Tinne Vilhelmson-Silfvén (SWE) on Devanto. ©SusanStickle.
Wellington, FL – January 15, 2022 – The seven-time Swedish Olympic rider Tinne Vilhelmson-Silfvén took home the winner’s blanket and sash in the Grand Prix Special CDI4*, presented by Palm Beach Equine Clinic. Riding Lövsta Stuteri’s 13-year-old Devanto, Vilhelmson-Silfvén logged a new record score for the Holsteiner gelding at the level – 73.425% – despite a blip in the first set of one-time changes. Overall, they were rewarded with a smattering of eights in the test and a nine for extended canter. Runner-up spot went to Susan Dutta (USA) on her own and her husband Tim’s 13-year-old gelding Figeac DC with 68.596%.
Devanto was formerly campaigned at Grand Prix by Germany’s Juliane Brunkhorst. Vilhelmson-Silfvén did her first CDI on him at AGDF exactly a year ago, and this was their eighth CDI test.
“It’s a gift to get a ready-made horse,” said the 54-year-old Vilhelmson-Silfvén. “But that’s not to say it’s easier, because you really have to make them your own. You have to learn how they work, and they have to learn how you work. You have to give them time to understand you. I get to understand how a horse like Devanto – with all this power – how he reacts, if he reacts, if he’s too tense, or if he’s over ambitious. He’s very sensitive, and I like that.”
Unanimous Victory for Britain’s Susan Pape at Small Tour
It was the final competitor in the Intermediate I CDI1*, Susan Pape, who swept the class with a unanimous first place from the five judges. The British rider, 58, rode Harmony Sporthorses’s 11-year-old Jazz x Flemmingh mare to 72.265% at only the pair’s second international show together. They had more than 2.6 percentage points in hand over second-placed Shannon Dueck (CAN) on As You Wish.
Christina Vinios rode Deauville in the pair’s first international show to a winning 66.265% in the FEI Intermediate A CDI2*. Five Rings Farm’s 18-year-old Oldenburg gelding is by the De Niro son Del Gado and out of a Gervantus I mare.
For more information and results, visit www.globaldressagefestival.com.