It was a typically British day in terms of the weather but the action at the final day of the FEI European Championships had all the drama of an early evening soap opera. Heroes, villains, damsels in distress and a participating audience all ensured the finish here at Aachen would be a memorable one. In the end, the sport was the victor and we had three worthy medallists in Charlotte Dujardin, Kristina Broring-Sprehe and Beatriz Ferrer-Salat.
For Britain the day started with the news that Fiona Bigwood had made the difficult decision to withdraw Atterupgaards Orthilia when it was discovered she had a slight skin irritation from yesterday’s deluge of rain. Chef d’Equipe Richard Waygood said; "Unfortunately due to a slight skin reaction causing sensitivity, the decision has been made to withdraw Tillie [Atterupgaards Orthilia], ridden by Fiona Bigwood, from today’s competition. We are obviously all disappointed but it’s nothing serious and we’ll always put the mare’s welfare first. We’re looking forward to seeing them out again in the not too distant future."
So that left us with two British representatives. A further withdrawal by Anna Kasprazak and Donnperignon brought the field down to 13. Anna has been suffering all week following being kicked by her horse after Tuesday’s vet inspection so today’s final effort was just a step too far.
The first session was tinged with a slight air of sadness as we waved goodbye to one of the sport’s troopers, Painted Black who danced his final tango with rider Morgan Barbancon Mestre. Their mission this week was a simple one; get Spain qualified for Rio. With that box ticked, the duo could enjoy the rest of the competition and they did. A score of 73.375% left them in 12th and the 18 year old can resume his stud duties.
In the middle session, it was Isabell Werth who lit the crowd up with her ever-loyal partner Don Johnson FRH, owned by Medeleine Winter-Schulze. Isabell has been in great form all week and has relished the home support and magic afforded by Aachen and today she wanted a medal to say thank you. She rode with great determination to the music of Queen; including some words from Bohemian Rhapsody which had the stands chattering. The judges must have liked it as they awarded and average of 9.07 for music to give a final total of 82.482% and the lead.
It was then Carl’s turn and there was an air of expectation after yesterday that he and Jane de la Mare’s ‘ugly duckling turned swan’ might just pull off something special. They broke that 80% barrier for the first time last month but the Don Ruto gelding would have to better that by some 2.5% to overtake Isabell; but the mood the maestro was in, anything could happen. He elected to ride to his London 2012 score which many love and includes a wide variety of music including the G F Handel piece, Zadok the Priest and bites from Trevor Jones’s soundtrack from The Last of the Mohicans film. It wasn’t foot perfect but it was a typical Hester test; not just ridden but presented like a fine production with no marks wasted. It was a performance which split the judges with the French judge Jean Michel Roudier placing him third but one down in tenth. 79.571% was the final verdict – an amazing score on this stage for a horse still at the beginning of his grand prix career (this was only his seventh grand prix freestyle).
Carl jumped off and sped to help Charlotte in her final preparations while the Aachen main stadium cauldron began to heat up.
Yesterday’s bronze medallists Hans Peter Minderhoud and Glock’s Johnson were next. The horse has been seriously impressive but today he looked like the exertions of the two previous tests caught up with him. HP has also been suffering with a tummy bug so was not at full strength. It was a clean test but just lacked that certain something to be medal worthy. A score of 82.441% tucked him behind Isabell.
Third last in was Beatriz Ferrer-Salat and Delgado for Spain. They’ve been quietly spectacular this week and have been almost under the radar with two great performances to finish fifth and fourth. Their routine was to music specially composed by a friend of Beatriz’s from Barcelona; “I heard it an loved it’” she said. It was ideally suited to the leggy De Niro chestnut, who has been plagued by injuries through his career and they once again conjured a correct, mistake free routine to score 82.714% much to the disappointment of the partisan crowd as it knocked Isabell off top spot.
However, their grief was short lived as in cantered Kristina Broring-Sprehe and Desperados FRH. Surely after yesterday’s performance this duo could be the ones topple Charlotte and steal her freestyle crown; it was clear that they were hoping so! Again the duo were crisp and sharp in their execution to slightly melancholy music with no major blips. The crowd loved it and erupted as the black stallion planted his four hooves at the end. It was nail biting as we waited patiently for the score…88.875% flashed up on the massive score board as the final competitor, Charlotte, entered. And the crowd again whooped and cheered but that once again didn’t put our superstar duo off.
With Carl Hester, Roly Luard and Anne Barrott’s Valegro, she entered to an atmosphere fuelled by tension, expectation and nerves. But the pair have been in this situation before, albeit perhaps with a less hostile crowd, but it’s what they train for every day and Aachen was never going to be easy. Everything started to plan as they glided pixie-like to the music of ‘How to train your dragon’, used at the FEI Reem Acra World Cup Finals. The test is high in difficulty but uses Blueberry’s strengths so well; piaffe pirouettes, passage half pass, instantaneous tempi changes but then it was time for those pesky canter flying changes. The first set of ones didn’t work so Charlotte tried a second line which were better but not perfect. The two times were much better to help the marks stay at a medal worthy rate.
