By Sarah Dance

As the final competitor to start late on Friday night for the first round of the FEI Driving World Cup™ Final in Leipzig (GER), Bram Chardon (NED) laid down his claim to the 2022 title with a fantastic drive.

Smoothly steering his four-in-hand of grey horses through Jeroen Houterman’s (NED) flowing course of thirteen obstacles, he managed to leave the balls on top and recorded a blistering time of 135.80 secs. Reigning champion Boyd Exell (AUS), who is aiming for his 10th indoor title, was the sixth competitor to go and had set the fastest time of the night of 143.35 with no balls down.  Dries Degreick (BEL), in his first FEI World Cup™ Final, drove a quick course but with one ball down finished in third on a score of 152.76.

A delighted Bram said, “It is incredible to start the finals here. I watched the others on the screen. I knew Boyd by far was the quickest time, so I thought, if I can get near his time I am going to be happy. Definitely I was planning on staying clear, I was trying to go a little bit more safe, but then when the horses felt so good, I just let them go and pushed them to the end, when I knew there was more in it, this is fantastic.”

Seven of the world’s leading horse four-in-hand Drivers are competing in the 20th Indoor Final which was last held in Bordeaux in February 2020. For the first time a female driver is competing, Mareike Harm (GER), who drove a smooth round but knocked three balls and finished in sixth place on 163.89. Fellow German, Michael Brauchle, the wild card entry, ended the night in fifth on 156.94.

Glenn Geerts (BEL), was fourth on 156.94 after driving a clear but slower round.  Making uncharacteristic mistakes was former champion Koos de Ronde (NED) who ended in seventh on 173.78 after knocking several balls and incurring extra penalties for having to stop so the course could be rebuilt.

All the Drivers are now eligible to return for the second round of the Final on Sunday. They will drive in reverse order and the top three will drive again to decide the final placings.  All except Bram, who will start with a penalty score which is 50% of the differential between theirs and the leader’s score.

Full results here.

 

By Joanne Eccles MBE

The 10^th edition of the FEI Vaulting World Cup™ Final started in spectacular style with French favourites Manon Moutinho and Lambert Leclezio dominating the Individual Female and Male classes with their high difficulty, technical routines proving impossible to beat.  Janika Derks and Johannes Kay of Germany, blew the competition away to take the top spot overnight in the Pas de Deux.

Derks, vaulting on top of Rockemotion lunged by Nina Vorberg, had to settle for second place overnight in the Individual Female competition with 7.883 points. Her gracefully performed technical routine didn’t score quite enough to stay ahead of Manon Moutinho (FRA) who finished with 8.237 points, and who teamed an incredibly high level of freestyle exercises with superbly performed technical moves to give herself a 0.3 lead going into tomorrow’s Final competing with Saitiri and Corrine Bosshard.

Showing the special bond they have Manon explained “It’s the first time my mare sees an arena like this. This was a big arena for her, and the crowd feels really close. When we came in, the lunger kept her close, and I trust her because I knew this was strategic, but as soon as she said ok – then I just went into performance mode.” 
Kimberly Palmer (USA) (7.644) brought her artistry to the table to hold the bronze medal position, proving that she can take on the best in the world even when competing on a borrowed horse. Hannah Steverding sits just behind her on 7.436.

In the Male competition Lambert Leclezio (FRA) showed us just why he is the one to beat this year, aboard his reserve horse Saitiri, he delighted the audience with near perfect technical exercises to take the lead on 8.785. Just within touching distance, (8.489), Lorenzo Lupacchini (ITA) didn’t allow Lambert to get too far ahead. His experience was evident with Rosenstolz on the circle and Laura Carnabucci on the lunge as we were treated to his performance to Elton John’s ‘Rocket Man’. After an unfortunate landing in his Cartwheel exercise, Jannik Heiland (GER) was forced to settle for third place with Lukas Heppler in fourth.

World Champions Janika Derks and Johannes Kay (GER) had a dream start to their Final competition together. A beautifully executed test gained them a perfect score from the artistic judge and an overnight score of 8.754. Compatriots, Chiara Congia and Justin Van Gerven, dug deep to show their best on a slightly unsettled Calidor with Patric Looser working hard from the center to ensure the pair could show the elements they planned.  They were rewarded with a score of 7.873 but it will be a big ask for them to try to take the title tomorrow. Third place currently is the Austrian pairing, Romana Hintner and Eva Nagiller, with Jolina Ossenberg-Engels and Timo Gerdes completing the class.

The Leipziger Messe proved to be a challenging atmosphere for several horses throughout the competition. Thomas Brusewitz (GER) in 7^th place, adapted as he went to try to complete his technical program on Calidor. An unfortunate fall in his last exercise, the jump to backwards stand, left him with no score for the exercise and a deduction at the end of the test. Eva Nagiller (AUT) finishing 8^th was also forced to make modifications to her planned routine.

In tomorrow’s Individual FEI Vaulting World Cup ™ Final it’s the French to beat, whilst the Pas de Deux class, we will see the end of an era as Janika Derks and Johannes Kay end their careers together.

Full results here

America’s McLain Ward knows what it is to win the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup, and today the 2017 champion set himself on that path once again when topping the second competition at the 2022 Final in Leipzig, Germany.

