Cyprus first to go as European Dressage action gets underway in Riesenbeck….

Cypriot individual, Gabriele Kiefer riding Cyprus Ophelia, will be first into the arena when the FEI Dressage European Championship 2023 gets underway with the Grand Prix tomorrow morning in Riesenbeck, Germany.

Following the draw which took place this afternoon, the order-of-go for teams is Luxembourg, Finland, Ireland, Hungary, Switzerland, Norway, Austria, Spain, France, Belgium, Portugal, Germany, Denmark, Great Britain, Sweden and The Netherlands. However Luxembourg and Norway will start later in the competition because they are fielding only three horse-and-rider combinations instead of four.

And nine of those countries - Finland, Ireland, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, Belgium, Portugal, Luxembourg and Norway -  are also in the race for one of the three qualifying places on offer for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Team medals

The Grand Prix, which will decide the team medals, will run over two days, and a total of 34 horse-and-rider combinations will come before the judges panel of Kurt Christensen (DEN), Ulrike Neville (GER), Michael Osinski (USA), Maria Colliander (FIN), Isobel Wessels (GBR), Raphael Saleh (FRA) and Eduard de Wolff an Westerrode (NED) tomorrow with the remainder competing on Thursday. 

Also keeping a close eye on matters during the week will be the Supervisory Panel of Linda Zang (USA), Dr Evi Eisenhardt (GER) and Andrew Gardner (GBR).

Mathias Alexander Rath will be first in for Germany when fourteenth to go with the 10-year-old Totilas stallion Thiago GS just after midday tomorrow. And his legendary team-mate, Isabell Werth, will compete towards the end of the day with the 13-year-old gelding DSP Quantaz.

Daniel Bachmann Andersen (Vayron) and Andreas Helgstrand (Jovian) will line out for Denmark while Gareth Hughes (Classic Briolinca) and Carl Hester (Fame) will be the first two British representatives.

Fresh and frisky

There were plenty of fresh and frisky horses at this morning’s first horse inspection, and if there was a prize for the most enthusiastic of them all it would go to Marlies van Baalen’s Habibi DVB. Dutch team vet, Edwin Enzerink, was at the end of the bridle and he had quite a job on his hands when the 11-year-old gelding decided to play skittles with every pot plant along the trot-track while going in both directions, and using all of his not-inconsiderable hind-leg power.

Reigning Olympic champion and defending European individual and team gold medallist, Germany’s Jessica von Bredow-Werndl, also had a momentary fireball on her hands during the arena familiarisation when her mare, TSF Dalera BB, suddenly exploded into a gallop before quickly returning to her ladylike self.

A total of four horses were sent to the holding box and two of those - Turbo ridden by Ireland’s Sorrell Klatsko and Ultrablue de Massa ridden by Poland’s Marta Sobierajska - will return for re-inspection tomorrow morning at 8.30am.

Fantastic facilities

The riders are full of praise for the fantastic facilities at the venue in Riesenbeck which has been adapted specifically for this Championship. 

When the FEI Jumping European Championship was staged here in 2021 the big grass arena was in full use, but an area has been sectioned off for  Dressage this week with a brand new all-weather surface installed, and surrounded by stadium seating which gives it a much more intimate atmosphere. It looks set to make the perfect stage for the coming days of top-class sport.

“The facilities are fantastic!”, said Charlotte Dujardin this evening. “Great surfaces, the stabling is amazing - to have really cool stables when it’s so warm, and they are big stables and very airy, so we are really happy with that. And the arena is set up beautifully, so I can’t wait to get going now!”, she added.

It’s only six months since she gave birth to her baby daughter Isabella, and even the British superstar who was a multiple gold medallist at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympic Games and a member of Great Britain’s silver medal squad at the last FEI Dressage European Championship in Hagen (GER) two years ago, can hardly believe she is back at the sharp end of the sport again so quickly.

“It’s no time really, but Pete (her horse Imhotep) has been amazing. He’s adapted to every show and in Aachen he was fantastic! He just hasn’t done many big shows and he’s a bit of an inward worrier, so I just have to give him confidence and I’m just going to go in there this week and enjoy myself!” 

It’s all going to kick off at 09.39 tomorrow morning, so don’t miss a hoofbeat….

Startlists and results here