Wellington, Fla. – Feb. 12, 2021 – The Adequan Global Dressage Festival 5 brought back international dressage competition with Friday’s schedule concluding with the FEI World Cup Grand Prix. Canada’s Brittany Fraser-Beaulieu issued a beautiful test aboard her own All In to achieve a Grand Prix personal best score of 73.696% and claim the victory Friday afternoon in a field of eight combinations in the CDI-W Grand Prix to qualify for the Grand Prix Freestyle.
Fraser-Beaulieu’s partnership with All In has been a longstanding one, having owned the 16-year-old KWPN gelding since he was just five years of age. Despite a ten-month break from competition due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the duo has had no issue returning to the successful streak they displayed in 2020 which culminated with the pair helping Canada earn the silver medal during the CDIO5* during last year’s winter season. Their return to the show ring for the 2021 winter circuit has been nothing but fruitful. In addition to Friday’s win, Fraser-Beaulieu and All In claimed a second place finish in Week 4’s CDI4* Grand Prix and a third place finish in the Grand Prix Special that same week.
With All In’s best interest in mind, Fraser-Beaulieu gave him a light summer consisting mostly of stretching work before resuming full training in September in preparation for the upcoming season. Her warm-up routine has also changed, allotting for stretching in the morning schooling session and a short 15-minute warm-up before entering the ring. Her intentions behind these changes are to preserve her beloved partner for the upcoming Olympics in Tokyo as she’s vying for a spot on the Canadian team and allow him to tell her when he is ready to show and when he might need a break.
All In seemed pleased to be back in the show ring and received multiple scores of 9.0 for their halts and even a 10.0 for their reinback, despite a low circling helicopter throughout the duration of their test.
Second place was awarded to the first competitor of the class, Ashley Holzer representing the United States riding her co-owned mount with Diane Fellows, Valentine. Holzer and the 11-year-old Hanoverian mare set the tone for the class with an early leading score of 71.826% during the mare’s first international Grand Prix of her career. Earning impressive scores up to 77.9% in international small tour competition in 2019, the pair were placed on the short list for the Pan American Games before Holzer pulled out from team contingency in order to not push the talented mare too quickly. This week marks Valentine’s international Grand Prix debut.
Finishing out the podium on Friday afternoon was another Canadian rider, Chris Von Martels paired with his and Barbara Soederhuizen’s co-owned entry Eclips. The 12-year-old KWPN gelding was awarded a second place finish this past December in the FEI Grand Prix CDI3* for the Special during the Global Dressage Festival Fall II with a score of 68.543%. The pair improved upon their scores in Friday’s competition, finishing out the day on a score of 70.326%.
Competition at the ADGF 5 CDIW will resume Saturday, February 13 at 8 a.m. with FEI Children Team.
Results: CDI-W Grand Prix (to qualify for the Grand Prix Freestyle)
1. Brittany Fraser-Beaulieu / CAN / All In / 73.696
2. Ashley Holzer / USA / Valentine / 71.826
3. Chris Von Martels / CAN / Eclips / 70.326
4. Anna Buffini / USA / FRH Davinia La Douce / 69.696
5. Anna Marek / USA / Dee Clair / 66.891
6. Shelly Francis / USA / Danilo / 65.913
7. Evi Strasser / CAN / Deja Vu Tyme / 64.891
8. Abraham Pugh / USA / Elfenperfekt / Eliminated
FROM THE WINNERS CIRCLE
Brittany Fraser-Beaulieu – CDI-W Grand Prix winner
On how All In felt:
“I feel really relieved right now that I had such a great test. To be honest, I think this was probably my best Grand Prix to date. He was really on the aids today, totally focused. I started doing this a little bit last year, I cut my warm-up to 15 minutes. Because he is so big, I take him out and stretch him in the morning and I have a very very short warm-up and it is working for me so far! He is a big horse with a lot of gait, so I find he gets a little bit tired easily. I was a little worried about the Trauma Hawk circling over me, but he stayed totally with me through the whole ride. It was really incredible.”
On what they worked on between the 4* and today’s World Cup CDI-W:
“We for sure worked on the piaffe and the tempis and just basically going error-free, which is extremely hard to do. Especially on a big horse with so much power! But he can really send and collect his gait easily for such a big horse, so we just really worked on nitpicking: square halts, halt reinbacks, stuff that I know that I am losing a little bit of points here and there. I knew that my main focus today was to go error-free.”
On what they worked on over the summer during the break from competition:
“To be honest, I gave him a very very light summer. I rode him, but mostly all stretching. He had lots of turnout. He knows his job and he has a lot of shows under his belt already and Tokyo is still a little ways away and I needed to preserve him a little bit. Lots of turnout and stretching and then in September I started to pick him back up again. We came down to start training with Ashley in November.”
On coming out her second week of showing:
“I was a little nervous again. I had such an amazing finish to last year and it was almost 10 months of no showing. I was praying that I would come out strong like last year, but you never know! All In have such a long partnership and we know each other so well. I have had him since he was five, I have shown him everywhere. As long as I know he is feeling well in his body and I ride well, I know I will have a good test. So I just had to get my confidence back and get the nerves out a little bit from not showing for so long and then I rode a little bit more confidently today.”
On her plan for the remainder of the winter season:
“I am going to try for the World Cup! Things are a little bit up in the air, but I would like to do the 5* as well to get another Special in before the Olympics. I am taking it show by show and seeing how my horse feels. If he feels ready to go, I will go. If he is tired, I will sit out. I am pretty flexible. We are so fortunate here to have so many shows that I just take it week by week!”
