Team Germany posted a convincing victory on the last day of the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ Final 2023 at the Real Club de Polo in Barcelona, Spain today with their zero scoreline giving them a two-fence advantage over their nearest rivals from France, Belgium and Brazil who filled the next three placings.

But it was a difficult day for Team USA when their finishing score of nine saw them slot into fifth place and miss out on the much-sought-after qualifying spot on offer for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games which instead went to Brazil. 

Switzerland and Great Britain finished sixth and seventh with 12 faults apiece, again separated by the combined times of their team members, while Team Ireland finished eighth and last when putting 13 faults on the board.

It was a very satisfying victory for the Germans who last won in Barcelona in 2016. “I’m a lucky guy as Chef d’Equipe of this team, I’m super happy and super proud of them, they rode very well”, said Chef d’Equipe Otto Becker this evening.

Imposing

Spanish course designer Santiago Varela presented an imposing 14-fence track with multiple forward and holding distances along with a total of 18 jumping efforts that finished with a massive final line of a triple combination to a liverpool vertical standing at 1.63m, located right next to the in-gate.

The Germans didn’t get off to the best start when pathfinder Jana Wargers and the 14-year-old mare Dorette hit both the second element of the rustic double at fence 11 and the middle element of the triple combination one fence from home. But Christian Kukuk and the 13-year-old gelding Checker 47 were rock solid when next to go for their side, and when Hans-Dieter Dreher and the fabulous grey Elysium also left the course intact despite some tricky moments, then it came down to Richard Vogel to seal it with the always-extravagant United Touch S. And they didn’t disappoint.

The 11-year-old stallion very nearly jumped his rider out of the saddle over the first fence, but Vogel held on to produce a magnificent round to leave his side well ahead of the rest of the opposition at the end of the day.

Olivier Perreau and GL Events Doral D’Aiguilly produced the only clear for France while Simon Delestre (I Amelusina R 51), Francois Xavier Boudant (Brazyl du Mezel) and recently crowned European individual bronze medallist Julien Epaillard (Dubai du Cedre) all picked up four faults to leave them on a tally of eight when the best three scores were counted. And their faster combined times of 249.74 gave them the edge over the third-placed Belgian side of Koen Vereecke (Lector VD Bisschop), Niels Bruynseels (Delux van T&L), Wilm Vermeir (IQ Van het Steentje) and Gregory Wathelet (Bond Jamesbond de Hay). 

Other business

The Brazilians had other business to attend to, with the Olympic qualification undecided until almost the very end of today’s competition. It was wide open after four faults from Pedro Veniss (Nimrod de Muze Z) and 10 from Stephan de Freitas Barcha (Chevaux Primavera Imperio Egipcio), but the new addition to the team, former Portuguese rider Luciana Diniz, pulled it back with a spectacular clear round from Vertigo du Desert. So when Rodrigo Pessoa (Major Tom) returned with just four faults, they could count just eight in total at the end of the day and that would do the trick.

The Americans looked to have the situation under control after just single errors from both McLain Ward (Callas) and Karl Cook (Kalinka van’t Zorgvliet), but the addition of eight from Devin Ryan (Eddie Blue) left them vulnerable. So although she left all the timber intact, it was the single time fault from their anchor partnership of multiple champion Laura Kraut and Dorado 212 that would cost them dearly, dropping them a single penalty point behind the Brazilians and leaving them facing into yet another Olympic qualification battle in four weeks’ time at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile.

The excitement in the Brazilian camp was palpable, and Diniz was thrilled to have contributed to their success today. “It’s 18 years since I last rode for Brazil and this was my first show after nearly a two years break. To be in the official team of Brazil in the final of the Nations Cup and to have to qualify for the Olympic Games was so much pressure in a way, but I was just so grateful to be here and now we have this amazing result!”, she said of her horse.

Reflected

Meanwhile Germany’s Christian Kukuk reflected on how the competition played out for his side today.

“There was a bit of pressure on me after Jana started with eight but I think also I need it a little bit! I came here with a very good feeling, I knew we had a really strong team, all five of us during the whole season. I was disappointed with one down on Thursday and I really wanted to do better today and it was good it went well. I was fighting all the way around, my horse jumped good again and I’m really, really happy to sit here as a winner now!”, he said.

He took up the ride on Checker from his boss, Ludger Beerbaum, only two months ago and the pair have already gelled into a great partnership. “I started with a couple of second places at 4-Star shows and then he did great at a 5-Star show and I won a class in Rome and I came here with a very good feeling. I was a bit disappointed with one down (on Thursday) but then we brought it on point today and that made me very happy. But I would be nothing without the other three sitting here and don’t forget Jörne (Sprehe) our back-up. She was a good colleague here, a part of the team and we had a lot of fun here which is very important for the team spirit. So we are very happy tonight!”, he added.

There was a €100,000 bonus on offer to riders who completed double-clears between Thursday and today and it was shared between Hans Dieter Dreher, Switzerland’s Martin Fuchs and Belgium’s Wilm Vermeir.

Dreher admitted he was lucky to leave the first element of the double at fence five in place this afternoon, but was thrilled with how his eye-catching grey performed all week. “Elysium has had a really good season!”, he said.

Sitting on a tiger

As for Vogel, although he found himself sitting on a tiger because United Touch was so fresh, he was bursting with pride for the performance he produced today that left his team in a league of their own and on the top step of the podium. 

“I was hoping I could do something for the team because until this afternoon I felt like someone who was watching the show but not taking part in it!”, he said with a laugh this evening. He didn’t have to jump as anchorman in Thursday’s first round because his team were already qualified for today’s second and deciding round without calling him up. 

He said when he walked today’s course he wasn’t a big fan of it “because my horse has a huge stride and always the combinations are difficult for him. We had two doubles and one triple combination, and I said to Otto that gives me a headache, but he just said “take an aspirin!”

Talking about nearly getting dislodged from the stallion over the first fence he explained, “always when he starts, especially at fence number one, he likes to do a spectacular jump and maybe I was a bit rusty because I was only a visitor for the rest of the week! It’s pure energy with him, he’s so strong and has so much scope!” he pointed out.

Chef d’Equipe Otto Becker thanked everyone at the Real Club de Polo for a great week at this week’s event. “We are here for ten years for the Longines Final and I’m really happy that it will come back here again, it’s the perfect place for it. All week there has been a beautiful atmosphere and that’s how we want to see the sport”, he said.

Results here

Jos Lansink’s world-class Dutch team had to pull out all the stops to beat Australia for the Challenge Cup tonight at the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ Final 2023 at the Real Club de Polo in Barcelona, Spain. 

Carrying four faults apiece, it came down to a duel between the two sides in a second-round jump-off against the clock, and it was Willem Greve who clinched it for The Netherlands with a fast clear from Highway TN. 

Copybook round

Dutch pathfinder, Jur Vrieling, put in a copybook round with Long John Silver 3 NOP but Kim Emmen and Inflame Go lowered the penultimate oxer on the 14-fence track and then Greve’s stallion put a foot in water, so there was a lot hanging on Maikel van der Vleuten’s anchor ride with Beauville Z NOP.

Because despite only fielding three team members, the Australians kept all the pressure on when their openers, Chris Burton and Chedington Hazy Toulana, registered their only mistake at the oxer at fence four. A wonderful clear from Hilary Scott and the 16-year-old grey mare Oak’s Milky Way, and another from Jamie Kermond with Yandoo Oaks Constellation left them with nothing more to add.

