Hans Peter Minderhoud has won the fourth leg of the Reem Acra FEI World Cup Dressage League qualifier at Stockholm in Sweden.
‘Eager to do well’
The 42-year-old, who claimed team gold and individual bronze at this summer’s FEI European Championships, rode Glock’s Flirt to victory with a score of 80.950%.
Hans won the Grand Prix the day before, which was a boost to his confidence in the Freestyle and he admitted he was “eager to do well” not least because their was a car up for grabs.
“When I saw the orange car in the corner of the arena I thought – ‘hey, a Dutch person should win that!’ – and this is the first car I’ve ever won!” he said
Patrik Kittel and Watermill Scandic, who were competing in front of a home crowd, came second (79.100%), while Dutch rider Adelinde Cornelissen was third with Jerich Parzival (78.775&).
World Cup Driving
The third leg of the FEI World Cup Driving also took place in Stockholm, with Dutchman IJsbrand Chardon taking the title.
It looked like the four-time World Champion might be out of the competition when he had to pull up momentarily in the final round.
“I had to stop in one of the marathon obstacles after the right wheeler horse had caught the rein of the right leader horse,” IJsbrand explained. “It really got stuck and I couldn’t move it so I had to stop.”
Luckily his groom managed to quickly resolve the situation and he still won by nearly six seconds.
Young drivers Michael Brauchle (GER) and József Dobrovitz Jr finished second and third.