Chris von Martels & Divertimento Win Grand Prix Speciale at Cedar Valley CDI4*

Chris with FEI 5* judge Stephen Clarke of Great Britain

The last Olympic qualifier in North America for Canadian Olympic dressage hopefuls took place at the Cedar Valley CDI4* just north of Toronto June 17-19th.

Competition kicked off with the Grand Prix, with von Martels & Divertimento putting in a smooth and flowing test. Unfortunately a loose horse galloping in a field close to the competition ring caused "Timmie" to be a little distracted. This which resulted in an unfortunate, yet costly, mistake in the one tempi changes which have a coefficient of 2. However the pair were able to quickly regain their composure and finish strong.

Thankfully no loose horses were present during the next day's Grand Prix Speciale, where von Martels & Divertimento won the class on 71.784 with 4/5 judges on the panel placing them in top position. Even more notable was the high score of 73.725%, awarded by FEI 5* judge Stephen Clarke who will form part of the judging panel at this summers Rio Olympic Games .

"I am so proud of how far we have come together so quickly!," said von Martels.