Parzival Still A Possibility for European Championships
12 years ago StraightArrow Comments Off on Parzival Still A Possibility for European Championships
By KENNETH J. BRADDICK
Parzival, the world’s top ranked dressage horse with Adelinde Cornelissen, is recovering well from treatment for a heart problem and may seek to compete for the Netherlands at the European Championships in August.
The 16-year-old KWPN gelding is recovering well and back in work, Adelinde told dressage-news.com at the Rotterdam CHIO which was the first of two selection trials for the team to go to the Europeans at Herning, Denmark in August.
“We have lost too much training time for the second trial,” she said of the mid-July national competition in Hoofddorp.
“We are not going to push it because the horse’s health is the first priority, but if he is fit enough we might be considered for the team without going to the observation shows,” she said of the selection procedures.
Wim Ernes, the Dutch team coach who was asked about the possibility of Parzival being conidered for the Europeans, said: “Everything will be considered.”
Parzival was operated on for cardiac arrhythmia at the University of Ghent veterinary clinic earlier this month.
Adelinde said that even if the pair does not compete at the Europeans they will skip the 2013/2014 World Cup Final in Lyon, France next April although they may compete in a small of indoor events.
“Our goal is the world championships next year,” she said of the World Equestrian Games in Normandy, France.
The World Cup Final is too late in the year to give the horse a rest and then prepare for the WEG.
Adelinde and Parzival won team bronze and individual silver at last sumer’s London Olympics, their first Games, and consecutive World Cup titles in 2011 and 2012. The horse bit his tongue during their first ride, the Grand Prix, at the 2010 WEG in Kentucky and was disqualified. They have won multiple gold and silver medals at the 2009 and 2011 European Championships.
