An epic battle
Britain breaks back into the medals for the first time in the post-Valegro era, while a special comeback helps Germany continue their dominance
“WINNING a team medal without Valegro has made my year complete,” declared Carl Hester and, for this man especially, Britain’s euphoric team result went deeper than the bronze medal hung around his neck.
This was an almighty boost to British dressage and our nation's reputation in the sport: proof that we have strength in depth, and are not a one-horse wonder.
The pain of last year’s Europeans in Gothenburg, where Britain was agonisingly edged out of the medals by Sweden, was put to rest as this time the Brits pipped the Swedes to the podium after an incredible day of sport.
A medal of any colour was always going to be a challenge for Britain. Even a top-six finish and qualification for Tokyo 2020 was far from certain with a team that included three young horses at their first championship — one of whom had never previously competed outside the UK — and a fourth who only recently returned to competition after nearly a year off. But the line-up also featured four of the very best riders in the world, and Carl Hester, Emile Faurie, Spencer Wilton and Charlotte Dujardin demonstrated exceptional horsemanship throughout these Games.
For Spencer, team silver medallist in Rio two years ago and a member of the fourthplaced team in 2017, the past year has been anything but straightforward. His own and
Jen Goodman’s Super Nova II, known as Neville, has been out of action for 10 of the past 12 months with an injury, returning to the competition arena only in July this year. The horse proved he was back on form with two good-scoring grands prix on home soil, but by then it was Spencer’s turn, his lower back plaguing him all summer, and forcing him to withdraw from the special at both shows in the run-up to selection. So it was with just two 2018 tests in the bag that Spencer and Neville entered the vast Tryon arena as the British trailblazers, looking as nervous as each other.
It was an edgy performance — the piaffe suffered slightly from tension and the extensions were a little conservative — but in the quiet of Wednesday morning the tall, unpredictable gelding held his nerve and made no major mistakes. He produced some super passage — always his forte — with lovely changes and pirouettes. It wasn’t as polished a routine as this pair can produce, but the solid score of 74.58% was exactly what Spencer and the rest of the team needed at this early stage.
“He was nervous as always and it’s difficult to ride him full-on when he’s on edge, but he felt amazing in his body, and we did what we needed to do,” said a very relieved Spencer. “When he gets nervous his piaffe does suffer — he gets stage fright and freezes a bit, which is a shame as he can do it so, so well.”
Many had remarked upon the fact that Spencer had not run Neville himself at that morning’s trot-up, wondering if he was fit to ride when he handed the reins to Carl. Riding causes him far less pain than running, but there had been a point at which the 45-yearold had thought he wouldn’t be able to compete here at all.
“If it wasn’t for our team physio, Ashleigh Wallace, and chief medical officer, Pippa Bennett, I wouldn’t be standing
here now. Two weeks ago I couldn’t even put my socks on but now I feel as though I could start a gymnastics career,” he joked.
Spencer sadly had to withdraw from the special as Neville was not 100%. But they had got the most important job done, as they put Britain in the hunt for a medal straight away. Germany, too, had got their title defence rolling from the off, with Jessica von BredowWerndl producing a chunky 76.68% on the grand prix newbie TSF Dalera BB. She held the lead overnight, just ahead of Dorothee Schneider on her 2017 team horse, Sammy Davis Jr.
COMPETITION HOTS UP
EMILE FAURIE has been the envy of riders across the world this year, with a string of grand prix rides and two exceptionally talented horses listed for these Games. His choice ride, and that of the selectors, was Hof Kasselmann’s lofty chestnut Dono Di Maggio, who is 11 but has limited experience at the top level.
Emile has long rated this horse as the best he’s ever had and you can see why. The Dimaggio son has everything it takes to fight it out with the best in the world, with oodles of cadence and a clockwork passage. His scores have risen sharply this summer, but sadly his grand prix here was not one of his best. The horse never looked to be quite on full power, especially in the piaffe in which he dropped behind the contact at times. His passage and two-time changes were beautiful, but a mistake in the one-times when he double beated behind plunged his marks as low as four. The rhythm and consistency of his passage meant his score couldn’t help but rise again, but Emile admitted that he was disappointed with his 72.79%.
“It’s a massive atmosphere in there and he went a bit shy on me,” explained Emile, for whom this was a third World Games. “Normally his piaffe is his strength, but he was a bit curled up in it today, a bit behind me. But it’s boiling hot and he’s a massive horse at 18hh. Just before we went in I could feel he was puffing — he takes a lot out of himself.”
The heat and humidity — which reached 96% during the second day of grand prix — became more and more of a factor as the competition went on, with barely a single rider failing to mention it in their post-ride interviews. Fitness was
‘Two weeks ago I couldn’t
even put my socks on’
SPENCER WILTON ON MANAGING INJURY
to prove crucial, and for Carl and Charlotte, each riding young horses with next-to-no experience outside England, it was certainly a concern.