A brilliant last-to-go run with Contagious in the seven-horse jump-off against the clock moved him up from overnight fifth to pole position on the leaderboard, and he goes into Sunday’s finale a full fence ahead of The Netherlands’ Harrie Smolders in second place while young Briton, Harry Charles, shares third spot with first-day leader Martin Fuchs from Switzerland, both just a single penalty-point further behind.

Today’s two rounds were filled with drama, defending series champion and Fuchs’ fellow-countryman Steve Guerdat producing the first clear with Victorio Des Frotards over Frank Rothenberger’s testing first-round track. But all of the leading four after yesterdays class returned with penalties this time out, and two of them faulted on the snaking line between fences six and eight that proved highly influential. 

The challenge

Ward explained the challenge here. “I thought when we walked the course that was the hardest part. It didn’t line up very well - when you jumped the vertical at six it was a very awkward line to those big spooky standards (at fence 7) and then you threw in the liverpool, and it was on a half-stride, five-and-a-half. So if you let your horse cut in you got there deep and slow, and they were backing up so the back rail was a problem. It was five and a bit (strides) to the vertical at eight and a few did six, it was just quite uncomfortable”, the American explained. 

It was that tricky water-tray oxer at seven that snatched the lead from Fuchs when The Sinner put in a spooky jump and crashed through it, the Swiss rider recovering quickly enough to clear the following vertical however. Lying overnight second, Max Kuhner’s Elektric Blue P skewed over the fence but left it up only for the Austrian duo to bring down the final vertical. Irishman Conor Swail looked en route to a clear with Count Me In only to hit the big oxer at 11 on the 13-fence track while Germany’s David Will, lying fourth as the action began with C Vier 2, left fence six and the penultimate oxer at 12 on the floor.

Jump-Off

Two fences down put paid to Guerdat’s chances in the jump-off in which the vertical at fence eight, now the second-last obstacle, proved the undoing of three of the remaining six. British veteran John Whitaker was first to fall victim there with Equine America Unick du Franckport when next to go, but his nephew Jack, who is a full 46 years younger, then posted the first clear with the brilliant little grey Equine America Valmy de Lande in 48.66 seconds. 

Frenchman Gregory Cottard and Bibici also hit fence eight before Harry Charles overtook his young British rival to take the lead in 47.14 seconds with Romeo 88. Dutchman Smolders put in by far the quickest round with Monaco who stopped the clock in 41.37 seconds but leaving fence eight on the floor, so when Ward set off, last to go, he always looked dangerous. The leaderboard was now at his mercy with those ahead of him all out of contention, and he capitalised on that with a superb tour of the track that snatched the win without hardly turning a hair, leaving Charles in second and Jack Whitaker in third while Smolders lined up in fourth place. 

As he said afterwards he knew exactly what he needed to do.     

“I was able to see enough of the jump-off to know it wasn’t actually very fast and when Harry had the fence down that really opened the door so our game plan was to do just enough but not take too much out of the horse, not only for Sunday but also risking having a fence down”, he pointed out after posting the winning time of 44.03 seconds.

He said yesterday’s fence down that pinned him back into fifth place was entirely his own fault. “The horse was in brilliant form, I added a stride in a bending line and I put him in not a great spot. It was a mistake on me, the horse wanted to win both rounds!”, he said.

Comparing

Comparing the courses yesterday and today he said, “in the sport nowadays at the top level there are no easy days, there are extremely hard days but I’d say yesterday was a friendly speed leg. Today he (course designer Frank Rothenberger) ratcheted it up a couple of notches, a bunch of big verticals, the triple combination was big off the corner with two oxers, and we had a great result. Frank has a lot of experience and he knows how to build a competition that brings out the best. And he also challenges riders without making it too hard on the newer, less experienced ones, and people from different regions of the world where the sport isn’t strong. He’s very good at that”, he pointed out.

Harry Charles was delighted when he checked the new leaderboard. “I would definitely have taken that at the start of the day considering my position yesterday (13th). I’m in pretty good company up there (joint-third), more than a fence off McLain but it’s all to play for on Sunday and I’m pretty happy with that! Even if it wasn’t exactly the day I wanted yesterday I was very happy with my mare Stardust, and I’m so happy to have made up for it today. It was always my plan to ride Romeo today and Sunday, he’s a big jumper and has Olympic experience behind him”, the 22-year-old rider said.

For 20-year-old Jack Whitaker today’s result was also something special. He described his handsome little grey horse as “not so big but he has a big heart, he’s a fighter. We bought him from France when he was six and my dad (Michael Whitaker) rode him until he was about 10 and I’ve only been riding him for a few years. He’s a nightmare to deal with, in the collecting ring he doesn’t like the big screen, he’s really sharp, he see and hears everything and he gets silly, like a big kid! But when you go in the ring he just goes, most of the time. When he gets a bit sharp it can go a bit wrong but he’s unbelievably careful and as long as I’m getting it right he’s normally clear”, he explained.

Very special

Ward’s title win in 2017 came after many years of trying and was very special, particularly because it was posted on home ground in Omaha (USA). Asked today if he now felt under pressure having the advantage going into Sunday’s last class he reflected….

“I sat at this venue 20 years ago in the lead going into the last day with Victor and blew it on the last line, I remember it very clearly. I sat in this position in 2017 and won, so you take those experiences and you try to use them to help you focus and keep your head right. You need to do your job, your horse has to be in form and you need a little good fortune to win one of these Championships, and I’ve been on both sides of that coin. I think understanding that helps keep your head in the right place but it’s a challenge. As I told Harry (Charles) earlier, don’t think this gets any easier in 20 years! My team will do a great job and I’m proud of my horse no matter how it comes out - we’ll do our best!”, he said. 