So only a foot-perfect run from van der Vleuten and his Tokyo 2020 Olympic individual bronze-medal-winning partner Beauville Z would keep the Dutch in the game now, and when they delivered and Team Mexico slipped to an eight-fault tally for third place then it would take a jump-off to separate the two leadings sides.

Burton, who only fully focused on Jumping last year following a long and distinguished career as a world-class Eventing rider, didn’t hold back in the race against the clock. And although he hit the second element of the penultimate double, his time of 42.82 seconds set a really strong target.

But Greve shaved more than a second off that when posting 41.43 seconds to clinch it with a classic clear. As he said afterwards however “Chris put the pressure quite high even though he had that mistake. I could choose to go for the clear but with an unlucky rail you wouldn’t make it, so we said we’d just go for it. My horse is naturally fast so we tried to be a little bit faster, and then if I had a rail down I would still be faster than him, and I think we chose the right tactic and it worked out well!”

Expected

Dutch Chef d’Equipe, Jos Lansink, had expected his team to qualify for tomorrow’s finale but said he was very happy with today’s Challenge Cup victory. “We came with another goal, on paper we had a very strong team but the first day wasn’t the way we like to go, everybody had a small mistake although the horses jumped excellent. The riders know exactly what could be better and that they did today”.

Vrieling admitted that he “made a big riding mistake on the first day on Thursday which was stupid, so we were focused on doing good today and you have to be happy with a horse that jumps like that - Long John was amazing!”, he said. 

Kim Emmen said she was surprised by the fault she picked up at the second-last in the first round, “but he (Inflame Go) jumped great and I’m happy with the win!”.

And Greve was of course delighted with Highway TN’s performance that clinched it.

“At the beginning of the season my other good horse had an injury, Grandorado TN, so I was never thinking in April/May/June to be sitting here. But during the EEF series he developed so well that we aimed for Rotterdam and he won the Grand Prix. Step-by-step everything I asked of him he did, he answered unbelievably, and he ended up in the Europeans in Milan and now we are sitting here. So he had an opportunity and he took it with both hands! I’m proud of him, he deserves to have a big win like this!”, he said of his 11-year-old horse. 

Plenty to celebrate

Despite having to settle for second place today, the Australians had plenty to celebrate too. They really threw it down to a team consisting of some of the sport’s biggest stars and produced a superb performance against all the odds. 

“It was always going to be a tough fight. It’s amazing, there was some pressure on us tonight and I’m so proud of all of us!”, said Scott whose mother, Alice Cameron, rather remarkably bred two of the horses on the Australian team - her daughter’s mare and Kermond’s 17-year-old gelding. 

Talking about how the Australian effort came together, Kermond said, “we really pushed our Federation, we wanted to come here because we wanted to gain experience….We were hoping we were going to have four (riders) with Izzy Stone, but things didn’t quite go the way she wanted at the last show so she decided not to come. The first day we jumped (Thursday) we just think the jumps we had were a little bit from a lack of experience recently but we regrouped and we thought our horses were jumping well and we had a shot tonight. We needed everything to go right with the three of us and it nearly did so we’ll take it! We made the Dutch work for it!”, he added.

Van der Vleuten agreed that indeed they did. 

Tribute

Earlier in tonight’s post-competition press conference, Spanish course designer Santiago Varela, who paid an emotional tribute to his friend and former FEI Jumping Director Marco Fuste who so sadly passed away in January this year, said that this year’s Challenge Cup was something special. 

“The Dutch team did a great job but they had to make more of an effort than expected because the Australians did a super-great job! Good sport is like that, and a win is never easy here in Barcelona whether you are in the Challenge Cup or in the Final!”

So van der Vleuten concurred. “As Santi said it wasn’t a present for us today, Australia made it quite difficult and they only had three riders so they did a fantastic job, and also in the jump-off I thought he (Chris Burton) did a great round. He really put the pressure on Willem - they didn’t make it easy!”

Now the attention turns to tomorrow’s closing competition in which the top eight nations from Thursday’s first round do battle for the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ 2023 title. It kicks off at 15.00 local time so don’t miss a hoofbeat…..

Result

Team Great Britain got off to a flying start when topping today’s first round of the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ Final 2023 at the Real Club de Polo in Barcelona, Spain with the only zero scoreline of the afternoon.

Foot-perfect runs from pathfinder Tim Gredley (Medoc de Toxandria), Robert Whitaker (Vermento) and anchorman Harry Charles (Aralyn Blue) meant that the 12 faults collected by Lily Attwood (Cor-Leon VD Vlierbeek Z) would be their discard. They finished a full fence ahead of Brazil, Germany and Switzerland who filled second, third and fourth places with four faults apiece and separated only by their combined times. 

The top eight nations have qualified for Sunday’s title-decider in which they will all start again on a clean sheet, and the remaining countries that have made the cut are the defending champions from Belgium and Team USA who each posted eight-fault results today, and Ireland and France who finished with 12. 

Team Mexico just missed out when also putting 12 on the board but in a slower time, and on Saturday night they will once again defend the Challenge Cup trophy they won so memorably 12 months ago.

Meanwhile the battle for the single qualifying spot on offer for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games has been whittled down to a two-way contest between Brazil and the USA because the other contenders from Mexico, Argentina, Italy and Uzbekistan didn’t make it to Sunday’s second round which already looks set to be another cracking contest.

Think about

Spanish course designer Santiago Varela gave them lots to think about today with a 14-fence track with plenty of height and curving lines that tested power and accuracy. The vertical with a yellow plank on top at fence nine and the penultimate double of verticals were the bogeys of the day.

Harry Charles clinched top spot for the British with a superb clear with the 12-year-old mare Aralyn Blue. Talking about the challenges of the course he said fence nine, which followed the beefy Longines triple combination, “was on an unusual line and angle, you were coming straight out of the corner. You could see at the start of the class the horses weren’t jumping it well. I just made sure to give myself a bit more room there. 

“Coming to the double of verticals (fence 13) it was either five or six (strides) and on the six you take away a bit of the power, slowing down so much to jump it. For me it was a waiting five and my mare was able to have a bit of room and kept the power, so not too many problems there for me”, he explained.

Like all the British he was delighted with today’s result. “I’m really proud of us today actually!”, he said. “My horse is pretty new at this level, she’s only done one Nations Cup prior to this and it was a tough enough course, not overly big but delicate with some fun lines in there! The other guys did a good job, there were two clears already (for the British team) so I luckily could go in and do the clear”. 

Asked if he felt under pressure he replied “today probably wasn’t the most pressure I’ve ridden under but we wanted to be in there on Sunday so there was that to it”. And he admitted that the result for his team was a bit of a surprise.

“Probably an unexpected result if you told us at the start of the day, but we’ll take it and hopefully we can do something similar on Sunday! We will go back to a blank slate unfortunately (in Sunday’s final round), it would be nice if we carried it through, but it’s been really good and hopefully we will be in good enough nick for Sunday”, he added. 

Anticipation

There’s a lot of anticipation of a great final day. The Swiss have never won the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ title but their fourth place finish today gives them another opportunity to clinch it. However it hasn’t been plain sailing ahead of this year’s event.

