Friday, 10 September 2021
The first individual contest for medal honours took place under floodlights and it certainly lived up to the billing as a sensational tussle for a podium place, with all three medals being claimed with 81%+ scores. Jessica von Bredow-Werndl once again proved unbeatable on home soil with TSF Dalera, while compatriot Isabell Werth and Weihegold OLD and Denmark’s Cathrine Dufour and Bohemian completed the podium. There may have been no medals for Britain, but the next three places were all occupied by the Union flag.
Briming with confidence from their sensational Grand Prix and resulting team silver medal, Gareth and Sintano Van Hof Olympia, who he owns with Judy Firmston-Williams, cantered down the centreline in what was only their third Grand Prix Special together. The start was bright, with Sintano eager to please and the marks flowed. An unfortunately timed toilet break just spoiled the start of the first piaffe, but the pair were quick to continue for what was a clear round from there. There was much to like, but the judges just seemed stuck on the seven button and they finished with 73.723%.
As enthusiastic as ever, Gareth said after the test: “I’m happy, very happy actually. You know what, Sintano is a star! His character, his heart, how he tries in there. He was a little bit more tired tonight – he’s a scopey, slow-moving horse, but he had a bit more electricity about him last night, which I presume the judges preferred because they haven’t marked him up as much. I came out thinking it was going to be more of a 75% + test. There was two little blips – I patted him at the end of the twos because I was so happy, but he did a funny step and I had to tell myself off around the corner and say to the judge in my head ‘that was too soon wasn’t it’. Then he went to the loo just before the first piaffe – those things effect your marks, but I was pleased by how he just picked up when I asked. That last centre line, I felt like I could have piaffed for five minutes and just sat there. He’s a star.”
Tonight was one of those performances for Carl Hester when everything just falls into place. He’d been disappointed not to get the test he really wanted from his rising star En Vogue, co-owned with Charlotte Dujardin, Lady Anne Evans and Sandra Biddlecombe, in the Grand Prix, but it was the opposite today. They were on point from the off, with the Jazz-sired gelding looking completely relaxed and at home in the arena. The test was breath-taking – a picture of harmony and a masterclass in test riding as ever. Their trot work was strong, with the passage and piaffe work looking more secure than the previous day, and in canter Vogue really excelled – even scoring tens for one pirouette.
“I got the ride I wanted tonight,” beamed Carl. “He was really great, so steady, really calm. I always know if he’s going to be funny, it’ll be in the piaffes, but tonight he was fine. All you want in a championship is for the horse to grow – I don’t expect to win when he’s this young, but I do hope he gets better because it means he’s had a good experience each day. He was different tonight, he was tired. I was thinking when I was warming up, it must be like a crash for them. He never feels tired – he wasn’t tired in there, but warming up he was. And it’s really hot! Really close too, like in Tokyo.
“My changes tonight were spot on, his piaffes were showing what he can do – I think there’s a ten in there for those, not tonight but we’re progressing the right way, and his pirouettes – I think I got nines for those. His canter work is the bit he’s good at and most confident. When you’re riding a big horse like that and you have to fit in the two pirouettes and changes, you’ve got to push your heels down!”
The final score was 77.310% – not a personal best and just shy of their Tokyo mark, but this was the better performance. It was also enough to send them to the top of the leaderboard, where they stayed for a good portion of the competition.
There was a wait of several hours before the next British combination entered the main arena – Charlotte Dujardin and Gio, who she co-owns with Renai Hart and Carl Hester.
Little ‘Pumpkin’ won legions of fans as a result of his performances in Tokyo, and the Hagen crowd were delighted to be able to watch him in the flesh tonight – and what a performance he gave them. While there are still areas of their test that need a little polish – something that will come with age and experience – it’s easy to forget just how little competition exposure he’s had at this level. His test with Charlotte was fluid, poised and yet still full of the character and can-do attitude that makes people fall in love with him.
“I’m over the moon with Pumpkin tonight,” gushed Charlotte. “We pretty much had a clear round and that’s obviously only his third ever Special, so for him I’m delighted. He’s still a young, inexperienced horse. I think, with time, more will come and everything will get ‘bigger’ – he just needs more time to strengthen up. He gets better every show and that’s all I can ask for. He went in there, really tried and did his best – that’s enough for me. He’s just brilliant, he’s hardly done anything under floodlights, and we’ve got a crowd – it’s probably the biggest atmosphere he’s been in.”
While their score of 79.787% was enough to slot them into second place behind Isabell Werth, there were still some strong combinations to come – including double Olympic gold medallists Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and TSF Dalera BB. Would they be able to hold onto a podium placing?
Last out for the team was the one that everyone’s been talking about. Since her first Senior appearance at the Rotterdam Europeans Championship in 2019, Charlotte ‘Lottie’ Fry has gone from strength to strength and is now not only firmly cemented in the British line-up, but giving the best in the business a run for their money, too. Her score in the team test with Van Olst Horses and her own Everdale had placed them right at the sharp end of tonight’s running order as the penultimate pair between the white boards.
To watch 12-year-old Everdale stride around the Hof Kasselmann arena, you’d never believe that he was recently returned from a trip halfway around the globe. The imposing Lord Leatherdale stallion crackled with energy tonight, but it was channeled into something magical under the guidance of the diminutive rider on his back.
“He was really amazing – probably the best feeling he’s ever given me in a test,” said Lottie afterwards. “He really concentrated and as soon as I went in to canter, he just gave me this massive canter and I was like ‘okay, this is how we’re going to do it then!’. The changes were only just fitting in the arena – they were huge! He gave everything he had and it was an incredible feeling in there. When you go in after Cathrine [Dufour] and before Jessica [von Bredow-Werndl] you have to ride for everything and he really did.
“Everything was great tonight – his passage was really nice, the half-passes in trot, his changes, the last centre line I was really happy with. He loves the crowds – he’s a real show-off. He found it quite exciting going in with all the cheering for the one before, but as soon as I went down the centre line he was concentrating and ready to do his job.”
Their trending score had them out in front, ahead of Isobel Werth, for much of their test, but dipped slightly towards the end. Such was the tightest at the top of the leader board that a final score of 78.146% slotted them in between Carl and Charlotte – an enviable position for any rider.
The final outcome tonight was perhaps a little predictable, with a German one-two of Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and TSF Dalera BB, and Isabell Werth and Weihegold OLD leading the way. A beautiful test by Cathrine Dufour and Bohemian saw them switch the placings from Tokyo, overtaking Charlotte and Gio for the bronze medal by 1.29%. The next three spots of the leader board were flying the British flag, though, with Charlotte and Gio in fourth, Lottie and Everdale in fifth and Carl and En Vogue in sixth.
Gareth and Sintano ended in 15th spot, which technically is qualification for the final Freestyle round, but sadly the rules state that only three combinations from each country may progress, so the duo will have to sit this one out.
Friday is a rest day for the senior riders, so the action starts again with the U25s, who now move up a level of difficulty to the Grand Prix. We have two riders in action – Ellie McCarthy and GB Londero V Worrenberg at 09:40 BST and Lewis Carrier and Diego V at 10:37 BST
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