And asked if he had any advice for his younger rivals he joked, “I hope they get a little nervous! They are doing a brilliant job. At different stages in your career you have different mental challenges and we all process it differently and that’s part of sport and it’s a beautiful thing. I’ve got to work just as hard at it now in this stage of my career as they do at the beginning of theirs, for different reasons. It’s great to be still in the mix, it’s great to see them, I admire both of them their talent and ambition and it gives me energy and makes me still want it”, the said. 

Contagious

And he talked about his 13-year-old gelding Contagious.

“He’s an incredible tryer. I would have said at the beginning when we first got him that he was a very careful, nice, level Grand Prix horse. I never thought of him as a Championship horse but he kept developing and he kept building scope. I would ride the scope into him a bit and give him energy, and he ended up jumping the Olympics last year and performing brilliantly and he’s a different horse since then, or maybe I look at him differently now. 

“He came out of that a bigger, stronger horse.…so he outshines what his natural ability was at the beginning, because he’s a fighter with great quality and he’s a bit of a character - a bit spooky and a bit jumpy, but a winner!”

The 46-year-old New Yorker will be hoping that’s exactly what he is again next Sunday, but it will be another day, another new course and with only a single fence advantage over Smolders and only two fences separating the top ten there’s still a way to go before the 2022 champion is crowned….

Don’t miss a hoofbeat….

Result here

Standings here

It was no surprise when the reigning Olympic and European gold medallists, 36-year-old Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and her 15-year-old mare TSF Dalera BB, strutted their way into pole position in the Short Grand Prix when the FEI Dressage World Cup™ Final 2022 got underway in Leipzig, Germany tonight.

Drawn in prime last-to-go position the German duo soared ahead of the opposition to post a score of 84.793, pinning Denmark’s Cathrine Dufour and Vamos Amigos into second place and their German counterparts and defending three-time champions Isabell Werth and Weihegold OLD into third.

A strong test from Denmark’s Nanna Skodberg Merrald and the 17-year-old Atterupgaards Orthilia put them top of the leaderboard on a score of 75.752 when fourth to go and that proved unbeatable until Werth posted 79.756 to go out in front when twelfth into the arena.

But then Dufour broke the 80 percent barrier with a great performance from the 10-year-old Vamos Amigos to put 80.019 on the board only for von Bredow-Werndl to deny her the top step of the podium with her winning ride.

Freestyle

It’s now down to Saturday night’s Freestyle to decide the fate of the 2022 FEI Dressage World Cup™ title and for Werth this entire week is filled with emotion because her great mare will be officially retired that evening in a special ceremony. She couldn’t hold back the tears in her post-competition TV interview.

And there was emotion for von Bredow-Werndl too tonight. “As you know I’m six months pregnant and I feel super fit and so does Dalera, but from a sporting point of view it’s a little bit sad because this is my last big competition before a break”, said the rider who has swept all before her over the last ten months.

Dufour was elated with the result she achieved from her relatively young horse. “I was surprised and super happy with his performance. He was really on fire in the ring and the audience started clapping in the first extention and I thought “No!” because he had legs everywhere! But he’s only done a few indoor shows so the fact that he kept his mind in the right place and performed like he did today that is really fantastic!”, she said.

In the shadow

Asked if her Olympic ride, Bohemian, might find himself in the shadow of this new young star, Dufour laughed and said, “no you don’t know how big Bohemian’s ego is!  Of course Vamos has plenty of quality and there is way more in him but Bohemian has more experience so far and I feel very lucky I have two horses that are currently ready for a team position - obviously with the World Championships coming up in Denmark. And I also enjoy every competition, because you never know what happens”, she pointed out wisely.

Werth said she was pleased and proud of her great mare tonight. “She did a super job, just a little mistake, I think a one-tempi was a bit short in the beginning, she was so focused and especially the highlights were piaffe/passage and the pirouettes were really good. So I’m just happy and looking forward to Saturday and it’s a pleasure for me to present her in that way. She’s done so many great competitions, from the beginning to the end she always tries to give her best and that makes her a very special horse”, she said.

Looking ahead

Looking ahead to Saturday’s Freestyle, von Bredow-Werndl said she loves her current one “and I think Dalera does too, she feels the rhythm, she knows it’s her music and maybe that gives her even more confidence. It still feels like she’s improving and always giving 100% and when there are mistakes it’s because of me. She’s always on fire and always willing to do her very best”.

Dufour said she is “borrowing bits and pieces from Bohemian’s Olympic Freestyle and since I’ve only done two World Cups I haven’t had time to make one of his very own (for Vamos Amigos). So I’ve stolen the music and played with the choreography. It’s a super high degree of difficulty and I think the music suits really well and it tells a story about my life at the moment. I feel like I’m living the dream back home and I just enjoy every day with the horses and I think the music sums it up really well. It’s a really powerful Freestyle and I’m just excited to ride it. He’s still young and it’s my first World Cup Final so I’m just here to enjoy it and have fun!”, she explained.

Werth meanwhile is determined that Weihegold will go out in style on Saturday night.