“We’ve always been a bit unlucky with this Final, and this year the horse from Edouard is injured and Bryan (Balsiger) lost his horses and the horse of Pius (Schwizer) was injured so we don’t have our “A” team. But still our horses jumped good today and we’ll see if Elian (Baumann) goes on Sunday. We won’t be the favourites on Sunday but we’ll try!”, said Steve Guerdat who, just a few short weeks ago, added the individual European title to the Olympic gold he won back in 2012.

“We’ve had a very good year and it would be a great way to finish, and for the horses to finish as well. My horse didn’t have a rail down in the whole Nations Cup season - St Gallen double-clear, Aachen double-clear, Dublin double-clear and now clear today so I hope I can do a clear again! We are here, we will try, the sport is great and we are looking forward to Sunday now!”, said the man who sits third in the current world rankings.

Focus

In contrast, the focus for Brazil is fully on that Olympic qualification and the battle against the USA. Pathfinder Marlon Modolo Zanotell and Grand Slam VDL produced a perfect clear today and team veteran, Rodrigo Pessoa, did likewise. Pessoa has won Olympic and World titles and is as hungry as ever to help take his country to Paris next summer. His top ride, the 10-year-old gelding Major Tom, made nothing of today’s course.

“It’s a freak of a horse, the intelligence, the ability to jump, the whole package. He’s very straightforward and has a lot of blood, a lot of temperament, but at the end he wants to jump clear, that’s all he wants to do”, Pessoa said this evening.

Asked about the recent addition of former Portuguese rider Diniz to the Brazilian side, he said she is a real asset. “Yes, she’s super-experienced and her horse is really good and it’s always good to have one more - the more soldiers the better!” 

As for Sunday, “it’s just about us the USA!”, he said. “They are a big nation with a very strong team as well. Today was just a warm-up and we have to go again. I think it went well today, the two mistakes that we had (a fence down each for Stephan de Freitas Barcha and Chevaux Primavera Imperio Egipcio and Luciana Diniz with Vertigo du Desert), were silly mistakes that I think we can get rid of, but better to do those little ones today than on Sunday!”

Before that, the Challenge Cup promises plenty more excitement on Saturday night, so don’t miss a hoofbeat….

Result here 

Further information here 

Team Italy will be first into the arena when the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ Final 2023 gets underway tomorrow afternoon in Barcelona, Spain.

The draw, conducted by Show Director Daniel Garcia Giro and FEI Jumping Director Todd Hinde, took place this evening and the order-of-go for the 15 competing nations is:

1, Italy; 2, Argentina;  3, Uzbekistan; 4, Belgium; 5, Germany; 6, USA; 7, Great Britain; 8, Mexico; 9, Brazil; 10, Australia; 11, The Netherlands; 12, Ireland; 13, Switzerland; 14, Spain; 15, France.  

CSIO Barcelona is celebrating its 111th edition of international competition this year and the Real Club de Polo, home to Jumping at the Olympic Games in the Spanish city back in 1992, again provides the perfect back-drop to the season-closer that gathers the world’s best teams for one final annual clash.

Winning the coveted Longines trophy is what it is all about, and the Chefs d’Equipe are full of enthusiasm for a great week of sport and filled with praise for the exciting transformation taking place at the Real Club de Polo as it modernises and expands its facilities.

For the teams from Argentina, Brazil, Italy, Mexico, USA and Uzbekistan there is an extra challenge this week as they are all chasing down the single ticket on offer to countries not already qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

The defending champions are Team Belgium.

What the team managers had to say…..

Vitor Alves Teixeira, Argentina - “it is great to be here again. This year is very important to us because we try to get a place at the Olympics and it’s not going to be easy!”

Stephen Lamb, Australia - “we are also very pleased to be here. Having secured an Olympic berth it’s important for us to compete as a team, we don’t get the opportunity very often. We have only three riders here but we look forward to the opportunity!”

Peter Weinberg, Belgium - “we will try to do our best - last year we were very good but every team is going to be trying very hard and I wish them all good luck, but for us the best of luck!”

Pedro Paulo Lacerda, Brazil - “we are very happy to be here again and this is a very important week for us, fighting to get a place at the Olympic Games.”

Carolo Lopez-Quesada, Spain - “Barcelona is a nice place and we think there will be a perfect ambience for this week. I’d like to say that Daniel and his team did a great job to be here in this moment so congratulations and good luck to everybody!”

Henk Nooren, France - “it always feels good to come back to Barcelona, we have to congratulate the organisation for this beautiful new building. Thank goodness we do not have this pressure of qualifying because we invited ourselves to the Games in Paris next year! Let the best team win!” 

Di Lampard, Great Britain - “it’s always wonderful to bring a team back to Barcelona. Congratulations on this wonderful new building! I’m very pleased with the draw, number seven. We have brought a team that’s getting experience as they go, and a team of 10-year-old horses as well. We are looking forward to the competition as always here!”

Otto Becker, Germany - “it was a nice surprise today to come here and see all the improvements. This is the best Nations Cup series for me and this is the best place for the Final. Our whole team and I are very pleased and happy to be here!”

Michael Blake, Ireland - “it’s great to see the improvements here and as Otto said it’s great to be back in Barcelona. It’s such a wonderful city and the people here are so welcoming to us and we love being here. We are hopeful of a good result, we’ve had a good year and we’d like it to continue.”

Speaking on behalf of Marco Porro, Italy - “it is a big pleasure for Italy to be here again. This is the last chance for us to get to get to Paris so we will try to do our very best. Good luck to everyone!”

Mark Laskin, Mexico - “it’s wonderful to be back in Barcelona. For sure it’s one of our favourite stops on the showjumping calendar. Thank you to Daniel and his team for all their hard work and hospitality as usual. I feel I have a fairly decent team here. Last year we won the consolation final (The Challenge Cup) and it is our intention to improve on that this year.”

Peter van der Waaij, Assistant to Jos Lansink, The Netherlands - “For The Netherlands Barcelona has a special place in our hearts since of course here in 1992 the Dutch became Olympic champions! The four riders we brought are all former winners here at the Nations Cup Final so we are very, very motivated to close off the season and delighted to be back here!”

Michel Sorg, Switzerland - thank you to Daniel and whole team, it’s always a pleasure to be here. It’s an amazing venue and it’s so impressive to see this new building today. We are really looking forward to a great show once again. Switzerland has never won (the FEI Jumping Nations Cup Final) so maybe this year! All the best to all the teams, we will have great sport and good luck!”

Robert Ridland, USA - we are delighted to be back and as everyone has said Daniel, it’s just impressive, not just this building but how you have reconfigured the entire arena - it just looks spectacular! We brought a strong team here because like many we are trying to qualify for the Olympic Games. Most of the riders on our team are the ones that qualified us to get here and we are delighted to be back!”

Nodribek Ibragimov, Uzbekistan - “thank you to the organisers, the venue and facilities are very good and Barcelona treats us so well! Our riders and our horses have worked hard to get here and we wish all the finalists the best of luck”.

Qualifying round

The action gets underway tomorrow with the first qualifying round which is open to all 15 nations and begins at 14.00 local time. The best eight teams from this round will go through to Sunday’s title-decider while the remaining nations will battle it out in the Challenge Cup which will take place in an electric atmosphere under lights on Saturday night. 

The Final is guaranteed to be gripping from the get-go, with the single qualifying spot on offer for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games giving it an even sharper edge, so don’t miss a hoofbeat……

Startlist and Results here 

The ISH, WESTF and MIPAAF Studbooks stole the limelight at the 2023 edition of the FEI WBFSH Jumping World Breeding Championship for Young Horses which drew to a close at Lanaken in Belgium yesterday.

