Incredible! Or as the Germans like to say, “Wow, wow, wow!”
That sums up the personal best (by far) performance of Marcus Orlob and Jane at the Schafhof Dresseur Festival in Germany, the final competition for Olympic hopefuls before the U.S. team is named next week.
After winning the 4-star Grand Prix on Friday, Marcus and the 10-year-old mare went one up on themselves with a victory in the Grand Prix Special on a score of 75.930 percent for a test that 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, who he had started riding only at the beginning of that month.
Adrienne Lyle and Helix in the awards ceremony.
Jane is owned by Alice Tarjan, who had 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.
Groom and owner Alice Tarjan led Marcus Orlob and Jane into the ring for the victory ceremony after the Grand Prix Special
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.
To think that he likely has made the Olympic team is beyond a dream come true for the native of Germany who is a naturalized American citizen.
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.
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 with 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 will compete Sunday in the freestyle. At the Olympics, that is the test that decides the individual championship medals.
Adrienne notes that her two horses “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.”
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, where Marcus is on the team. Steffen’s best score in the Special this year was 73.234 percent.
It seems 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