“I hope we can show a very good test like she deserves, and it will be pleasure to be here with a loud crowd in a competition. I think it’s just great to retire her not in an empty arena, she really deserves this atmosphere, so I’m really looking forward to it and I will try to enjoy it. And of course I have the pressure of showing her as best as possible, more than ever before because it is the last one!”

The Freestyle will begin at 19.10 local time on Saturday night.

Don’t miss a hoofbeat…..

 Result here

Tonight 24-year-old Spanish rider Juan Matute Guimon competes at his first FEI Dressage World Cup™ Final in Leipzig with his horse Quantico. Two years ago he suffered a brain-bleed that left him in a coma for almost a month. He talks about the journey from there to where he is right now, and the gratitude he feels for his amazing recover…..

Two years ago it seemed your future was shattered. How does it feel to be here at the FEI World Cup Final this week?

It’s very, very emotional to come back to the international scene. This is the biggest show I’ve done in my career other than the World Equestrian Games in 2018. But on a personal level this is the biggest show of all because it is proof that I have overcome obstacles and proof that if you work hard and you have a dream and chase it that it can become a reality.

Talk about your illness, how it affected you and how you recovered

I was fully debilitated. I couldn’t move the right side of my body and since I got home after two months in hospital the rehabilitation process has been really tough, a lot of work, physiotherapy, training, a lot of psychological work. It’s been a difficult journey.

Explain the psychological part of that…did you lose faith in your ability to do things?

The disappointment of not being able to remember things, that’s been tough, for my type of personality particularly. I’ve always been a perfectionist and I’m very ambitious but with this challenge I was facing it was like a roller-coaster, many moments of doubts about whether I would recover and return to be myself.

Is it scary to talk about it?

Not at all, I’m an honest and sincere type of being and I’m proud I’ve overcome this. It’s been challenging but I feel stronger and better than ever. 

So what did you do to overcome the initial sense of helplessness you experienced?

I set goals, I’ve always been driven by goals. Ever since I left hospital I said I wanted to make it to the Tokyo Olympic team, that was the dream, it has always been my dream to be an Olympian like my father. I want to inherit my father’s Olympic Spanish flag on his tailcoat - that has been the goal and the motivation. Even though the first day I was told I wouldn’t make the team for Tokyo it was heart-breaking, the following morning I called my Dad and said “you know I don’t care, the next goal will be Paris 2024” and here I am at the World Cup Final - another step on the ladder!  

Can you describe exactly what happened to you? You had a brain-bleed, out of the blue? Did you have a fall beforehand or do you know what could have triggered it?

I had bad headaches the week before, the day before it happened I told my mother I had a pain in the front of my left eye, she was concerned so we called the family doctor. It was in the pandemic and in Spain, on May 4th 2020 - he said take some paracetamol and see what happens in a few days.

It was the first week we were allowed to leave our homes and go training the horses, before that we could only go to feed the horses, we don’t live at the centre where we keep the horses. 

All I can remember is the following morning I was riding and was giving my horse a break with some walking and I felt really dizzy. Luckily my father was at the ringside. I got off the horse, sat down on the ground and I remember vividly seeing my father walking around with Quantico (his horse) and I dropped to the ground unconscious.

My next memory was waking up in the hospital, 25 days later. When I woke I couldn’t stop crying, I was so scared. All the noise, people walking around the emergency rooms, I was so confused, I couldn’t remember what was happening from day to day and they had to keep telling me I was fine, that I’d had a serious brain bleed. I find it curious that many people are now having brain-bleeds, you hear about it all the time. But mine was caused by a congenital malformation. Something I was born with. Not in my veins, in my brain, it just burst and it could have happened any time.

In the first hospital the doctor said he could do nothing for me so I was transferred from the Hospital Universitario la Paz in Madrid to Jiménez Díaz. I had surgery through the veins instead of the arteries - the surgery at the first hospital failed through the arteries. With the second surgery the bleeding stopped and the veins were sealed.

Are there any after-effects? Is there anything you still have to be careful about?

No, after all the physio and training I have no after-effects, I feel better than ever, I’m stronger now. I try to stay fit, to run, to work out with some light weights, stay lean, take care of myself and live the athlete lifestyle. 

You have a very close relationship with your father who is also called Juan Matute - he is your mentor?

Yes, he’s the reason I started. He’s a very demanding trainer, a loving father, a generous horse owner, he’s my partner, my trainer, my friend - he is everything to me! We work together very well. He competed at the Olympic Games in Barcelona, Seoul and Atlanta and reserve for Beijing in 2008.  

You spend a lot of time on the Florida circuit - is that because the weather is so much better than in Europe in winter time? 

No, I lived there for 10 years from 2008 to 2018 with the whole family. It’s a second home to me. My main base is in Madrid where we have a total of 10 horses but I go back to the Winter Equestrian Festival in Florida every year. I have always been involved with the Wellington season but this year due to my health issue and the pandemic it was two years since I was there and it was very emotional going back. The people there are all like my extended family, I grew up around them and I had a very successful start to the year this time, winning the Grand Prix Freestyle at the 4-Star show with one of my highest scores ever! 

How long did it take for you to get back into top sport after your health scare?

I did the Spanish Championships five months after it all happened but I was still very weak, still 50% weaker on the right side, the transitions weren’t there, I was moving around too much, but I wanted to prove a point to myself and to the world that when you set a goal and have the ambition and determination then you can make it happen! 

What are your expectations for this week at the FEI Dressage World Cup™ Final?

Just to enjoy it and I already am doing that - to breathe in and learn and look around and watch all the riders. To take it all in. 