In a particularly remarkable week for both Irish riders and horses they claimed all three medals in the 5-Year-Old division, while Harry Allen steered the Italian-bred Kumina Della Caccia to win the 7-Year-Old category and Germany’s Katrina Eckermann claimed the 6-Year-Old title with the Westphalian gelding Cascajall.

A massive 694 horses lined out at the hugely popular event that ran over four days from 21 to 24 September, once again attracting breeders and enthusiasts from all around the globe.

5-Year-Olds

A total of 235 budding talents lined out in Thursday’s first qualifier for the 5-Year-Old title won by the Oldenburg Studbook’s Castlefield Dancer (Presley Boy/Cento), owned by Castlefield Breeding Farm and bred by CDM GmBH with Ireland’s Jason Foley in the saddle. 

The following day it was the BWP mare Simply the Best X (Ermitage Kalone/Indoctro), owned and bred by Johan Bourguignon and ridden by Morocco’s Vincent Zacharias Bourguignon, who topped the second qualifier. There were 39 starters in yesterday’s final in which 11 went through to the deciding jump-off against the clock.

Foley, individual Junior European champion in 2018, had two through to the closing stages and finished eleventh with Castlefield Dancer who picked up eight faults against the clock and eighth with the ISH SVS Symphony (Comme Il Faut 5/Air Jordan) who posted the quickest time of 37.00 seconds but left one on the floor.

That still left three Irish-breds in the race, and they took gold, silver and bronze. Ger O’Neill, twice a gold medallist at these Championships, took the bronze with the bay gelding Ballyshan BF Super Hero (Celtic Hero BZ/Lux Z) owned by Martin Egan and bred by Gary Doherty, breaking the beam in 39.21 seconds.

Silver went to Boleybawn Alvaro (Dominator 2000 Z/Crown Z) ridden by 19-year-old rising star Niamh McEvoy. Bred by Ronan Rothwell and owned by the breeder and GBBS International Ltd. the stallion crossed the line in 37.72 seconds. 

And Mikey Pender clinched the gold with HHS Ocala (Urano de Cargigny/Wandor van de Mispelaere), owned and bred by Bravo Hughes Ltd. who jumped clear in 37.22 seconds.

Pender, who will celebrate his 24th birthday later this week, is one of Ireland’s most exciting talents and has been medalling at these Championships since 2016. This was his sixth time on the podium but his first time to stand on the very top step. 

“In the past I was very close to it a few times, but I was always just not fast enough. I’m very happy that everything came together today. I would also like to thank my entire team who helped make me to make this possible. HHS Ocala is a very careful and competitive horse and I think he is really a horse for the future”, he said. 

6-Year-Olds

From a field of 256 starters, Katrin Eckermann and the Westphalian gelding Cascajall (Casalico/Comme Il Faut) topped the line-up in the opening 6-Year-Old qualifier on Thursday while the Zangersheide stallion Ely Des Rosiers Z (Emerald/Thunder vd Zuuthoeve), owned and bred by Herik Duran and ridden by Belgium’s Nathan Budd, won Friday’s second qualifier in this division.

A total of 40 combinations lined out in yesterday’s medal-decider in which 10 went through to the jump-off and four jumped double-clear. It was Germany’s Alexander Uekermann and the KWPN IB Easy (Emerald /Dallas), owned by IB Berger GmBH and bred by E. Kuijer, who just missed a place on the podium when they stopped the clock in 36.88 seconds.

Dutch athlete Jeimer Hoekstra clinched bronze with the Zangersheide gelding Maddox vh Haringvliet Z (Monte Bellini/Ogano Sitte), owned by the rider and bred by A. Hoekstra. Their time of 35.79 in the last round saw them just 0.04 seconds behind the silver medallists from Ireland, 23-year-old Leah Stack and the ISH mare Laurina (Stakkato Gold/Cruising), owned and bred by the late Dr Noel Cawley. 

Germany’s Eckermann previously won the 6-Year-Old title with the mare Chao Lee in 2019 and she did it all again yesterday with Cascajall, owned by Otmar Eckermann and bred by Alfons Baumann, who crossed the line for victory in 34.06 seconds. Her second ride, Viva Fly (Vivant van de Hellinck/Starpower) slotted into twelfth place.

“Both Cascajall and Viva Fly came to my stable in June. Before that, it was my father who did all the preparatory work. After that it all went quickly, but both horses have a lot of quality. Due to the busy schedule of international shows, I only had a few days to prepare for this world championship last week. I would therefore also like to expressly thank my entire team at home”, said the 33-year-old rider.

7-Year-Olds

The 7-Year-Old category attracted 203 entries, and it was the Holsteiner stallion Kannandillo (Kannan/Candillo 3), owned by Rödl Sportpferde GmbH and Stefan Rödl and bred by Nicole Hanneken, who won Thursday’s opening Two-Phase competition with Angelos Touloupis from Greece onboard. 

The following day it was Belgium’s Gilles Thomas and the Zangersheide mare Lavanoche T&L Z (Lavallino Ter Klomp/Bentley van de Heffinck) owned by Nieuwenhof, Robert Geens and bred by Guy Vandeven, who slotted into pole position. But it would be the MIPAAF mare Kumina Della Caccia who would reign supreme in yesterday’s 40-starter final test.

There were 11 through to the jump-off and neither of the previous day’s winners made the cut when both picked up 12 faults in the first round.

In another super-close finish, four combinations jumped double-clear and Belgium’s Virginie Thonon and the Zangersheide mare Scala du Piedroux Z (Silver 2 de Virton/Crown Z) clinched fourth spot in a time of 38.93 seconds behind The Netherlands’ Renee de Weert and the KWPN mare Labantrix (Eldorado van de Zeshoek), owned and bred by Stal van den Broek, who took the bronze.

Silver medallist Philip Rüping from Germany posted a really fast time in 35.90 seconds with the OS mare Casanina PS (Casalico/Chacco Blue), owned and bred by Gestüt Lewitz. But Harry Allen bettered that by 0.6 seconds to grab the gold with the Italian Sport Horse mare owned by Ballywalter Stables and bred by Coop Soc. Agr. La Caccia-Onius. 

It was a special victory for the 22-year-old Irishman because his older brother, Bertram Allen, also won two consecutive gold medals in Lanaken with Barnike - in 2013 when the horse was a 6-Year-Old and in 2014 as a 7-Year-Old. 

Talking about his winning mare yesterday evening Harry Allen said, “I’m not too sure of the plan for her now. She’s owned by American rider Adrienne Sternlicht and was sold in our Aloga Auction last year and Adrienne let me keep the ride on her. I think she’s an unbelievable horse, maybe the best seven-year-old I’ve ever ridden!”

Results here

The Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ Final 2023 looks set to be a highly competitive affair, with a total of 86 athletes from 19 nations in action during the hugely popular four-day fixture that brings the team Jumping season to the perfect close every year in Barcelona, Spain.

Running from 27 September to 1 October, there will be 15 countries from five continents chasing down the prestigious team trophy this time around as athletes and horses from Asia, Europe, Oceania, South America and North America fly their national flags. 

It is an event that everyone looks forward to each season, celebrating all that is best about equestrian team sport.

