June 25, 2021
Each country can send three dressage combinations to the Olympic Games … At the Schafhof Festival in Germany, four Russian ladies and their horses appeared at the start to ride themselves in the picture. One of them was the Friesian stallion Marcus, sport name Marcus van ’t Rietveld Star Sport Elite AA with Marina Aframeeva in the saddle.
These four lady riders had to compete against the highest-placed combinations of Germany, like Isabell Werth, Dorothee Schneider, Helen Langehanenberg and Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and their first horses. Making a stand among those names was not an option for the Russian ladies, but they fought their own battle, in the rear.
Good starting position for Aframeeva
So there on the idyllic grounds of the Linsenhoff/Rath family, the place Totilas called home for years, it was all about a ticket for Tokyo for these ladies. The 30-year-old Aframeeva and her Marcus had quite good cards; in May of this year they rode over 66% at a three-star CDI in Belgium, before that they chiefly competed at events in their own country, with percentages of nearly always 67% or 68%.
Flawless, energetic test
Aframeeva had good cause for smiles after her test in Germany. A fine performance and a flawless test, in which the energetic 17-year-old stallion (Beart 411 out of Roaske fan de Praktykskolle Star by Gaije 295) was well on the aids. The passage/piaffe elements were attractive and although there’s still room for improvement of the half passes and the walk, they didn’t lose any other points. So a score of 68.5% appeared on the score board.
Closer to Tokyo
With this result the pair clocked the highest score of all combinations from Russia, with a nearly 2% lead on their nearest competitor. Mission accomplished! With this successful competition Aframeeva and Marcus are getting pretty close to Tokyo …
Results CDI4* Schafhof