But Carl is not considered an absolute master of dressage for nothing. He has had the 10-yearold Hawtins Delicato at his yard since the gelding was four, ever since Carl spotted him and his magnificent hind leg at a show and realised he had been bred by Judith Davis, just down the road. But it’s been a long journey and, until late April this year, Carl had never ridden the horse in a ring himself, having trained him to grand prix with Charlotte keeping his saddle warm.
The Diamond Hit son is exquisite to look at, and his talent is undeniable, but he has always been timid, lacking in confidence next to his bolshy stable-mate, Mount St John Freestyle, and
Carl still has to hold his hand and reassure him. With just three international grands prix under his belt, plus three at national level, even to bring ‘Del’ to a championship half-way across the world was a risk and a challenge, let alone relying on him to perform for the team.
“I really had to cross my fingers bringing him here, and hope it wasn’t going to go the wrong way and frighten him for life,” admitted Carl, who owns Del with Ann Cory and Anne Evans.
“It has been a bit tense this week — the horse hasn’t really walked, hasn’t halted. But this morning he walked into the main arena at 7.30am on a long rein and I thought, ‘Yes, I’m going to have a good ride today’.”
“A good ride” is something of an understatement. Carl produced one of the most masterful pieces of riding many had ever seen, allowing the horse to find his feet in this new and daunting environment while sympathetically riding him for every mark.
There was a tiny blip in the canter zig-zag and the piaffes weren’t quite Del’s best — though they still earned sevens and eights — but the rest was excellent. More eights, and the odd nine, came rolling in for the canter work; the extension received an average of 8.3 and the changes, which had never yet all come off in one test for Carl and Del, were correct, off the floor and expressive.
It was their best test to date and rewarded with 77.28%. Carl couldn’t quite believe it had all come together on the very biggest stage, and he gazed up at his provisional score as he left the arena, mouthing, ‘Is that me?’ in incredulity.
“He picked the right time to peak, didn’t he?” he said afterwards, full of animation as the achievement began to sink in.
“Del may not have the flash of some horses but he has such great paces,” Carl added. “That was the first test we’ve had with clean changes. He’s been difficult
with them and I could feel myself overriding them in there; I was telling myself just to sit still, to let it happen.
“I breathed a sigh of relief at the end. He was tired as he’s never done this many days’ work in a row before, but he needed it to be able to relax.
“I’m so proud of him. He’s now finding his presence, his power and his confidence, and he’s turning into quite a special horse.”
ON THE CUSP OF GREATNESS
CARL’S super score surged
Britain back into the medal zone with one rider left to go and, although Germany’s lead was unquestionable, just one percentage point covered the chasing pack — Britain, the USA and Sweden, with the Netherlands and Spain lurking a little further down the order.
Kasey Perry-Glass had given the home side an important boost with 76.74% on another Diamond Hit son, Goerklintgaards Dublet. The 15-year-old is a different model to most of the top horses, a loose-limbed athlete who lacks huge paces, but makes up for it with his suppleness.
Kasey gave the tall gelding eight months off during the latter part of 2017 and the break has done him good.
“He feels like an eight-yearold,” she said, bubbling over with love for her horse. “He’s so sensitive to my aids, so we’ve had to figure out the balance between asking for more and asking too much. He has every opportunity to be up there with the best; he’s on the cusp of being great.”
Sweden’s Juliette Ramel is another who is making her way into the top cluster, and her personal best plus-75% with the uber-correct Osmium 12-year-old Buriel KH raised a few eyebrows. She was only just pipped by her team-mate, Therese Nilshagen, who rode the stunning Danone stallion Dante Weltino OLD to within a whisker of the individual medals at last year’s Europeans.
Here, Dante showed great elasticity in the half-passes, scoring nines for these as well as his massive extensions, but lost a little energy in the piaffe and passage, particularly near the end. Her score kept Sweden in fourth but their anchorman, Patrik
Kittel, was still to come on the horse he reckons is the best he’s ever ridden, the 10-year-old mare Well Done De La Roche CMF.
An even younger mare was yet to go first, though. Emma Blundell’s Mount St John Freestyle sashayed her way into the main arena with Britain’s Charlotte Dujardin as though she had been contesting championships all her life, and there was a collective shuffle around the stands as everyone quite literally sat up in their seats to focus their attention on the double Olympic gold medallist’s new star.
The nine-year-old mare is phenomenally talented, with a work ethic to die for, and she raked in numerous nines across the board, as well as a 10 for her superb passage. Her greenness showed a little in the transitions in and out of piaffe, but Charlotte is adept at letting the mare find her own rhythm and balance, and easing her back out into her comfort zone of the passage.