Defending

Peter Weinberg’s Belgian side arrive as defending champions after clinching not only the 2022 title but also the single qualifying spot on offer for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. It was an impressive victory, their third since the Final was established at the Real Club de Polo in 2013, and they clinched it with the only zero scoreline on the final day.

Weinberg returns with three members of last year’s winning side, Koen Vereecke, Gregory Wathelet and Gilles Thomas who will be joined by Niels Bruynseels and Wilm Vermeir.

The full list of nations fielding teams is: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, USA and Uzbekistan.

Rivalry

With the XXXIII Olympiad less than a year away time is running out for those countries not yet qualified, so there will be intense rivalry between Argentina, Brazil, Italy, Mexico, USA and Uzbekistan because none of them have yet bagged that elusive ticket to the French capital next summer as yet. 

For the North and South American countries there will be one more opportunity at the Pan-American Games 2023 in Chile in November where the final three Olympic spots will be up for grabs. But for Italy, who failed to qualify for this year’s Longines Final through the Europe Division 1 series but who made the cut because the Asia/Australasia region was unable to fill its quota, and for Uzbekistan this is their very last chance. 

The Italians are sending out three members of the team that finished tenth at the FEI Jumping European Championship on home ground in Milan three weeks ago - Alberto Zorzi, Emanuele Camilli and Giampiero Garofalo - along with the super-experienced Lorenzo de Luca and Piergiorgio Bucci so they obviously mean business.

The Uzbeki side is considerably less well known, but Abdurakhmon Abdullaev, Bekzod Kurbanov, Azam Tolibbaev and Nurjan Tuyakbaev will be just as focused.

No chances

The Americans are clearly taking no chances on leaving Olympic qualification to the last minute at the Pan-Ams. Chef d’Equipe Robert Ridland will lead a super-sharp crew headed up by multiple champions Laura Kraut and McLain Ward who will be backed up by Devin Ryan, Jessica Springsteen and Karl Cook. 

Team Switzerland managed to tick the Olympic qualification box when finishing sixth at the recent European Championship, and the dynamic duo of Steve Guerdat and Martin Fuchs will be teaming up again together with Elian Baumann, Alain Jufer and Janika Sprunger at this week’s Longines Final.

Two of the individual European medallists will be in action this week - gold medallist Guerdat who is currently world number three, and bronze medallist Julien Epaillard from France who is world number two. In fact seven of the top 10 athletes in the current world rankings list will compete in Barcelona including world number one Henrik von Eckermann from Sweden who will line out as an individual.

Fire-power

The French have a huge amount of fire-power in their side led by Epaillard which also includes world number nine Simon Delestre, Dublin Grand Prix winner Francois Xavier Boudant, Olivier Perreau and Olivier Robert. And the Germans look super-strong too, with Hans-Dieter Dreher, Christian Kukuk, Jörne Sprehe, Richard Vogel and Jana Wargers in Otto Becker’s line-up. 

Ireland’s Michael Blake sends out one of the side that took team silver in Milan, Trevor Breen, who will be joined by Daniel Coyle, Jack Ryan, the veteran Denis Lynch and 19-year-old Max Wachman who was on the winning team and finished individually 11th at the FEI Jumping European Young Riders Championship this summer.

The Dutch also look strong, with Harrie Smolders, Maikel van der Vleuten and Jur Vrieling amongst Jos Lansink’s selection, while Team Mexico can always be relied upon to give it their all. Last year they won Saturday night’s Challenge Cup in fine style, pinning the newly-crowned world champions from Sweden into runner-up spot.

Intriguing

However perhaps one of the most intriguing teams to watch next week may be Brazil, with former Portuguese star Luciana Diniz joining Stephan de Freitas Barcha, Marlon Modolo Zanotelli, Rodrigo Pessoa and Pedro Veniss in the side. Diniz took a break from the sport last October and only stepped back in at international level in July this year. She competed for Brazil at the Athens Olympic Games in 2004 but carried the Portuguese flag at the Games in London 2012, Rio de Janeiro 2016 and Tokyo 2020 and is now targeting Paris 2024 on behalf of Brazil once again.

Individually all of the other Brazilian riders have been in exceptional form of late and with this talented lady also on call-up they will surely be eyeing up not just the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ Final 2023 title but that single Olympic qualifying spot too.

The story of the 2023 edition will begin to unfold on Wednesday, 27 September, with the first Horse Inspection, Training session and Draw for the order-of-go. The competition will begin on Thursday 28 when all 15 nations will compete. The top eight will go through to Sunday’s €1,250,000 final round to decide the title while the remaining countries will go for glory in Saturday night’s €300,000 Challenge Cup.

The excitement is only a few days away, so don’t miss a hoofbeat….

More information here 

Event website here 

Masterlist here

Germany’s Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and TSF Dalera BB reclaimed the Freestyle title they won 12 months ago on the thrilling closing day of the FEI Dressage European Championship 2023 in Riesenbeck (GER) today.

In the months leading up to the event, speculation was rife about the clash of the sport’s giants and the emergence of many new stars, but the expected fire-works didn’t materialise earlier in the week. 

Today however the reigning individual World championship duo of Great Britain’s Lottie Fry and the fabulous stallion Glamourdale pushed the reigning Olympic and defending European champions von Bredow-Werndl and her magical mare all the way to the line to take silver, while fellow-Briton and triple Olympic gold medallist Charlotte Dujardin stepped up to bag the bronze with Imhotep.

Much-anticipated

A total of 18 combinations lined out in this much-anticipated final test of the week, and it was Germany’s Frederic Wandres and Bluetooth OLD who led the way at the halfway stage with a score of 84.568. That might have been a great deal higher however if he hadn’t forgotten part of his floor-plan. Riesenbeck is in the heart of German horse country and the super-sharp spectators immediately realised something wasn’t right when he did a few steps of half-pass before riding down the centreline to finish. 

“I had a brain-stop!”, he said afterwards, filled with emotion because he had omitted some of his half-pass and was trying to fit it in before finishing his test. “It was absolutely not a horse mistake, it was completely on my side!”, he pointed out.

When the action restarted the riders were playing leap-frog with each one overtaking the one that went before, and the crowd showed their everlasting adoration for their own Isabell Werth who was greeted with a frenzy of sound when she steered DSP Qantaz to the new leading score of 88.407. Two horses later however Denmark’s Nanna Skodborg Merrald and Blue Hors Zepter, silver medallists in Friday’s Grand Prix Special, raised the bar even higher when putting 89.546 on the board with a super-smooth performance.

There were just four left to go now, and it seemed very possible that the Dane, a member of last year’s World Championship gold medal winning team, would finish on the podium again.

Uncharacteristic

Then von Bredow-Werndl set off for a test that was filled with seamless transitions and showered with maximum marks of 10, but it wasn’t without an uncharacteristic mistake in the one-tempi changes. The pair still stayed in tune with each other to the very end, when the scoreboard showed a colossal 92.818 for the new lead. It didn’t seem likely any of the rest could come anyway close to that. But Fry and Glamourdale did.

The stallion was on fire today, much more like the super-steed who wowed the spectators at the World Championship in Herning (DEN) last summer when he carried Fry to victory in both the Grand Prix Special and Freestyle. Heavenly half-passes and lovely piaffe/passage saw the scores piling up despite a mistake when picking up the canter lead for the first time. The crowd held their breath while the score was being calculated, and although 92.379 was just short of von Bredow-Werndl’s target the knowledgable spectators roared with approval because they knew they had seen something very special once again.

