London Olympia to Test Another Version of Short Grand Prix at World Cup Event

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LONDON, Dec. 9, 2019–The London International Horse Show at Olympia will test a new Grand Prix designed to be shorter than the current version when the World Cup qualifier is staged next Monday, an update of a similar experiment at the same event a year ago.

This year’s performance before an audience enjoying Christmas holiday entertainment in a land renowned for its horse lovers as well as dedicated dressage fans has already learned from the 2018 show.

Different variations of a Grand Prix intended to be shorter than the estimated 6 min. 30 secs. for the full Grand Prix were performed in advance in Germany before riders, trainers and officials. And the actual test has been available well ahead of time.

A criticism of 2018 was that judges, for example, said they had not seen the requirements until right before the performance. Show biz aspects of interviews with the riders at the end of their rides, rollout of scores by each of the five judges displayed on a giant video screen were given high marks for graphics and the effort but many considered too long.

Hans Peter Minderhoud, the Dutch Olympic medalist, will be back with Glock’s Dream Boy that he rode to victory in the 2018 Grand Prix, as will Frederic Wandres of Germany who won the Freestyle on the aptly named Duke of Britain.

Hans Peter Minderhoud and Glock’s Dream Boy competing at London Olympia in 2018 where they won the experimental short Grand Prix test. That version was dropped and a new test created for this year. File photo. © Ken Braddick/dressage-news.com

Among highlights for British fans will be the first appearances at Olympia of the world championship team bronze medal partnerships of Charlotte Dujardin on Mount St. John Freestyle and Carl Hester on Hawtins Delicato.

The short Grand Prix for Olympia has 26 movements plus one collective mark for “rider’s position and seat; correctness and effect of the aids” and a total maximum of 380 points. No estimate on the length of the test is given.

The full size Grand Prix for 2020 has 33 movements for a total of 460 points, plus the collective. Estimated time is 6 mins. 30 secs.

Both the short and full sized versions are below:

Grand Prix Update 2020