Dressage-News

By KENNETH J. BRADDICK

AACHEN, Germany, Aug. 12, 2015–Diederik van Silfhout on the spectacular 10-year-old stallion Arlando posted the highest score of the first of two days of the European Championships Nations Cup Wednesday with Great Britain’s Fiona Bigwood on Atterupgaards Orthilia a tiny fraction behind in only their sixth Grand Prix. The powerful German squad was atop the team standings with the big guns such as Charlotte Dujardin on Valegro and Matthias Alexander Rath on Totilas still to come.

Although many of the scores from Wednesday are likely to be discarded as only the top three per team count, the rankings from the first day could well hold up–1. Germany 150.100; 2. Netherlands 148.214; 3. Great Britain 145.743 and 4. Sweden 140.543. Belgium, Spain and France are next in order.

At stake are three starting places for nations in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. With Germany, Netherlands and Britain already qualified, the next three placings are critical.

Spectators in the 40,000-seat Main Stadium at Aachen will be rapt by the head-to-head competition between Valegro and Totilas that last took place at these same show grunds a year with Totilas coming out on top in both the Grand Prix and the Grand Prix Special.

“It’s what everyone’s been waiting for,” said Carl Hester, part-owner of Valegro and mentor of Charlotte. “Unfortunately with Totilas’ injuries during the year these two horses don’t get the chance to come together as the two greatest horses in the world at the moment… they look like they really will have a good head-to-head, and that’s what people have been wanting to see.

“I feel sorry for the two riders, it can’t be easy and it can’t be nice to have to face each other like that in front of everybody, but that’s sport isn’t it? They’ve both had world records, Valegro holds them at the moment, but it was Totilas that first really brought dressage to the world. Even people that didn’t understand it could appreciate what this horse is doing for the sport, so it’s great. We all wanted to see him here, it doesn’t matter who really wins–it will be the best one, and I hope they both go well because then we really will know what the judges think, who they like the best. I think they already know who it is, but we just have to wait and see.”

Denmark, normally a contender for a team slot, got a scare when their top rider, Anna Kasprzak was kicked by her mount, Donnperignon, and sustained a broken breast bone but will still ride Thursday.

The 27-year-old top scoring Dutch rider with 75.814 per cent was in only his second championship with Arlando, having been selected for the Netherlands team for the World Games last year when another horse had to pull out because of injury.

Although this was not a personal best score, he described the ride as the best ride he had on the KWPN stallion (Paddox x Mytens) and beat out his seasoned team mate Patrick van der Meer on Uzzo awarded 72.400 per cent.

Fiona Bigwood, the 39-year-old mother of three pre-teen children with her husband Anders Dahl, who rides for Denmark, was a star of the day with Orthilia, a 10-year-old Oldenburg mare she started at international Grand Prix in Barcelona in March this year.

“My goal was a mistake-free test and to try and not have any lower marks,” she said afterward. “At the end I could ask for the extended trot, it’s a little bit like – do you go for the nine and then end up with a four or do you go for a 7/8–so in the end I just let her go.”

Fiona, who rode for Britain on Wie Atlantico at the World Games in Kentucky in 2010 as well as the European Young Rider Championships and the senior Europeans in 1997, 1999, 2005 and 2007, scored 75.800 per cent.

In April last year she suffered concussion in a fall from a horse that left her with vision problems in the right eye and wears a patch while riding, similar to the American Silva Martin. But it did not appear to affect the pair’s performance.

Charlotte and Valegro, the world’s No. 1 combination, and Carl Hester and Nip Tuck will add their scores to the British total.

Carl, though, didn’t have a good day Wednesday with Nip Tuck–or at least the ground around them.

‘I finished my training and I thought I’m gonna go walk round the big grass field over there with the eventers and have a little chat with them,” he explained. “And, being a wimpy dressage horse, a waiter dropped a tray of glasses in front of me and my horse spun round and came down on top of me on the grass, left me flattened on the floor. And he shocked himself so much he didn’t even bother to run off which was the great news, because if he got out in that field I don’t think we would ever have caught him… so you could quite safely say I haven’t had the best start to the week.”

Jessica von Bredow-Werndl, the young German star who competed Unee BB for the bronze medal at the World Cup Final in Las Vegas in April, was third Wednesday on 75.200 per cent while her team mate, Isabell Werth on Don Johnson FRH was fourth on 74.786 per cent.

Isabell was the last rider of the day and was surprised to receive a mark of 74.900 per cent.

“I was really disappointed when I heard my result because I expected more–the horse was in really good shape, just a mistake in the one-tempis, but I think all the others I have seen they had mistakes as well. I was here to ride 76/77 percent.”

However, the scores of Jessica and Isabell were enough to put Germany atop the overnight leaderboard with Matthias and the 15-year-old Totilas and Kristina Bröring-Sprehe on her 2012 London Olympic team silver medal and 2014 World Games gold medal Desperados FRH still to come. Kristina and the 14-year-old black stallion have scored above 80 per cent in three of their four Grand Prix this year while Totilas is… Totilas.

The top score for Sweden that is seeking a team ticket to Rio was by championship team rookie Emilie Nyreröd on Miata scoring 71.829 per cent. Tinne Vihelmsson-Silfvén on Don Auriello ranked No. 6 in the world and Patrik Kittel on Deja are expected to insure high enough placing for Olympic qualification.

Jose Daniel Dockx on Grandioso, the PRE stallion owned by Hampton Green Farm of Wellington, Florida put Spain in contention for one of the three Olympic berths with a score of 71.343 per cent for seventh place so far.

Mikala Gundersen, the Wellington-based Danish team rider, scored 70.229 per cent 10th place on My Lady, the Danish Warmblood mare she owns with Janne Rumbough of Palm Beach.

Results:

European Championships Nations Cup Grand Prix 1st Part