Who is your hero in the sport right now? 

I really admire Patrik Kittel (SWE), he’s a really good rider, very elegant, very subtle, very compassionate also with his horses, very loving and always happy. I share that with him - the happiness, the thankfulness to be alive and for the opportunities we have been given.

It’s almost like you are living a second life now - how does that feel? 

I’m full of gratitude but still filled with ambition although I like slow down now and realise I’ve come such a long way. I’m just enjoying it. Like everything if you only focus on the end of the road you can forget to look around and appreciate the journey.

What is your long-term goal in the sport? 

I’d love to fight for a top-place finish at the World Cup Final, the Olympic Games, the European Championships - at all the major Championships. I’d love to be one of the top riders in the world. But of course as everyone knows this is a very difficult. You need to be constant, continuously developing your horses, you need to be scouting horses, scouting clients, scouting sponsors and partnerships and this is something I’m learning about, so I must be humble and learn from my father. 

It’s a way to go yet, but I’m on the road…..

Switzerland’s Martin Fuchs flew into the lead at the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final 2022 in Leipzig, Germany today where Austria’s Max Kühner and Elektric Blue P finished second ahead of Ireland’s Conor Swail and Count Me In in third.

Leaving all the poles in place in 65.11 seconds, Fuchs demoted Kühner from pole position when second-last to go in the field of 35 starters.

Frank Rothenberger’s 13-fence track was not over-big for this opening Speed leg but there was plenty to catch them out according to the winning rider. “It was definitely tricky, not the biggest course we’ve ridden in the past few weeks or months but it was very nicely built with some difficulties at the end with the combination out of the corner and the last line with a very short three strides to a high plank and an option of five or six strides to the last oxer”, Fuchs explained.

Twists and turns

The many twists and turns had to be ridden accurately for a good result, and the double at fence nine coming off a right-hand bend claimed a number of victims, while that last line consisting of a big triple bar followed by three short strides to a tall plank and the choice of strides to the final oxer proved the undoing of many.

However it was a slip on the turn to the oxer at fence six that saw Fuchs’ compatriot and defending Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ champion, Steve Guerdat, lose his distance a little, and when that fence fell and Victorio Des Frotards also hit the final two then he added nine seconds - three for each fence down - to his time to finish well down the line in 25th place.

Just eight horse-and-rider combinations posted clear rounds and Germany’s David Will, whose start was delayed when C Vier lost a shoe in the warm-up, produced one of these to slot in behind Ireland’s Swail in fourth place in a time of 67.48. But as Fuchs pointed out at the post-competition press conference, the quickest round of the day came from America’s McLain Ward and Contagious.

Always so competitive, the 2017 Longines champion broke the beam in 64.94 seconds but a tiny mis-communication coming into the oxer at fence seven saw that fall, so with three to add their time of 67.94 left them in fifth place.

Good draw

Talking about his winning ride, Fuchs said “I had a good draw going in, second-last, so I got to see most of the other riders. I knew my horse Chaplin is very fast and super careful, so I had a plan and followed it and it all worked out. I did take risks to be fast but I didn’t take the last risk to go as fast as possible.

McLain was faster than I was today but he had a rail down and my plan was to be a bit quicker than him in case I had a rail down so I’d still be placed in the top five. So looking now at the result I was 0.2 seconds slower than the plan!”, he pointed out.

Despite a pole off the first element of the double at nine, 28-year-old Gerrit Nieberg and Ben ensured Germany is well-placed going into the second day. The son of former German team star Lars Nieberg lies sixth ahead of Sweden’s Jens Fredricson (Markan Cosmopolit) in seventh, America’s Hunter Holloway (Pepita Con Spita) in eighth, The Netherlands’ Harrie Smolders (Monaco) in ninth and another of the five-strong German contingent - and winner of the Western European League qualifier in La Coruña (ESP) in December - 23-year-old Philipp Schulze Topphoff (Concordess NRW) in tenth place. The younger generation are well-represented in the top 10 this evening, eighth-placed American Holloway is only 24 years old.

First World Cup

This is a first World Cup Final for both Germany’s David Will and Ireland’s Conor Swail. The Irishman said today that he has qualified for the Final a few times “but never felt I had the horse to do it to be honest”. However with Count Me in he looks to be in with a real chance.

“He is extremely careful and he’s got a big heart so we had a good start today, he jumped beautifully and it went very well for me. I have the horse since May last year. He has so much quality, he’s really careful, he doesn’t make many mistakes and it makes it easier for the rider when you know they are not going to make many faults. He has a great temperament, he’s careful, fast, he’s such a great horse and we have a great relationship together”, he added.

His assessment of today’s course was that “it was not the biggest but there were a lot of tight turns and you had to be agile and quick doing a few of those rollbacks. The second-last caught out a lot of horses, so my horse did a nice enough job today”, he pointed out.

Tomorrow’s jump-off class

So what about tomorrow’s jump-off class? Fuchs said, “it’s another round and it’s going to be a very big one, I’m going to swop my horses so I’ll be riding The Sinner. Since Chaplin is a bit older I didn’t want to do the whole Championship just on him and I’ll give it my best. The Sinner has been in good shape over the past few weeks and on Sunday I’ll ride Chaplin again for the final”, confident that he will be very much still in the shake-up for the 2022 title on the last day.

