a new personal best of 67.355%, and Meagan Davis on Toronto Lightfoot was fourth, right behind with a 67.17%.
At 11 years old, Dancing Darkness was the youngest horse in the class.
“She’s a special mare, but she has tricky buttons,” said the 27-year-old Eger, who is having a good run at her first Festival, including winning the previous night’s Palm Beach Derby on her Derby debut.
“I LOVE mares and she really is a mare, so I have to listen to her and see if she’s in the mood or not and whether or not we’ll have an easy training day," said Eger. "We have to listen to each other and now we understand each other well. That’s what I like with her. It’s more of a challenge and I love it.”
Dancing Darkness has been produced by the team at Hof Kasselmann where Eger works.
She was allocated the ride on the tall black mare a year ago.
“She grew in our stable with previous riders and I took her over when she was already in I-2 national shows,” said Eger. “Then I found the buttons and we made our way up to the big sport in the grand prix.
“Now we are ready to be in the international show ring and that makes me happy. She’s very talented with super mega highlights. The piaffe today was really good. It’s still hard for her because she still doesn’t 100% have the power to hold it every time, but she improved from piaffe to piaffe, and also from the first day of the show to today. Honestly, the whole test was a highlight because I could feel the mare steady and with me.”
Now Dancing Darkness has proven herself in the CDI ring, Eger is considering whether the CDI5* in Festival 10 may be a good option for her before she returns to Europe for the summer competition season.
Eger has plenty of horsepower to choose from, having also brought Tabledance 3, Global Power OLD, Gossip Girl 9 and Jumanji 23 to compete.
She has ridden almost 20 tests in the Global Dressage Stadium over the past two months, gaining up vital experience thanks to the Festival's ample showing opportunities.
