Promising young talent in the Z1 dressage freestyle to music

The best combinations from regions across the country competed today for victory in the Z1 and Z2 classes. The evening started with the Z1, where Marten Luiten came out on top. With a score of 71,237%, he secured first place together with his horse Paparazzi. Lorna Verweijen followed in second place with 69,142%, while Serena Vergunst completed the podium with a score of 67,666%.

Marten spoke about the mare, who’s only six years old: “With Paparazzi you never have to worry that she will do anything unexpected during the test; she has such a wonderful character.” Marten rides her for the De Booij family and is well aware of her young age. “Six years old is of course still very young, and right now we are mainly working on building strength. At home I’ve already tried a few flying changes, and she does them easily! But everything in its own time,” said the newly crowned winner.

Top Score in the Z2 Freestyle to Music
Victory in the Z2 freestyle to music went to Tessa Kole from Zeeland with her horse Oldi Murona. With a score of 77,833%, she finished ahead of Kim Alting and Kim Noordijk. The second- and third-placed riders scored 75,458% and 75,033% respectively, leaving the winner comfortably ahead. “I could immediately see that I had a good score when I left the arena. But to be honest, that wasn’t what I was riding for. I was mainly very happy with my test, and the score comes afterwards,” Tessa explained. She first rode the seven-year-old mare when she was just four years old, but took over the reins again about a year and a half ago. “She has a very special trot, which makes her really fun to ride. Besides her gaits, her character is also incredibly nice: she’s always ‘on’ and super relaxed.”

Photos: TDM/Digishots