They finished to mixed crowd reactions; there wasn’t quite the beaming smile of yesterday but a relieved Charlotte waved and saluted the crowd as she exited. Kristina’s confirmed score of 88.804% was announced and the crowd went wild; sensing that the champion had made mistakes big enough to be in danger of losing her title. For the crowd, which ever rider they were behind, it felt like an eternity until the provisional score of 88.982% was read out. That gave victory to Charlotte by just 0.107%. But there was an odd reaction; no joy, muted cheers, no celebration…it wasn’t confirmed. Hope was alive on both sides. Again, another eternity of waiting for confirmation…until 89.054% was announced; gold was hers! There still were no enormous cheers, cries of joy; only polite, congratulatory applause.
The home crowd was clearly disappointed. Their star had shone and come close to toppling the sport’s champion but the test isn’t about one movement and across the entire performance, Valegro had surpassed Desperados, albeit by a small margin – just 0.25%. In the artistic marks, the balance was with the German but technically the judges ruled in favour of the Brit which was enough for the victory and Charlotte to retain her individual freestyle European title.
Carl told the media after the test: “It’s nerve wracking watching him go. I could almost see it; I said 'he is a little bit tired today, a little bit empty’ and he needs to get that bounce off the floor for those one-time changes and I did think it was going to be difficult to get those one-times today.
“Nothing is a given in sport and the Germans have come within a minute percentage to beat him (Valegro) and I should think thy find that exciting for their country. Kirstina is, like Charlotte, a young girl and Desperados isn’t an old horse either so it looks as though Valegro has a new rival. It’s going to be hard; they’ll keep improving. Valegro set this standard of high percentages a while ago and people are creeping closer. It’s five years he’s been winning gold medals; it’s a lot being at the top of the sport.
“It’s been a great week for the sport. A new team member in Fiona and a solid performance as usual from Michael just shows that we have depth behind the senior riders so if anything happens to us, we’ve got great back up and there’s reliable people behind to keep bringing the medals back. Seven years we’ve been winning as a team and we don’t want that to change now.”
The medal ceremony was a mixed affair with several whistles from the crowd which could be interpreted a number of ways (mainly directed at the judges) but the final story is that our golden duo continue their winning ways and while others are catching, the girl from Enfield and her failed warmblood will continue to up their game and set the standard for others to aspire to.
After the medals, Charlotte said; “I was happy enough; you never know with mistakes what will happen. Apart from the ones, I was really happy with him. It’s been a really long week and it’s tough for them. It’s a great feeling to come home with medals.
“It was only the ones that let the performance down. I tried them once and there was a mistake so had to decide should I try them again. So I did and he just has a ‘thing’ about them now; he’s done it all week. It’s only one movement that’s cost me and I was really happy with the rest of it. He’s older and wiser and knows his job a bit better now; he just goes in there and nothing fazes him.
“Following Kristina, I could really feel it. You could see and hear how much they were behind her. It’s one of the hardest things being here, the crowd are really rooting for their riders and when I walked in there was a huge atmosphere. There was a laugh from the crowd as I started; there was a lot to deal with at the beginning. I think I handled it quite well and overall I’m thrilled. It's always a pleasure to ride here as it’s such a fantastic venue.
“I knew it would be hard coming here. I experienced how tough it can be last year so I was prepared to compete here against the Germans. I’m not going to moan, I’ve come away with two golds and a silver.
“He’ll go home and have a holiday in the field for a few weeks and then I’ll aim him at Olympia.”
So the dressage Europeans come to an end and with week one done, Britain tops the medal table. The team competition set the prospect of next year’s showdown in Rio alight while the individual classes gave plenty of food for thought. Amazing work Carl, Michael, Fiona and Charlotte plus grooms Alan, Steph, Helen and Catherine who’ve kept the horses looking stunning all week, enormous thanks to the owners, whose support is so essential and also to the support staff who keep the show on the road.
Good luck to our colleagues in showjumping next week as they battle for a Rio place!
Equestrian Team GBR is supported by the UK Sport National Lottery funded World Class Programme; the British teams are very grateful to the support they receive from official Team GBR suppliers Dodson & Horrell, Equi-Trek, Land Rover, NAF, NuuMed, Point Two Equine, Tagg Equestrian and Toggi.
Grand prix freestyle
Gold Charlotte Dujardin/Valegro 89.054%
Silver Kristina Broring-Sprehe 88.804%
Bronze Beatriz Ferrer-Salat 82.714%
8th Carl Hester/Nip Tuck 79.571%
Full results - click here
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