Barcelona Dressage Tour: Akane Kuroki and Don Luka

Via Anky van Grunsven Japanese dressage rider Akane Kuroki has come to The Beukenvallei. Her goal is to qualify with her horse Don Luka for the Olympics in Rio in 2016. 

Marcel teaches Akane and Don Luka and for Japan Barcelona counted as an official qualifier for Rio. So this show was very exciting for Akane and Don Luka as it was their Grand Prix début as well!

On Friday the pair rode the Grand Prix and the best 15 qualified for the Grand Prix Special on Sunday. The other could ride the small final. 

Akane and Don Luka did a super job both weeks! Both times the pair qualified for the Special. That was great! 

Of course the pair misses experience at this level and several big mistakes took a lot of points but in the first week the score in the Grand Prix Special was over 64%! The other scores were around 62 and 63%.

'Akane has done an amazing job here. It was her first time Grand Prix ever and of course there were many unnecessary mistakes but that's normal. We have got home work and I am sure the scores will get higher in the future', says Marcel. 

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