ELIMINATED: Marlies van Baalen & Ben Johnson In Grand Prix Dressage Freestyle

Elimination For Marlies van Baalen

Olympian Marlies van Baalen and Ben Johnson were eliminated this weekend in Exloo during the Grand Prix dressage freestyle. Marlies has been campaigning Go Legend out of Totilas for the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo. Ben Johnson (Johnson) headed down centerline to begin what should have been an amazing freestyle with a high degree of difficulty. Shortly after starting the test, the judges eliminated her from the show ring. You will have to watch the video to find out why.

Fresh Dressage Freestyle

We were excited about the possibility of watching this freestyle. Marlies van Baalen has said it is awesome and we expected nothing less here at Dressage Hub.

“My freestyle is brand new and Coby made the floorplan. We put in a really high degree of difficulty of 9.7 in the DOD system,” Marlies explained. “The beautiful music really supports Ben’s lightness. The nice thing about the freestyle is that it is difficult, but there is also a quietness in there which makes it possible to show all the movements optimally and maintain the harmony.”

Marlies has brand new music designed for Ben Johnson by renowned Dutch freestyle arranger Joost Peeters.

“Joost made a mix of film music and his own compositions with mainly piano for the canter,” said Marlies. “This is how the movements are beautifully supported without it getting busy. To me, it’s a freestyle that really gives goosebumps.”