Dressage-News

By ILSE SCHWARZ & KENNETH J. BRADDICK

CAEN, France, Aug. 25, 2014–Kristina Sprehe on Desperados put Germany firmly in the lead after the first of two days of the World Equestrian Games Grand Prix Monday that will decide the Nations Cup, with the Netherlands slightly ahead of Great Britain in silver and bronze medal positions.

The United States was less than a half percentage behind Spain for the fourth and fifth placings on a day when half of the field of 100 combinations rode in rain that lasted throughout most of the leadoff competition for the world championships that have been held once every four since the first such event in Stockholm in 1990.

Kristina and the 13-year-old Hanoverian stallion that she rode on Germany’s team at the Olympics in London two years ago, scored 78.814 per cent that with the result of her team mate, Fabienne Lütkemeier on D’Agostino at 73.586 per cent as the first combination of the day gave Germany a commanding lead.

Hans Peter Minderhoud who described the sloppy footing “as not very good to ride on” scored 74.357 per cent on Glock’s Johnson TN for the second best result of the day and enough to put the Netherlands in silver medal position.

Carl Hester on the still green Nip Tuck kept Great Britain close to the Dutch with the pair’s third placing on 74.186 per cent.

The top combinations for the leading dressage nations have been saved for Tuesday:

Isabell Werth and Bella Rose kick off the schedule at 0800 local/Central European time (7 am in Britain, 2 am in Eastern U.S., 4 pm in Eastern Australia) and will be followed later in the day by team mate and world No. 2 Helen Langehanenberg on Damon Hill NRW.

Charlotte Dujardin on Valegro, world No.1 and for Great Britain; Edward Gal on Glock’s Voice and Adelinde Cornelissen on Jerich Parzival for the Netherlands; Steffen Peters on Legolas and Laura Graves on Verdades for the USA, and a host of other wellknown combinations from several other nations will perform Tuesday.

“Bloody delighted!” was Carl’s exclamation of the performance Nip Tuck that cost €1,000 (US$1,300). “We’re in the hunt. I couldn’t have wished for anything more.”

The result was the highest for the 10-year-old KWPN gelding in a CDI outside Britain–they scored 74.600 per cent at Hartpury, England last month but have been competing at Grand Prix only since May.

That Nip Tuck did so well “is like my gold medal,” Carl said.

“I know he did his absolute best in there for me and did everything I asked. You don’t really know what to expect with this crowd, they’re very enthusiastic and it was such a nice reception going in.”

Carl rode in the first WEG in Stockholm 24 years ago.

Desperados was a little unbalanced in the first piaffe but Kristina, 27 years old and who rode Desperados on Germany’s silver medal team at the 2012 Olympics and gold medal squad at the European Championships a year ago, recovered and turned in the best performance of the day.

“He was really perfect today,” she said.

Kristina has worked for the past sevetal months with the German coach, Monica Theodorescu, focusing on the basics and passage.

Hans Peter Minderhoud described the footing as “sticky”but not slippery and he felt it a bit in the first extended trot and and half-passes so he eased off and Johnson was not expressice.

The switch that Edward Gal made to ride Glock’s Voice in place of the injured Undercover, his top mount, and the withdrawal of Danielle Heijkoop’s Kingsley Siro, also unfit to compete, ended Holland’s hopes of repeating as world champions from the 2010 WEG in Kentucky.

Despite the steady rain, the spectator stands in the soccer stadium converted for equestrian athletes were well over half full and are expected to draw even bigger crowds when the big guns ride Tuesday.

The crowd seemed knowledgeable by their exclamations when mistakes were made, and extremely supportive of all the riders, as much so for performances that were not up to the level of the highly ranked combinations.

Chere Burger who rode the 14-year-old Friesen stallion Adelprag Anders on South Africa’s first WEG team was loudly applauded when introduced and even more loudly at the end of ther performance that scored 64.929 per cent.

Results:

Grand Prix