The penultimate partnership of Britain’s Carl Hester and Fame put 85.461 on the board before Dujardin, last into the ring, did what she does best. It didn’t seem possible that a 10-year-old horse with no real experience could withstand the pressure, the noise, the tension in the arena that was now like a cauldron of excitement. But he did, overtaking Skodborg Merrald’s Zepter for bronze medal spot when earning 91.396 for a wonderful test. It was the perfect end to a wonderful week of sport.

Biggest buzz

“For me it’s the biggest buzz to go out there to a full crowd. When you’re warming up all you can hear is clapping, cheering, screaming, stamping feet, and it’s so exciting for our sport and us riders to have. I was just delighted to start and finish, he’d never had anyone clapping through his test and I was thinking they are clapping and I’m not even close to home! But he’s just incredible, he takes everything in his stride and I’m just so excited for next year. I had a baby six months ago and I didn’t think I’d be here this year. I kind of ruled out the Europeans and was aiming at Paris next year and here I am at the end of the week with one gold medal and two bronze medals. I can’t ask for more. It’s been a great week for me and for Dressage!”, Dujardin said.

All-the-more extraordinary was the fact that she was only riding her floorplan and music created by Tom Hunt for the very first time. She only started putting it together a few weeks ago and she had no idea how it would work out. The music is from the film “Madagascar” because apparently Imhotep, aka Pete, looks just like Alex the Lion when his mane is loose. 

Asked how she is feeling this evening after a super-close race to the finish line today, Fry replied “I guess I feel a little relief that we are back on the podium, but mainly just excitement and super happy. The feeling that he gave me in there today was that we are really back on track. The first two tests (this week) maybe weren’t what I had hoped they would be, but today it was the most incredible feeling and I’m a bit speechless to be honest!” 

She said she was trying to reproduce the best parts from her Grand Prix and Special tests from earlier in the week. “Glammy also had a day off yesterday, it’s been very hot for him, and today he was fresh but he was concentrated. The first day here he was fresh and slightly distracted and the second day he was slightly tired, so today we got the perfect mix and it was such an amazing feeling and I couldn’t be more happy”, she explained.

Defence

Meanwhile von Bredow-Werndl reflected on her magnificent defence of both individual titles this week. “This is the success of a huge amount people, not only me. Today the big feeling is just gratefulness. Dalera only hand-walked yesterday and she was full of power and energy again today”, she explained. 

“It was my goal to come here and defend as many titles as possible!”, she continued. “I gave my very best for the team (Germany finished in team silver medal spot) but at the end the ladies next to me, and the men next to them, were better, so we have more work to do before Paris to make it more difficult for them!” she pointed out.

Asked about coming up against Fry and her stallion for the first time this week she said “I was prepared to meet her in Omaha, or in Aachen, and I was just finally happy to meet her here! I’m focusing on myself and Dalera and I’m happy we had great sport and other riders coming up, but this pushes me to train better, more precisely and to keep on improving”. 

There’s no doubt that this week’s close competition has firmly focused minds on next year’s Olympic Games. With the 2023 European titles now decided it’s all eyes on Paris 2024. And Fry still has her eyes on the big prize.

“I don’t want to put too much pressure on for next year but it does make everybody super-excited when we were so close today, having small mistakes but that makes it even more exciting because we both know (Fry and von Bredow-Werndl) we can be better! And we shouldn’t under-estimate Charlotte or Nanna for next year, or Isabell (Werth) so I think we are going to have a year to work on a lot of things and Paris is going to be really exciting!”

If it is anything like the FEI Dressage European Championship 2023 at Riesenbeck this week it’s going to be a thriller from start to finish…..

Result 

Defending champions, Germany’s Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and the 16-year-old mare TSF Dalera BB, made it two-in-a-row when coming out on top in the Grand Prix Special at the FEI Dressage European Championship 2023 in Riesenbeck (GER) today.

The pair scored 84.271 to take the title two years ago in Hagen (GER), but today they raised their game even higher when posting a personal-best 85.593 for the win. In a championship filled with a combination of well-established partnerships along with many only setting out on their journeys at this level of the sport, the silver medal went to Denmark’s Nanna Skodborg-Merrald and the 15-year-old gelding Blue Hors Zepter while Britain’s Charlotte Dujardin steered 10-year-old newcomer Imhotep into bronze.

Early target

It was von Bredow-Werndl’s compatriot Isabell Werth who set the early target score at 78.252 with DSP Qantaz. “He was fantastic, he is really in a great shape!”, she said. “The fine tuning is perfect, he trusts me, the confidence is really there and he was so supple”, said the legendary lady who finished in silver medal spot in the Special in 2021.

But then Britain’s Lottie Fry changed the whole shape of the competition when putting 81.763 on the board with the stallion Glamourdale. “He felt really good in there today, much better than yesterday, more concentrated, we had one tiny blip in the one-tempi changes behind, but apart from that I couldn’t fault him.

“The test overall was much better than yesterday, he was much more with me. The pirouettes were a real highlight today, and the trot-work. And his walk has improved so much as well”, she explained. Piaffe also picked up marks of 9 and 10 throughout the test.

With the bar now set really high, von Bredow-Werndl and the mare with which she won all gold at the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and again just a few weeks later at the European championship in Hagen in 2021 were next into the ring. And they certainly didn’t disappoint. Despite fiddling in the first halt, they stepped it out in style for the remainder of the test and went way into the lead with that score of 85.593.

She knew she’d thrown it down to the remaining three.

“She (Dalera) was on fire and listening, and now it’s so easy for her. Now she’s got the strength. Of course she was sweating but when we came out her breathing was normal after one minute. This is how you can see how fit she is”, von Bredow-Werndl said.

She wasn’t really threatened by the final three despite some more spectacular performances, Britain’s Charlotte Dujardin and Imhotep overtaking team-mate Fry when putting 82.583 on the board, and Carl Hester posting 80.106 with the 13-year-old Fame. “I’ve never had him so relaxed, it was like he grew up at this show, accepted all my aids really nicely and I just had a really lovely ride!”, Hester said. 

Build-up

In the build-up to the championship all the conversation has been about the clash of giants - the first-time face-off between von Bredow-Werndl’s mare who has been unbeatable for a long time now and Fry’s stallion who won the individual title at last summer’s World championship along with the rising stars ridden by Dujardin and Hester. 

A little more quietly under the spotlight however was the relatively new Danish partnership of Nanna Skodborg Merrald and Blue Hors Zepter. Anyone who has followed their progress since coming together at the beginning of the year knew they could not be discounted this week. And so it turned out. Showing all of their class they gave the leaderboard a shake-up when slotting into silver medal spot with a super score of 82.796 to demote Dujardin to bronze and push Hester off the medal podium into fourth place.

“It was a dream come true today!”, Skodborg Merrald said this evening. I knew it was possible for me to fight for the medals this year but I also knew that I was up against three amazing, strong women who could do the same (von Bredow-Werndl, Dujardin and Fry). I had so much focus on doing my test today as good as possible and see how the result is - it was actually super close, so it’s all the small details that matter”. Just 0.213 separated silver and bronze.

“During the test I was just focusing, but coming to the end I thought I had done everything I could and I really love that feeling, and when I heard the scores it was unbelievable. The feeling I had yesterday in the Grand Prix was a lot of fire and a little too much tension. Today was more relaxed but then I was in doubt if he was too relaxed during the test!”, she added.