Kühner was typically cautious after today’s competition but Swail, a big winner on the US circuit in recent months but with only one big result behind him with Count Me In during their time together since May of last year, is also quietly confident. “My horse can go fast no matter what height, I only have the one horse here but like Max’s horse the more he jumps in the ring the more relaxed and the better he gets, so if I can be in a good spot on Sunday then we can have a good shot”, he said without a flicker of doubt.

Ireland has never produced an FEI Jumping World Cup champion in the history of the Finals that date all the way back to 1979 although Trevor Coyle finished second with the great stallion Cruising in 1999 and Jessica Kuerten was runner-up with Castle Forbes Libertina in 2006. Bertram Allen (Molly Malone) finished third in 2015 and Eddie Macken (Carrolls of Dundalk) was joint-third at the inaugural Final. There’s something about Swail that suggests he’ll be there or thereabouts come Sunday afternoon when the new champion will be crowned.

But 29-year-old Fuchs, individual silver medallist at the FEI World Equestrian Games in 2018, European champion in 2019, team gold and individual silver medallist at last year’s FEI European Championships and runner-up at the last Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final in 2019 is on the crest of a wave that doesn’t seem to be losing any momentum….

Tomorrow’s second competition begins at 14.00 local time, so don’t miss a hoofbeat….

Result here

Belgium’s Jos Verlooy and the 11-year-old Luciano van het Geinsteinde will be first into the arena when the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final 2022 kicks off tomorrow in Leipzig, Germany.

The draw for order-of-go in the first of the three competitions that will decide the title took place tonight, and a total of 35 horse-and-rider combinations from 19 countries will battle it out this week including defending champion, and three-time winner, Switzerland’s Steve Guerdat. USA’s Margie Engle is withdrawn.

Riding the 13-year-old gelding Victorio des Frotards, and starting 33rd in tomorrow’s opening Speed round, Guerdat will face stiff opposition from a star-studded field that includes compatriot Martin Fuchs who will follow him into the ring with Chaplin.

This is the 42nd Final in the history of the series that began back in 1978.  

The action gets underway at 14.35 local time, so don’t miss a hoofbeat….

Facts and Figures:

Defending Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ champion is Switzerland’s Steve Guerdat who is chasing his fourth victory in the long-running series. 

He posted wins in 2015 with Albfuehren’s Paille, in 2016 with Corbinian and at the last Final in 2019 with Alamo.  

He is one of five riders who have won the FEI World Cup™ Jumping title on three occasions. The others are Hugo Simon (AUT), Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum and Marcus Ehning (GER) and Rodrigo Pessoa from Brazil. Pessoa is the only rider to have won three back-to-back titles on the same horse, the stallion Baloubet du Rouet.

If Guerdat comes on top again this year he will become the first four-time champion.

The first FEI World Cup™ Jumping Final took place in Gothenburg in 1979 where Austria’s Hugo Simon won with Gladstone.

The youngest rider competing at year’s Final is Great Britain’s Jack Whitaker who is 20. His uncle, the legendary John Whitaker who with the great Milton won back-to-back titles in 1990 and 1991, is also lining out at the age of 66.

This is the third time for the Final to take place in the German city of Leipzig. Otto Becker, now Chef d’Equipe for the German Jumping team, won with Dobel’s Cento when it was first staged in Leipzig in 2002 and in 2011 another German star, Christian Ahlmann, reigned supreme with Taloubet Z.

Complete startlist here 

 

Defending champion, Switzerland’s Steve Guerdat, has won the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ title three times during his sparkling career. He talks about his hopes for the 2022 Final in Leipzig, Germany this week…..

How is the lead-in to this year’s Final?

“My horse (Victorio des Frotards) is feeling good, for a few weeks now he seems to be in the right place and I’m happy that it’s starting and that I did my job before I came here and that I have brought him in top form.

I took him to Arezzo (Italy) for two weeks just to train. I had 15 horses there and I planned to go back in the second week to ride him at home but thought it better to bring him, and I was glad I did because it was very nice to ride him in the countryside and to train there and I just gave him a few small jumps to keep him in shape and then he came home on Friday last week and I jumped him a little at home on Monday and now we are here.”

What are the horse’s strengths?

“He’s a completely different horse to what I thought he was when I got him! He was very successful at 2-Star level with a French rider and I thought he could be a very good second horse, a speed horse, so he had to try and win at 1.45m. But I was surprised that it wasn’t as easy to clear the jumps when I went fast but he had a lot more scope than I expected. So it was the other way around, I thought he was so careful and not so scopy, I found he was sometimes not so careful but super scopy, so it took us a while to find each other out and he needed more experience at the higher jumps but since then he’s been very successful. 

But I still find it hard to have him “on the day”, he wins a Grand Prix I didn’t expect him to win, jumping amazing, and then the week after he jumps not so good and still wins. And then he jumps super but has four faults, eight faults, I can’t tell beforehand how it will be. That’s why I’m happy he feels good now, but I’d be lying saying I’m 100% confident this week.”

This is your 14th World Cup Final - does it ever get boring?

“No! Not at all! For me the World Cup Final has always been something I’ve been looking up to, back when I was very young and starting….the World Cups all the winter season were the highlight and then the World Cup Final. When I was a kid it was a dream to do it, and being part of it today I feel blessed to be doing what I dreamed of as a kid!

Winning three titles with three different horses…how great is that?

