Dressage legend to bow out in public
Jerich Parzival and Adelinde Cornelissen will be seen in public together for the last time next month.
The 20-year-old gelding by Jazz and his Dutch rider will be seen in an official farewell ceremony at the 50th Indoor Brabant, show, the Netherlands, (9-12 March) during the interval of the World Cup freestyle class.
A spokesman for the event said fans would be able to “enjoy all the highlights one more time, together with all who were involved with this very successful pair”.
“I wanted to give Parzival a farewell in the Netherlands and I have happy memories at Indoor Brabant,” said Adelinde. “We celebrated many successes here together, including winning the World Cup Final.”
The combination have been together since 2002, when the then five-year-old Parzival arrived at Adelinde’s yard.
Their first major success came five years later, when they were crowned Dutch indoor big tour champions, taking the outdoor Dutch championships the following year.
At their first European Championships, at Windsor in 2009, they were on the gold medal-winning team but also took individual gold in the grand prix special, with a world record score of 84.042%, and silver in the freestyle.
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Over the ensuing years, Adelinde and ‘Parzi’ were on the gold medal-winning Dutch team at the 2010 world championships and the bronze medal-winning team at the 2011 European Championships. They won the grand prix special and the freestyle. They also won the 2011 and 2012 World Cup finals and, at London 2012, individual silver and team bronze.
Adelinde withdrew the then 18-year-old from the 2015 Dutch dressage championships as he had not shown “sufficient fitness” to compete. He was back on the Dutch team for the Rio Olympics but Adelinde retired during the grand prix as he was running a fever, having been bitten on the face.
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Eleanor is an experienced journalist who spent over eight years working for local and national newspapers before joining H&H as news editor in March 2016. Passionate about equine welfare and exposing the truth, Eleanor has reported on all aspects of the industry, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage rules to mules. Her sport of choice is showjumping, in which she competes her own horses, and she also enjoys reporting at local jumping shows through to international championships.