Kelly Houtappels-Bruder and Flip competing in the dressage at Les 5 étoiles de Pau.
Photo Credit: Solène Bailly Photos
The Les 5 Etoiles de Pau was a combined driving event, which features three phases of competition; dressage, a cross-country marathon, and obstacle cone driving. Similar to eventing, scores and times from each phase are converted to penalty points and the competitor with the lowest combined score after all three phases is the winner.
Coming off a silver medal at the 2020 FEI Driving World Championships for singles, Houtappels-Bruder and 12-year-old Oldenburg gelding Flip (Fidertanz x Carprilli), whom she co-owns with husband, Frank Houtappels, led all drivers through the singles event in 2021 in the dressage and cones stages.
“The course in Pau was really tough this year. It is the only 4* event for us, so they have really made it more challenging than even a World Championship,” said Houtappels-Bruder. “The cones course was one of the toughest I’ve ever driven. The time was almost impossible to meet and long galloping lines followed by short technical lines asked a lot of both the horses and drivers. I was very happy to drive out of there with only a few time penalties and retain our lead from the dressage.”
After entering the final day, the Canadian duo was eliminated for missing a gate in the marathon, “the obstacles were on tricky footing and were very technical. The sixth obstacle was completely new and was basically a sprint over 150 meters” she said. “Other than my mistake in the water obstacle missing the B gate, we drove an excellent marathon and would have won the competition.”
Kelly Houtappels-Bruder and Flip delivered another strong performance on the international stage
Photo Credit: Solène Bailly Photos
When looking back at this year, Houtappels-Bruder feels “this has been a building year for us, being the first year we have driven the new dressage test in the smaller ring”. The journey of being a high-performance athlete has its ups and downs that requires adjustments, “since this is not a World Championship year for us, I see the competitions as building blocks for next year. We make mistakes, but they are necessary to learn from and improve. This is a time we have to try new equipment, bitting, training methods and Flip is definitely a pro at this point.”
The Canadian duo is supported by an experienced team including groom and navigator, Meike Paridaans; coach, Corine Dorrepaal; and veterinarian, Maud Smedts but also receives community support even from afar. “The Canadian driving community is so supportive and is always cheering us on when we compete internationally. It has been really hard the last two years not being able to get back home to do clinics as we have so many talented and keen drivers” she said.
Houtappels-Bruder believes “the most important thing she has learned is to follow my gut and drive my own show and not worry about results or what others might think.” She encourages the driving community and aspiring athletes to “get out and support your local competitions, because those miles and experiences are necessary.”
The dynamic duo is looking ahead to what is next, “Flip is enjoying light dressage work and hacking, he came back from Pau in excellent condition.” In 2022, Flip and Houtappels-Bruder are planning to do some dressage shows under saddle and will continue to train towards the 2022 World Championships in Haras du Pin, France.