Klaus and Maria Fraessdorf’s Heidelberg Cup - page 4

Rainier High Score in FEI, San Remo in USAEq Division

Fraesdorff said the judging was very good and that the judges were generally in agreement on their scores. The judges were Col. Axel Steiner ‘O’, California; Hanne Valentin ‘O’, Denmark; Piere Morf, ret. ‘I’, Switzerland; and Gary Rockwell, ‘C’, Florida. The FEI High Point was awarded to Betsy Steiner and Rainier owned by Jane F. Clark for their 71.200% ride in the Grand Prix. The USA Eq High Point went to Yvonne Barteau and San Remo owned by Elite European Sporthorses, Inc. for their 77.059% ride at Second Level.

About 100 spectators came to watch the classes and for them, one of the highlights was a new tradition Fraesdorf introduced. "This year was the first time that during the victory laps we played German music. It was a song called ‘I Lost My Heart on Heidelberg’. It’s more ‘oompah’, and has a good rhythm for passage. The people were clapping to it. I’m going to keep it as a tradition." The show itself is named after the town of Heidelberg where his wife Maria was born.

"My whole impression of the show is that it was 97% good. The whole thing worked. Ninety-seven percent of the people love this show, and 3% will never come back," said Fraesdorf. Orange County owns Clarcona Park, but Fraessdorf is instrumental in making improvements to the facility every year. "I’m improving all the time. The main ring was extremely dusty this year and can’t be watered with the present system. I recommended a new one and the county is willing to install it. We will have it in place for the next show, the Southeast Dressage Championships in December."