HICKSTEAD, England, Aug. 3, 2014–Carl Hester rode Dances With Wolves to victory at the CDIO3* in the first Grand Prix Freestyle for the 12-year-old gelding.
With music borrowed from his ride on Uthopia at the 2011 European Championships, Carl and the Oldenburg gelding (Donnerschwee x Waldorf) scored 77.425 per cent.
Sweden’s Mads Hendelio Witz on Weihenstephane placed second on 74.050 per cent while the United States’ Lisa Wilcox on Denzello was third on 73.625 per cent.
Anders Dahl who led Denmark to their first ever Nations Cup victory on Wie Atlantico de Ymas had a stressful lead up to his ride.
He had given Fiona Bigwood two Dexter cows as a wedding present when they married last weekend.
About an hour before he was scheduled to leave their farm about 20 minutes from Hickstead they let the cows out.
The cows charged through the fence and off into the countryside.
The police were called who blocked off the road while they searched for the pair of bovines.
Anders left–“try explaining to the police you have to leave to go ride a horse”–for his Freestyle.
He and Wie Atlantico scored 73.050 per cent for sixth place.
Carl said he was relieved that Dances With Wolves overcame his nervousness in the newly configured arena to produce the winning Freestyle ride.stress
The pair placed second behind Carl riding Fine Time in the Grand Prix and followed up with a victory in the Grand Prix Special Saturday. However, the horse was spooked by the arena, as were many others.
Carl has been riding Dances With Wolves for the past three years since the death by heart attack of his friend Jane Gregory. Her husband, Aram, wanted Carl to take over the ride as his wife had said, “If I can’t ride the horse I want Carl to ride him.”
“We’re never going to sell him,” Carl said, “so there is no pressure on Aram or me.
“He came with a very long list of dos and don’ts but we’ve gotten through most of them.
“Rio is the goal. We have no short term goals only long term goals.”
He plans to compete Dances With Wolves at the British championships in September along with Fine Time. However, Fine Time will be for sale and Nip Tuck probably will be on the market afte the World Equestrian Games later this month.
As for the Hickstead show, he said: “We are lucky to have a high class venue here in England. We live on an island, so we’re used to traveling and that puts us at a day’s adisadvantage to everyone else in Europe. It’s great to have competition at this level without the stress of travel. It’s our mini Aachen.”
Results:
CDIO3* Grand Prix Freestyle
Judges–E: S Clarke H: G Svalling C: S Baarup M: W Markowski B: J Campos Escriban
Selection for the United States team for the Pan American Games team next summer will include European competitions for big and small combinations, Chef d'Equipe Robert Dover said Thursday
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