WEG WHISPERS
BELLA ROSE’S victory marks the first time in history that a mare has been crowned dressage world champion.
The fact that two mares made the podium this year is a definitive nod to the rising popularity of mares in sport, and both Isabell and Charlotte favour them. In fact, Charlotte has no fewer than seven other talented mares coming up the ranks, from booming British studs such as Mount St John, Hawtins and River Rise.
While Isabell has ridden plenty of super geldings, she admits she’s not a stallion fan.
“The only good stallion is a gelded stallion,” she joked.
THE heat played a major part in many riders’ fortunes over the course of the competition, which was somewhat ironic given the cancellation of the freestyle due to the historic rainfall forecast as a result of Hurricane Florence.
But that was far from most people’s minds as grooms and support teams did all they could to keep the horses comfortable in the plus-30 temperatures and humidity levels of over 90%.
“Both Freestyle and I have struggled a little with the humidity, which we don’t get at home,” said Charlotte.
“We’ve had vets working closely with us, monitoring the horses’ temperatures before and after work and we’ve been giving the horses as many walk breaks as possible, with buckets of ice to cool them down.”
THE post-special press conference had a tinge of sadness about it. Isabell’s long-time friend and supporter, and the owner of Bella Rose, Madeleine WinterSchulze, was in hospital. She was recovering from an operation, having broken her femur in a fall shortly after Germany’s team victory the night before.
“It made me want to get the gold even more, so I can take it to show Madeleine in hospital,” said Isabell.
A POPULAR sire went up against his son in Tryon with
Blue Hors Zack and Glock’s Zonik representing Denmark and the Netherlands respectively. Each contributed the highest grand prix score for their nations, but it was the 10-year-old Zonik, ridden by Edward Gal, who had the edge in the special, finishing seventh with a personal best of 77.75%.
Daniel Bachmann Anderson and the Rousseau x Jazz son Zack scored 73.54% for eventual 17th.