The only real blip was a double beat behind in the one-time changes, and for her score to come in at 77.76% even with marks dropping to five for that movement, is testament to Freestyle’s quality, and bravery.
“I honestly didn’t know how she was going to be — I thought she’d be fine but you never know,” Charlotte said. “We still haven’t done a mistake-free test and we had a few little ones in there, but they’re things that are easy to iron out. The day I get a clear round I know I’ll be up at the top. She has unbelievable trainability and scope — she can put her legs wherever she wants.”
Although not quite as high as some had quietly hoped for, Freestyle’s weighty score put the team into silver, and while it was generally expected that last-togo Laura Graves would help the USA push past, most people, Carl included, were confident Patrik could not catch the Brits.
But Patrik always gives it his all, and he rode the test of his life when it mattered. The Swiss-bred Well Done De La Roche is elegant, feminine and light on her feet, but with power that appears as if from nowhere when the right button is pushed. It’s taken time for Patrik to win ‘Welly’s’ trust, but now he has they are a real team.
They needed a massive personal best of 78.37% to pull Sweden ahead — a full 3% more than the 10-year-old mare has scored in a grand prix to date — but as their test unfolded flawlessly, the trending scores started rising dangerously high
At the final halt Patrik punched the air in sheer glee and shook his head in disbelief — he and everyone watching knew he had done something special, but was it enough? With British hearts pounding across the venue and beyond, the score was finally confirmed as 78.19%, leaving Sweden an excruciating 0.23% behind Britain.
“Patrik rode like a demon; it was an unbelievable piece of riding, and guts to go for it like that,” said Carl afterwards. “I told him beforehand that it would need to be the ride of his life to catch us and he just said, ‘Watch me.’”
The USA’s darling, Laura Graves, entered the arena last to rapturous applause with her huge, loveable gelding, Verdades. The Germans had put paid to the dream of winning team gold on home soil — Laura and “Diddy” would have needed a new world record to overtake them — but they could secure silver, and that they did in style.
The Florett AS 16-year-old is a real machine; he powers though the movements with muscle visibly rippling under his skin, but with a certain grace as well. Laura is a beautiful rider — you would never have known she was feeling under the weather that day — and they were fully deserving of their 81.54% that confirmed silver for the Americans, and a brilliant bronze for the Brits.
MORE THAN MEDALS
FOR the third year in a row, the German contingent proved untouchable on the championship stage, providing a masterclass in fine-tuning their horses to peak exactly when needed.
Sönke Rothenberger was another who stormed to a giant personal best in the grand prix. His 11-year-old Cosmo is exceptional, but can be spooky and distracted in the ring. Not so on this occasion; Sönke had the Van Gogh son sharp and focused and he gave him an impeccable ride. The tall German has feel and maturity beyond his 23 years, and his grand prix was littered with nines, and seven 10s.
“I always knew that if it all works out my horse can beat anybody, but it’s something else to perform on the day when it’s needed. A lot of people are world champions at home but you need to be able to do it out there,” said Sönke. “Cosmo gave me so much; there are not so many horses who give so much and have such character and charisma. Today it felt really easy for me, and that’s what dressage is about.”
Sönke’s massive 81.44% had secured gold for Germany — the nation’s third championship gold in a row, and their second
consecutive world title. If Isabell Werth had decided not to ride, it wouldn’t have mattered. But for Isabell, these Games were about much more than just medals.
Four years ago, at WEG in Normandy, France, disaster struck when Isabell was forced to withdraw her latest young star, Madeleine Winter-Schulze’s Bella Rose, after her second-place finish to Valegro in the grand prix. It took months for the mare’s injury to be properly diagnosed, and years for her to recover and gradually rebuild her fitness.
But ever since the Belissimo M mare, now 14, made her winning comeback at Fritzens in June, Isabell has had this WEG in her sights. Bella was her personal choice of ride, over the more experienced Emilio and world number one Weihegold OLD. Many questioned the decision to bring her, but Isabell slammed the doubters from the moment she and her brilliant chestnut mare entered the ring.
They dazzled the judges, who awarded them no fewer than 31 10s across the board for their flawless grand prix. Isabell punched the air with vehement delight as they landed a perfect halt; this extraordinary triumph represented four years of uncertainty, setback and heartache that had finally paid off.
Even in the press conference hours later, Isabell was still close to tears.
“Most people know how close my heart is to this horse; it is so special to come back to a WEG with Bella,” she said, her voice cracking. “To leave the world number one horse at home was a decision that is difficult to explain — it’s not a decision against the other horses, but a decision for Bella Rose, because she is outstanding. Now I hope everyone understands.
“I couldn’t pick a highlight of her test today — everything was super. When I sit on her, I feel like everything is possible.”