Great Britain’s World Games Team–Valegro, Nip Tuck, Half Moon Delphi, Nadonna
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July 23, 2014
Great Britain’s dressage team for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games was announced Wednesday, led by world No. 1 Charlotte Dujardin on Valegro with Michael Eilberg on Half Moon Delphi, Carl Hester on Nip Tuck and Gareth Hughes on DV Stenkjers Nadonna.
The selected squad announced by the British Equestrian Federation comprises:
–Charlotte Dujardin, 29, on Valegro, 12-year-old KWPN gelding owned by Roly Luard and Carl Hester;
–Michael Eilberg, 28, on Half Moon Delphi, 12-year-old British-bred mare owned by Jon and Julie Deverill;
–Carl Hester, 47, on Nip Tuck, 10-year-old KWPN gelding owned by Jane De La Mare and Carl Hester, and
–Gareth Hughes, 43, on DV Stenkjers Nadonna, a 16-year-old Danish Warmblood mare owned by Jane Brewin.
Michael Eilberg is also selected with Marakov, 14-year-old Latvian-bred gelding, and Carl Hester with Dances with Wolves, 12-year-old Oldenburg gelding, as direct reserves.
Britain, winners of the team gold medal at the 2012 Olympics in London, is seeking to place in the top three at the Word Games in Normandy, France next month to qualify for the Nations Cup at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
Charlotte said she is “really excited” to be competing in her first world championships.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” she said. “Representing my country is always a great honor and I hope we can give our fans and supporters the results to make them proud.”
Michael Eilberg said: “It’s been brilliant; we had a great show out in Aachen, so this is just the icing on the cake. To get to the 80 per cent mark at that show is a fantastic feeling; it felt like she was growing each time we went into the arena.”
Carl Hester said: “What a great opportunity–I’m certainly looking forward to the chance of bringing home medals for Britain. I’m lucky to have three horses qualified and the three owners have been so supportive of the horses. I know that if we can all post our best results on the day, we’re in with a great shot of a medal.”
Gareth Hughes said “it’s been a great year” for Nadonna” that “we’ve been working towards this but you never really know until you get the call.”