“I don’t like to look back, but if I do I get more sorry I missed two wins with my best horse, Nino. Twice I was in the jump-off for the win and ended up second with him and I should have won both of them. When I look back I don’t think of the three (wins), I think of the two I missed!

But I’m here this week and excited as much as was at the first one!”

Has becoming a father changed anything? 

“Of course it changes things, I have a lot more responsibilities now I have my daughter to look to…life after a child is not the same …sometimes I feel bad to say it but I believe that because I’ve had so many amazing horses with which I had such a strong relationship it felt like I’ve been a father before! It’s different, but you have to look up to them, take care of them, you think day and night about them like I do with my child now.”

What have you learned from riding Victorio?

When I got him I had big hopes and then I kind of lost the hopes but then I thought no - I have to find a way to understand him, to be more patient with him and I have to not be upset because he made a mistake but learn how can I be a better rider and understand him better. 

It’s not his mistakes, I’m just not understanding him in the right way. He has taught me not to be stubborn but to be more open-minded about how differently I have to ride him and get along with him so that we understand each other better.

What is special about competing again in Leipzig?

“The first thing special is that when I think of Leipzig I see myself winning my first big class, I was 16 and I won a car, and I couldn’t drive it! I beat Marcus Ehning, Hugo Simon, Ludger Beerbaum in the jump-off. It’s an amazing memory. This show has a lot of history and of course I think of Christian Ahlmann and Taloubet (winners in Leipzig in 2011).”

What are you goals for the next few days? 

“I have to deal a bit with a new situation. I’d be lying if I said I came here at the top of my game and 100% confident. I’m having quite a low at the moment, I have fantastic horses coming up but they are still too young so I have a bit of a gap. 

Venard (de Cerisy) did a lot for me last year so I had to give him a break over the winter because he is aimed for the big outdoor shows this year. Maddox is difficult indoors, so I had Victorio and we haven’t been very successful the last few months. 

I had a lot of horses in Spain and Italy trying to build the next generation of horses and I believe it’s very promising, but if you watch my results over last 4 to 6 months they haven’t been great. It’s not easy because as much as I like riding I also like to win. So there have been a lot of short Sunday nights with not a lot of sleep, thinking about how to improve and change, it’s a new situation. I think my fortunes have to change but I’m ready to fight and I’ll take it day by day and ride as best I can and see what it brings.”

Do you feel a lot of pressure? 

“No, I’m just happy to be here and to compete, it’s really exciting! The World Cup Finals have always been something amazing for me and it’s still the same. It’s not a question of pressure, more a question of self confidence that’s not 100% with me at the moment. I have to ride better than I’ve been riding the last few months. Victorio has won five 5-Star Grand Prix competitions so I know he can do it but I’ve been making too many mistakes and I hope I’ve done them all now!”

Who are your favourites to win the title this year? 

“Martin Fuchs (SUI), Harrie Smolders (NED) and McLain Ward (USA).”

You have often said Britain's John Whitaker (champion in 1990 and 1991) is your idol, what is it you most admire about him?

“His horsemanship. He keeps it as simple as it gets. It’s like I don’t think John knows what he’s doing, he just sits there and makes it work. He speaks the same language as the horse and this is the nicest thing you can get in our sport. It’s even better than winning.”

How would you describe your relationship with Victorio? 

“It’s a bit complicated for me, it might be easier for someone else. That’s why it never gets boring because you keep learning and every day at every show he teaches me something new. It’s like with people, sometimes you just match at first and sometimes you never match. And sometimes you match 70% or 80%, I don’t think I’ll ever match 100% with him but we match well enough to be successful. Not many horses have won five 5-Star Grand Prix in their career but he’s done that for me. So he has already given me a lot.”

What should a horse expect when it is ridden by Steve Guerdat?

“Concentration. My main thing when I train someone is, once you are on the horse you need to be 110% focused and concentrated on them. Because you decided to take him out of his field and to put a saddle on and ride him now, so the least you can do is be 100% with him and concentrate so that we don’t repeat jumps or exercises because you were not concentrating.

I don’t like to overdo things, I don’t believe I push my horses too much, and I’m trying to be very focused when I ride them out of respect for them.”

The 35th FEI Dressage World Cup™ Final kicks off tomorrow evening in Leipzig (GER) with America’s Anna Buffini and her 15-year-old mare FRH Davinia la Douce first to go in the Short Grand Prix.

The draw for the starting order took place this afternoon and it was recently-crowned Olympic and European champions, Germany’s Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and TSF Dalera BB, who got the best of it when drawn last of the 17 starters from 12 countries.

Defending champions, Isabell Werth and Weihegold OLD, will start in twelfth position.

The coveted series title will be decided in Saturday night’s Freestyle.

The order-of-go for tomorrow’s opening competition is as follows:

1. FRH Davinia la Douce - Anna Buffini USA

2. Sir Donnerhall ll OLD - Morgan Barbancon FRA

3. Aquamarijn - Yvonne Losos de Muñiz DOM

4. All at Once - Yessin Rahmouni MAR

5. Atterupgaards Orthilia - Nanna Skodborg Merrald DEN

6. Hexagon’s Ich Weiss - Thamar Zweistra NED

7. Dark Legend - Charlotte Fry GBR

8. Quantico - Juan Matute Guimon ESP

9. Fogoso Horsecampline - Rodrigo Torres POR

10. Heiline’s Danciera - Carina Cassøe Kruth DEN

11. Blue Hors Zepter - Patrik Kittel SWE

12. Weihegold OLD - Isabell Werth GER

13. Havanna 145 - Ashley Holzer USA

14. Annabelle - Helen Langehanenberg GER

15. Vamos Amigos - Cathrine Dufour DEN

16. Aachen - Alisa Glinka MDA

17. TSF Dalera BB - Jessica von Bredow-Werndl GER 

Facts and Figures:

Germany’s Isabell Werth and the 17-year-old mare Weihegold OLD will be defending the title they won together in 2017, 2018 and 2019.