Bronze medal spot

Dujardin was more than happy to slot into bronze medal spot.

“I love having young horses and training them through up to Grand Prix. The partnership I have with my horses means everything to me. Pete can get a bit insecure, you can hear it in the sneezing, and I pat him and tell him you are doing really well. I have to hold his hand a little bit but each horse I’ve had has been different. With Valegro I pressed for 10 and he was off for 10, whereas Pete, he’s an amazing horse, phenomenal to ride but I can’t press for 10 now. But next year I can go for 10!”, she said, throwing down the gauntlet to the other two medallists at the post-competition press conference. 

“Their horses are 15 and 16 and they’ve been doing it a lot longer than Pete. He’s done that test no more than six times. To be sat here with a medal around my neck with a horse that is so inexperienced - yesterday there wasn’t much atmosphere in the arena but today it was full of people and you could really feel the vibe. It takes a lot for a horse to go in that environment and go down that centreline and halt and then do a perfect test. For a horse that doesn’t have experience and who has been thrown in the deep end like he has, I am so proud of him. He has a heart of gold and just wants to work with me all the time”, she pointed out.

Managing expectations

For von Bredow-Werndl, this week has been as much about managing expectations as it is about winning medals. Could she and Dalera keep Fry and Glamourdale at bay, or would some of the other British contenders overtake them all? As it happens it is Skodborg Merrald and Zepter who are presenting the biggest threat ahead of Sunday’s Freestyle finale.

The new champion talked about the lead-in to the championship and the expectations ahead of the clash between her mare and her many challengers.

“There were expectations before Aachen and the World Cup Final, so I’ve been working with these expectations for quite a few months now. Finally I was just happy to meet them. What I did was not to think about it. The only thing I can influence is Dalera and me. So that’s how we handled it and how we will handle it in the future.

“Because if there’s no Glamourdale there’s always somebody coming. And it’s good for the sport and good for the competition and if there was nobody I couldn’t improve so it’s good to be pushed and to continue improving ourselves. And we have improved, we’ve improved our walk, the passage, the piaffe, the canter, the changes, so many things. And the art is to have everything together on point but also to have a happy athlete who wants to present herself because she has enough strength. 

“And it’s only possible if you train smart, and not hard, at home”, she said.

She enjoys every moment of her time with Dalera who is pretty good at taking care of herself.

“She is the best at resting, she can switch on and off immediately, she goes to the stable and she turns right off! She lies down in the stable every night, she is the best traveller and she knows how to save her own energy!”

In the intense heat at Riesenbeck this weekend she will need all the energy she can muster for the final clash in Sunday’s Freestyle in which the top-18 will line out. It’s all set for another day of exceptional sport, do don’t miss a hoofbeat….

Result here  

It was team gold for Great Britain at the FEI Dressage European Championship 2023 in Riesenbeck (GER) today where the hosts and defending European champions from Germany had to settle for silver medal spot ahead of the reigning World champions from Denmark in bronze.

Fantastic individual performances were the order of the day, with world number one, Germany’s Jessica von Bredow-Werndl, posting the biggest score of the competition with the super-mare TSF Dalera BB when putting 84.612 on the board. But it was Lottie Fry’s personal-best Grand Prix result of 81.258 with the stallion Glamourdale that clinched it for the British side, boosting them to pole position on a final tally 242.220 when the best scores from each team were added.

Germany completed on a total of 239.674 while Denmark rounded up their tally at 228.727. Sweden slotted into fourth place ahead of The Netherlands in fifth and France in sixth while Austria, Belgium and Spain earned the three Olympic qualifying spots up for grabs when filling the next three places in that order.

Fry was joined in the victorious British side by Gareth Hughes (Classic Briolinca) and Carl Hester (Fame) who strutted their stuff yesterday, and Charlotte Dujardin (Imhotep) who also produced a stunning performance today.

Raised the temperature

It was Germany’s Frederic Wandres who first raised the temperature on a very hot day when producing a strong score of 77.888 with Bluetooth OLD under the midday sun. “It was so hot in there, but Bluetooth is used to the heat a little bit from competing in Wellington (USA). He has had two seasons there and every day it is 30 degrees so he is able to deliver very good scores in the heat. I think we showed a very harmonious ride and a consistent frame from the beginning to the end with no technical mistakes”, he pointed out.  

But Britain’s Charlotte Dujardin and Imhotep set a whole new standard when putting 82.422 on the board for a test in which they earned multiple scores of 9 and 10 and held the crowd spellbound.  

“The relaxation, the frame is getting better, he still has moments where it could be better but it all comes from experience. Just going through the test, for 10 years old that’s done as little as he has, it really is amazing. It normally takes years and years to get them to that point. Last year I think he’d done maybe four or five Grand Prix before the World Games (FEI Dressage World Championship). He did just three shows before coming here and preparation-wise he needs to do more shows but smaller shows just to give him experience, but then he goes and does that! I love him to bits!”, she said.

Start

She didn’t have a great start to the week however. “When I got here Pete (Imhotep) had been travel sick, there were complications getting here because of the EU paperwork that was done wrong, so he had 19 hours of travel and he’s never travelled that far. So he arrived with travel sickness but we have a great team of vets that helped so thankfully he was fine. And then Isabella (her six-month-old baby daughter) got a temperature. She was really sick and had high fever so I got about an hour’s sleep on Monday because she was so poorly - it’s been a bit of an emotional roller-coaster for me this week!”, Dujardin said.

With just one more rider to go for each team the result was still hanging in the balance. And when world number one, Jessica von Bredow-Werndl, blew the competition wide open with what would be the biggest score of the competition then Germany looked set to threaten Britain’s overnight lead.

Consistent scores of nine and multiple scores of 10 for piaffe and for seamless transitions throughout their entire test earned a massive mark of 84.612. She was delighted.

“Being here in Germany riding my wonderful, beautiful mare Dalera is always a gift. Every time I am allowed to enter the arena it is a gift. She always tries her very best and it’s just up to me. If I am focused and on point then she is as well, she is my mirror!”, she said. But there would be one more twist in the tale.

Immense pressure

Third-last into the ring, and under immense pressure, the horse-and-rider combination who claimed the individual title at last summer’s FEI Dressage World Championship in Herning (DEN), Britain’s Lottie Fry and the super-stallion Glamourdale, would ensure that although von Bredow-Werndl would have the highest score of the day it would be Team GB on the top of the team podium this evening.

The stallion kicked off his test with a huge mark of over 87.00 but ended up on 81.258, still a personal-best for the British partnership. “He felt amazing in there, he had a few small distractions, some noises from outside caught his attention but still he got a personal best which shows we’ve really improved on a lot of things from last year and we were excited to get back in there”, Fry said.

That score would lift the British total past Germany and onto the top step of the medal podium.

On fire

“He went in there on fire!”, Fry said this evening. “I just felt a few little distractions, his eyes wandering to the outside of the arena, but I think he had many many highlights today as well, some things that have never been as good, so we are focusing on those and really going for it tomorrow!” 

The stallion was awarded six scores of 10 for his trademark and thrilling extended canter and the spectators will be looking forward to seeing it again in tomorrow’s Grand Prix Special for which the top 30 individual riders have qualified.

Carl Hester threw down the British gauntlet yesterday with what he described as his “best test to date” with Fame.

