Following a personal best (by far) performance of Marcus Orlob and Jane to win the 4-star Grand Prix Special at the Schafhof dressage festival in Germany Saturday, Marcus Orlob was taking it easy with the mare on Sunday and reflecting on their performance that earned 75.930 percent,
The victory, with the top score of any U.S. rider this year in the Special, came on the heels of his first-place finish last week in the Grand Prix with 73.913 percent. The show was the final competition for Olympic hopefuls before the U.S. dressage team for Paris is named next week. It’s amazing in so many ways that Marcus and Jane, a combination which got together only in early March, has skyrocketed into contention for the Games.
“I truly believe in this horse and I think it’s just the beginning of everything,” said Marcus, as he led Jane on a walk with his dog, Emma, at the stables in Dusseldorf where he is based for this tour.
“Jane is only 10. If we build the right partnership and she gets stronger and more confident each show, it will get better and better,” he believes.
In the warm-up for the Special, he recounted, “The whole time, I had a good feeling.”
Marcus told himself, ” `I hope I can get the same feeling in the ring,’ and it worked. I was super-excited to get right away high scores in the Grand Prix (on Friday, which he also won) and to top it, the Special was even more amazing. The horse has so much potential.”
Jane’s Special was smooth and effortless, yet correct. The duo earned marks of more than 77 percent for several movements, including transitions and half-pass.
Second place on 73.319 percent went to Adrienne Lyle with Helix, a horse she started showing for Zen Elite Equestrian in March, at the same time Marcus made his competition debut with Jane.
Jane is owned by Alice Tarjan, who trained her up through the levels to grand prix, but acted as the groom during her KWPN mare’s European sojourn, after thinking Marcus would be a better fit for the mount and handing over the reins.
Marcus Orlob on Jane with the mare’s owner, Alice Tarjan, who doubles as a groom.
Marcus had felt that if Alice could get Jane a little better in self-carriage, that would be a key to her performance. But once he was in the saddle, he had little time to develop a partnership that could point toward the Olympics.
“I always believed in this horse,” he noted. “When Alice said, `You ride it,’ I know it might be possible but the chance was very slim at this point.”
He noted that “Jane is in a good way, super-sensitive.” When he started riding the mare, it was “A big change obviously for Jane and me” pointing out that he is “a completely different size and shape from Alice.
“Especially in the beginning, it was a big challenge. Slowly, I think she is starting to like my aids.”
Marcus called Alice, “a great groom. She does a really good job. She honestly helps so much at the show.”
If he says, ” `I want to be on at this time,’ the horse is ready, boom, spotless. What helps me is she really knows the horse inside-out. I always talk to her, and she tells me `do this, do this.’ It’s perfect to have Alice with me, to have her insight.”
So what about Paris team selection? Marcus, who is scheduled to ride on the U.S. squad at Aachen next month, said all is quiet about who the choices will be for the Olympic squad.
“Obviously, it would be a dream come true to come to Paris. I really believe in this horse and if it happens now, it’s fine. If not, it’s fine too, because I can’t do more than I am doing right now. I train her and I do my best.”
Marcus originally was just hoping to be among the eight riders on the list of prospective Olympians who made the trip to Europe for observation competitions.
Marcus puts his hand on his heart during the playing of the Star-Spangled Banner after his win. (Schaufhof Connects photo)
Even to think that he likely has made the Olympic team would be beyond a dream come true for the native of Germany who is a naturalized American citizen. He has been helped during his weeks in Germany by his longtime coach, Johan Zagers.
Marcus and his wife, Shannon, run Elite Expression Dressage in Annandale, N.J.
Endel Ots, another U.S. team contender, would seem to have lost his chance for the team with a 69.872 percent Special performance on Zen Elite Equestrian’s Bohemian, who was behind the vertical at times and seemed to have less spark than in the Grand Prix, where he was fourth with 72.587 percent. Bohemian is also a new ride this year for Endel. The horse was fourth in the Tokyo Olympics with a former rider, Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour.
US. Pan American Games team and individual medalist Anna Marek on Fire Fly was eighth in the Special with 70.404 percent. In the Grand Prix for the Freestyle, however, she was second aboard Fayvel on a very respectable 73.131. Adrienne’s second horse, Zen Elite’s Lars de Hoenderheide, finished sixth in that class with a score of 69.109 percent.
Both competed Sunday in the freestyle, where Anna and Fayvel were second on 78.995 percent to Norway’s Isabel Freese and Total Hope Old (80.950). Adrienne was fifth with Lars on 75.505 percent. At the Olympics, the freestyle is the test that decides the individual championship medals.
Adrienne notes that her two horses, Helix and Lars, “are very different rides. Lars is a big, powerful kind of pedal-to-the metal type ride and Helix is more like a ballerina, very light and dainty through the test. It’s fun to have two different types of horses.”
Adrienne Lyle and Helix.
Veteran Olympian Steffen Peters, who headed the U.S. Olympic ranking list with Suppenkasper, was excused from the observation events and will compete as an individual next month at Aachen. Steffen’s best score in the Special with Suppenkasper this year was 73.234 percent.
Without knowing what is going on behind the scenes, it could seem more than likely that he will be joined on the U.S. squad for Paris by Adrienne, his teammate on the 2021 Tokyo Olympic silver medal squad with the now-retired Salvino. And after Marcus’ performance at Schafhof, who could deny him a place on the team?
Ashley Holzer, a late addition to the Olympic short list with Hansel, put herself out of contention with a mark of 59.004 last week in Rotterdam, where the team finished last. The other Olympic hopeful on that squad, Katherine Bateson-Chandler, had a score of 67.848 percent on Haute Couture in the Rotterdam Grand Prix, and was twelfth Saturday in the Grand Prix Special on 70.021 percent.
Click here for results of the Special
Click here for results of the Freestyle