In total Werth has won five FEI Dressage World Cup™ titles, her first recorded in 1992 riding Fabienne and her second posted in 2007 with Warum Nicht.

If victorious at the 2022 Final, Werth will become the first four-in-a-row champion of this prestigious series and Weihegold will be the first horse to win on four consecutive occasions.

After a sparkling career, Weihegold OLD will be officially retired after Saturday’s Freestyle title-decider.

The first competition at the FEI Dressage World Cup™ Final 2022 in Leipzig (GER) is the Short Grand Prix which will take place tomorrow, Thursday 7 April, starting at 18.30 local time.

The youngest horse at the Final is the nine-year-old stallion Hexagon’s Ich Weiss ridden by The Netherlands’ Thamar Zweistra. 

The oldest horses in the competition are Aquamarine ridden by Dominican Republic’s Yvonne Losos de Muniz, Atterupgaards Orthilia ridden by Denmark’s Nanna Skodborg Merrald and Isabelle Werth’s Weihegold who are all 17 years of age. 

The youngest rider at this year’s Final is Spain’s Juan Matute Guimon who is 24. 

The first FEI Dressage World Cup™ Final took place in ’s-Hertogenbosch (NED) in 1986 and the first winner was Denmark’s Anne-Goethe Jensen riding Marzog.

The Finals of the FEI Dressage World Cup™ were cancelled in both 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.

The country holding the record for most wins in the FEI Dressage World Cup™ series is The Netherlands, with a total of 13 including a phenomenal nine of those posted by Anky van Grunsven.

The German contingent at this year’s Final includes Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and TSF Dalera BB who swept all before them at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and at the FEI Dressage European Championships in 2022.

Further details here….

The FEI Dressage Performance Dashboard, a unique platform for Dressage and Para Dressage athletes to review their past sporting performances, has been launched today by the FEI in partnership with SAP and Black Horse One.

FEI registered Dressage and Para Dressage athletes can access all their paperless scoresheets, including comments from judges over the last five years, through the FEI Dressage Performance Dashboard. While athletes can access the platform for free and use the basic analytical tools available, they can also choose to unlock all the features of the platform through a Premium subscription.

The FEI Dressage and Para Dressage results only, and the analytical tools, are also available to trainers, dressage enthusiasts and other members of the community through the Premium subscription.

“The FEI Dressage Performance Dashboard is yet another example of the ways in which technology can be introduced into equestrian sport to inform training practices and enhance sporting performances,” FEI Commercial Director Ralph Straus said.

“In Dressage and Para Dressage the information in scoresheets, particularly the judges’ comments and feedback, are important to athletes looking to create long-term training plans and goals in order to improve their performance in international competitions.

“While athletes know they can gain valuable insights by thoroughly analysing their scoresheets from Events they have competed in, the paper versions of the score sheets made this a highly time consuming task for athletes and their trainers.

“The platform facilitates the analysis of athletes’ scores across all movements through an intuitive interface and provides a centralised database of information that athletes can refer to from anywhere and at any time.”

The FEI Dressage Performance Dashboard is yet another milestone for the market leader in enterprise application software SAP, and software development company Black Horse One. The two companies have partnered with the FEI to provide innovations that have contributed to the digital transformation of the sport.

SAP and Black Horse One previously combined their expert knowledge in technology and fan engagement to create the award-winning Spectator Judging® app. Since 2018, this app has allowed audiences at FEI Dressage World Cup™ events to get into the judge’s seat, with scores and rankings created in real-time during the competitions and then placed side-by-side with official results on the arena scoreboards.

The two companies also led the development of eDressage™, a paperless judging software based on the SAP HANA Cloud to enable the scoring of FEI Dressage and Para Dressage competitions without a scribe having to write down each mark on an FEI Dressage score sheet. This system is now used at all major Dressage events and was featured at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. The creation of the FEI Dressage Performance Dashboard takes the electronic score sheet initiative a step further by feeding data back into an athlete’s training programme, and allows for all the information to be accessible from portable devices.

“Helping athletes gain new, real-time insights to enhance their performance, and providing a more engaging experience for the fans is a key objective of our sports partnerships,” SAP Director Equestrian Partnerships, Henrike Paetz said. “It is amazing to see how equestrian sport has been leading the way with regard to digital innovation and fan engagement over the last five years as a result of our cooperation with the FEI and Black Horse One.”

“The FEI Dressage Performance Dashboard is set to transform the way Dressage and Para Dressage athletes approach their short- and long-term training decisions as well as their choice of horse for specific competitions,” FEI Director Information & Sports Technology Gaspard Dufour explained.

“Through this platform, athletes can not only read comments from judges and take this feedback into their training sessions, but they can also compare performances across their different horses as well as against other combinations.

“That all this information will now exist at everyone’s finger tips, is a key step forward for equestrian sport and opens the door to more technological advancement in the long-term.”