The American squad of up-and-coming horses and riders had quite a milestone as they were second in the Nations Cup of Rotterdam, Netherlands, today, with Alice Tarjan of Oldwick, N.J., the highest-placing rider on the Dutta Corp. U.S Dressage Team during the final day of competition.
Alice Tarjan had a right to look happy as she left the arena in Rotterdam with Serenade MF. (Photo courtesy US Equestrian)
The Dutch won the Nations Cup with a score of 25. The U.S. was tied with Sweden on a score of 39, but the tie was broken by the best total in Thursday’s Grand Prix, where the Americans had 19 and the Swedes 29, putting the Scandinavians third. A total of seven countries competed.
It was the first team experience for Alice, third on Serenade MF in the Grand Prix Special this evening. Her score on the U.S.-bred mare, making her European debut, was 71.191 percent, with two of the five judges placing her second. The Special was won by the Netherlands’ Dinja van Liere with Hermes, marked first by all the judges. Her score was 77.957.
Of Serenade, Alice said, “She’s a horse who always tries for you and is pretty consistent.” Although the arena was “a big environment,” and “really electric,” Alice noted her mare “didn’t blink an eye about it. She just goes in there and does her job and walks out on a long rein, so that’s always nice to see.”
Alice and Serenade MF. (Photo courtesy US Equestrian).
Rotterdam was a “fun experience,” said Alice. “It’s a great city. You ride your bike from the hotel to the horse show and the horse show is in the middle of a beautiful park with all these huge trees. I’d love to come back, for sure.”
She got helping hands from her trainer, Marcus Orlob, and her friend, rider/trainer Lauren Chumley, who served as groom and photographer. Serenade’s breeder, Maryanna Haymon, also was on hand.
The other U.S. rider in the Special, Katie Duerrhammer with Paxton, was 14th on 66.064 percent.
The USA’s Ashley Holzer on Valentine in the freestyle. (Photo courtesy FEI)
Their teammate, Ashley Holzer, competing on Valentine in the Grand Prix Freestyle, wound up fifth in the final leg of the competition with a mark of 76.420. The freestyle was won by Patrick Kittel of Sweden on Blue HorsZepter (80.465).
The fourth U.S. team member, Ben Ebeling on Illuster van de Kampert, was last in the Grand Prix on Thursday and did not move on to the next segment of the competition. Ashley was third the first day, Alice seventh and Katie 11th.
The Americans in the Netherlands were shortlisted for the team that will go to August’s world championships in Denmark, for which Rotterdam was an observation event. Led by chef d’equipe George Williams, it demonstrated the depth that U.S. dressage continues to develop.
The second-place U.S. team of Ashley Holzer, Alice Tarjan and Katie Duerrhammer. (Photo courtesy U.S. Equestrian)
Other short-listed riders are slated to compete at Aachen next month with an eye toward the championships. Among them are Adrienne Lyle (Salvino) and Steffen Peters (Suppenkasper), two-thirds of the U.S. silver medal team from the Tokyo Olympics.