“I’ve only been riding him for about nine months and I was absolutely delighted with him. My take-away from yesterday would be if I could ride the beginning of my test like I got to ride him at the end of the test that would help to get more points in there. He’s a joy to ride, a joy to be around, and I’m very lucky to have him!”, he said this evening.

Emotion

Team-member Gareth Hughes was filled with emotion. “We’ve been a team since 2019, Lottie - her career so far has been unbelievable, what the future brings is mind-boggling. We have Carl, he gets on a horse and he is just a master - he’s been coaching me for 20 years. Charlotte, for me she’s the best test rider in the world, it’s just an honour to watch her today and it’s an honour to be part of this team and all I can say is thank you!”, he said. 

This was only Britain’s second team gold in the 60-year history of the FEI Dressage European Championship. Dujardin, riding Valegro, and Hester, riding Uthopia were on that winning side in Rotterdam in 2011 and, a year later, they clinched team gold at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Today’s result seems like a good omen a year ahead of Paris 2024.

But more immediately there is tomorrow’s top-30 Grand Prix Special to look forward to and then the Freestyle finale on Sunday. Von Bredow-Werndl won both at the last European Championship in Hagen (GER) two years ago but she looks set to face stiff competition in defence of both of those titles, especially from her nearest challengers in the Grand Prix - Dujardin, Fry, Denmark’s Nanna Skodborg Merrald with Blue Hors Zepter and Hester. 

The Special kicks off at 10.15 local time, so don’t miss a hoofbeat….

Startlists and Results here 

Great Britain took the early lead in the team standings on the opening day of the FEI Dressage European Championship 2023 in Riesenbeck, Germany today.

A breathtaking Grand Prix performance from 56-year-old veteran Carl Hester with his relatively new ride, the 13-year-old gelding Fame, earned 78.540 for the biggest score of the day, giving his country a narrow advantage over Germany in second place while Denmark slotted into third.

Austria and Spain, both fighting for one of the three team spots on offer for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, are in overnight fourth and fifth places. And France and The Netherlands share that fifth place with the Spanish after all three sides finished on exactly the same scoreline.

The team medals are decided over two days, so another 33 horse-and-rider combinations will compete in the Grand Prix tomorrow before the podium places are confirmed.

Strong target

Mathias Alexander Rath set the first strong target when putting 74.845 on the board with the stallion Thiago GS. “He felt really fresh yesterday at the vet-check, you could see he had a lot of energy and a lot of power. Today I was super-happy how he behaved in the arena, you have to remember that he’s just ten years old and still developing and still at the beginning of his career”, the German team pathfinder pointed out.

Daniel Bachmann Andersen and the 12-year-old stallion Vayron then put  Denmark on the map when slotting in behind the German pair on a score of 74.146, despite losing a shoe in the corner of the arena at the end of the final extended trot. 

“Going down the centreline he was fine, but then I went outside and I felt he wasn’t lame, but he felt different. The shoe came clear off and the hoof is perfect so we just have to get it back on!”, he said afterwards. 

He described Vayron as “a very green horse, he’s in his very first Grand Prix season - I think this was his eighth Grand Prix in his life”. He said he’s been riding the horse for just over a year “and we’ve grown together, we had to find each other. He was educated by a top rider, (Germany’s Helen Langehanenberg), but with a complete other length of body and body strength, so I had to get to know him and we had to do some things differently. And I had to give him some show experience as he hasn’t been going to many shows”, the tall Dane explained.

Then Gareth Hughes got even closer to Rath’s score with a lovely performance from the mare Classic Briolinca. After putting 74.565 on the board the British rider said, “I’m over the moon with her, I thought it was one of the best tests she’s done! Very clean, no real mistakes, I was slightly disappointed with the mark but so happy with the mare”. The horse has been a much-loved member of the Hughes family since she was three years of age.

“She’s 17 now and has done several championships and she’s been amazing for me and amazing for the team”, he added.

Leaderboard

As the first day was drawing to a close, the legend that is Isabell Werth produced a new leading score of 77.174 from DSP Qantaz. 

“I think it was his best competition this year!”, the German superstar said. “He was more relaxed and not fighting, it was easy-going, so that was really nice to feel”.

The 13-year-old gelding competed in the FEI Dressage World Cup™ series over the winter months to give him more experience, “and I think that was quite helpful. And then we had a little break…..and the next was Aachen”, she explained.

She is really enjoying the facilities at Riesenbeck. “The venue is very super, it’s so professional in the infrastructure, so great, especially now in this temperature and with this weather. When the horses are in the stables it is cool and the air is fresh, so the conditions are perfect.” It has been extremely hot all week, with temperatures today reaching over 30 degrees.

Werth was followed into the ring by Andreas Helgstrand and the extravagant young stallion Jovian who slotted into fifth behind Hughes and pushed Bachmann Andersen down to sixth when posting 74.410. 

The Danish pair were late into the warm-up arena because Jovian lost a shoe, but neither horse nor rider lost their cool. 

“He’s a horse you need a big driving licence for!”, Helgstrand said. Jovian was very full of himself this morning so he took him for a walk. 

“My strategy was to get him to calm down so I could show that walk (in the test) and the walk was there. I couldn’t make it as good as I wanted in piaffe and passage, but at the end of the day I’m happy. He’s a dream horse, and in one more year he will be very, very nice!”, he added.

Master-class

Third-last to go, Carl Hester then put Great Britain out in front with a master-class in the art of horsemanship. 

“If I never did another test again it would be a lovely one to finish on!”, said the six-time Olympian after putting 78.540 on the board with Fame for the biggest score of the opening day and with a test that had the crowd roaring in appreciation as the pair moved into their final halt.

“I absolutely love this horse, I worship riding him. I look forward to riding him every day!”, he said of the 13-year-old gelding that was formerly competed by team-mate Fiona Bigwood, but who was offered to Hester at the end of last year due to her busy life full of family commitments. “She always said this one’s for you when she was riding him and she was right, it was love at first ride!”, Hester said today.

He described Fame as “very spicy and hot” and “a full-time job. It’s not just a case of get on him. He’s in the field all day, he’s a stallion, he goes out all day in his paddock and you have to manage him so he relaxes. 

“He’s the kind of horse I love, a bit quirky and hot but wonderful and kind. You need someone who has time to ride a horse like that…..he wants to go, but he’s the kindest person in the stable and with children and other horses…there’s not been a morning since January when I haven’t thought I can’t wait to get on him!”, he said.

Stands tallest

Meanwhile in the race for Olympic qualification it is Team Austria that stands tallest after today, their top score of 71.724 from Florian Bacher and Fidertraum OLD giving them the edge over the Spanish who also posted two 70 percent scores, the best of which came from Alejandro Sánchez del Barco with the charming PRE stallion Quincallo de Indalo who earned a mark of 71.584.

It will be quite something if Austria can succeed in taking one of the Olympic slots in Dressage this week, just days after their Jumping team earned their ticket to Paris next year against all the odds at the FEI Jumping European Championship 2023 in Milan (ITA). 

Florian Bacher believes they can do it. “It’s looking quite good!”, he said after his impressive ride with the 14-year-old Fidertraum who is competing in his fifth championship.

However there’s plenty more sport to play out before those places are confirmed and the 2023 FEI Dressage European Team Championship medals are handed out. Luxembourg’s Fie Christine Skarsoe and Imperador Dos Cedros will kick off the second day of action at 09.30 local time, so don’t miss a hoofbeat….

Startlists and Results here