Individual results
THE name Weihegold loosely translates to “sacred gold” in English, and it was a hallowed performance by Isabell Werth’s incredible mare that earned the title of European champion with a personal-best freestyle, making Isabell the first rider ever to complete a hat-trick of golds at the European Championships.
It moved the usually steely Isabell to tears on the podium, proving just how much this means to her, even after so many years and so many medals.
But while Isabell was celebrating her 17th individual medal at the top of the podium, to her right and left were riders claiming their very first. The combined ages of 22-year-old Sonke Rothenberger and 25-yearold Cathrine Dufour is less than Isabell’s 48 years — “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Isabell sighed theatrically when this was pointed out to her — but both pushed her right to the edge. Dressage’s “old guard” may still be the top, but Sönke and Cathrine making the podium for the second day in a row is hugely exciting for the sport.
Sönke and Cosmo finished just 0.36% behind Isabell and Weihegold, with both pairs achieving over 90%, and receiving 18 10s apiece.
“If you look closely it’s a silver with a golden edge,” joked Sönke, whose choreography and breathtakingly emotive soundtrack based on music from the Tom Cruise film Edge of Tomorrow, received straight 10s from all seven judges.
Cosmo is a dramatic horse to watch, and this freestyle accentuated every one of their strengths, from the intense drama of his enormous extended trot, to the precision and elevation of his piaffe and passage and the canter that swept effortlessly across the arena. It was a freestyle that made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, and just a mistake in the one-time changes certainly cost the pair gold.
“I got a bit carried away in the one-tempis — I had such a good feeling I just wanted to continue and I guess we got a bit keen,” said the tall, good-natured German.
“From the first day I sat on him, I knew my horse could do anything and beat anybody, but it is quite another thing to bring that to the ring when you need it. He gave me so much today. He gives such a special feeling: I can just sit back and he feels as though he’s on springs — it gives me goosebumps just thinking about that feeling.”
GERMAN PRECISION
WHILE Sönke and Cosmo provided an exhibition of flair and drama, Isabell and Weihegold produced a copybook display of highly polished dressage, with not a single score below 7.5.
One of Isabell’s strengths lies in having her horses balanced on a knife edge with the precise amount of sharpness and relaxation, and Weihe could not have been more focused on her rider throughout, her adorably large ears flopping to the sides as she tried her very best.
With a massive 90.61% to beat, Isabell had her game face on as she set off on her Dance the samba with me routine; it looks straightforward, but it’s because this horse performs the most difficult movements with such ease. Her one-time changes looked effortless, earning nines, as did her passage, which is as regular as a metronome. She received 10s almost across the board for the piaffe.
The mare’s only weakness is her extended trot, which Isabell expertly engineers, but it does say a lot that her weakest move still receives 7.5s and eights. A deafening hand-clap accompanied Isabell’s one-handed final centre line and the legendary rider punched the air with glee at her strength of her performance.
“From the very first step today she was perfect: awake and loose and I felt I could ask so much. That was her best test,” said an emotional Isabell afterwards.
“Never have I had such an uncomplicated horse — she’s honest and easy, to train and to travel. She’s a pleasure. Bella Rose is still the best horse of my life, but Weihe is so different and the whole package with her is just fantastic.”
‘SATISFIED’ IN FOURTH
CARL HESTER relishes the freestyle with Nip Tuck (Barney) as it gives him a chance to really show off this leggy horse’s highlights, which are sometimes overshadowed by his physical limitations in other movements in the grand prix tests. Their routine is captivating, with an incredible degree of difficulty, beginning with a full 360° piaffe pirouette, followed by a double canter pirouette, all on the first centre line. Trot work is kept to a minimum, with just the one compulsory extended trot, but the canter takes centre stage, with endless one-times on a curving line and again straight up the centre line towards C. The strong beat of their beautiful, uplifting music, a Tom Hunt composition based on the era of the period drama Mr Selfridge, suits Barney down to the ground, and features delicate phrasing to complement every movement.
Carl and Barney have achieved 85% for this kür, so while this was their best performance of this championship, their 80.61% was still somewhat below their peak, and Carl confessed Barney had been a bit difficult.
“I gave him an easy morning as I didn’t want him to be tired,
and he caught me out, being very excited,” said Carl, who did manage to get one up on the horse when he turned left instead of right at the last minute following their final zig-zag.
Carl and Barney’s story together is one of loveliest in dressage, and it would have been the perfect finale to the week to see them clinch their first individual medal at their fourth championship together. But it was not to be, as Cathrine Dufour produced yet another dreamy test on Atterupgaards Cassidy, littered with eights and nines and featuring a seemingly neverending clockwork piaffe, to claim bronze with 84.56%. It was yet another fourth place for Carl.
“To be fourth at a European championship on Barney is very satisfying — I never thought that would be the case, and we’ve come such a long way together,” countered Carl. “I’m going to make a new freestyle for him now — I feel as though we can do something even more difficult.”
SPOOKY SUPERNOVA’S ON THE UP
THE kür was a huge learning curve for Spencer Wilton and Supernova II (Neville), who have only ever performed one freestyle, in Stuttgart last November, a test Spencer would rather forget. Here, however, they put their freestyle demons to bed, recording 75.44% for eventual 13th.
Neville’s strength in the technical tests has meant freestyles have rather fallen by the wayside, and he also had the misfortune of following the crowd’s darling, Patrik Kittel and Delaunay, into the arena.
“He had a tricky few moments outside with all the applause,” Spencer said. “He’s never heard anything like it. I’ve protected him slightly from these situations, but we have no choice now.”
There was an awful lot to like in Neville’s test, which featured some catchy Justin Timberlake music for the trot, and Adele’s Hello in the walk. The big gelding did suffer from tension, and was like a rabbit in the headlights away from his comfort zone of the set tests. He was especially startled by the image of himself on the big screens in his halt, his eyes almost popping from his head as he tried to make sense of the beast staring back at him.
“I realised today that Neville really needs to know where he is going — in the grand prix and the special he understands the preparation for the movements, but he felt lost at times,” said Spencer. “But I’ve learned a lot about myself, and about him from this whole experience. It’s given us a boost to come next year with more confidence and, hopefully, be much more competitive.”