Thursday, 09 September 2021
With a rest day for the Seniors, today it was the U25s who took centre stage at the FEI Dressage European Championships in Hagen. In this first session of Grand Prix, which will decide the individual medals after Part B tomorrow, there were two riders in action for Great Britain.
After tricky performance in Wednesday’s Inter II with Spencer McCarthy’s GB Londero V Worrenberg, Ellie McCarthy was hoping for a better test in the next round of what is her final U25 championship. The warm-up went to plan for the 24-year-old from Hampshire but, as she moved around the main arena waiting for her signal to start, it became apparent that ‘Londy’ was taking afront to the rain covers that had been left on some of the ringside cameras. Their test got off to a nervy start, particularly in the piaffe and passage sections, which severely restricted the marks in the trot work. Ellie recovered well to pull back some better marks in the canter movements, with strong pirouettes and tempi-changes. However as they came back to trot for the final passage-piaffe-passage line, Londy’s nerves returned and the marks were pegged back. The final percentage was 57.699%, meaning this was a test best put down to experience for this exciting combination, who have shown great promise for the future.
Afterwards, Ellie gave her take on the test: “It’s not quite the championship I’d hoped for. I can’t blame it all on him, but he was very nervous when we went in – there was a cover on the camera that wasn’t there the last few days and I just felt him get very tense. I couldn’t get my leg on him and every time I tried, he just cantered. We made mistakes that we’ve never made before, so I’m just a bit confused. I knew I could pick up in the canter work, but then the final centreline wasn’t good. His passage work is usually where I pick up my best marks. He’s never been to a show like this before and we’ve only really done a few shows together, so it’s a learning curve I guess, but still disappointing.”
After their success Inter II test, where they finished best of the Brits, Lewis Carrier and his own Diego V entered the main arena with brimming with confidence. The duo eased through the test looking as though their form was following from the other day. A smooth transition to walk following the final section of passage piaffe passage brought a big pat for Diego, before an extended walk that showed good relaxation and ground cover. Lewis let Diego fly in the extended canter but, the next time they rounded the corner to start the two-time changes, the Spielberg gelding thought it was time to enjoy another spin of extended canter. Lewis was quick to settle him, but they weren’t able to complete the full set of changes. However, they did achieve a spot-on line of one-time changes across the next diagonal. A nice square halt brought the test to an end and the score was 69.051% – agonizingly close to the magic 70% barrier.
“I had him a little bit hotter today which was good,” said Lewis afterwards. “I was happy with the energy, but I just needed to contain it a little bit more. It was a shame about the mistake in the twos – other than that, I was pleased with how he was in the ring. His changes are normally really solid, but we were a bit keen to get across the diagonal! Rider error, not horse! Generally, I felt he was more forward today, and through the competition he does get into it more and feels more confident. I was pleased with the feeling and he generally was saying ‘let’s go’ – but sometimes just a little bit too much!”
At the end of Part A, Lewis and Diego hold eighth position – they need a top 18 finish to secure a spot in Sunday’s Grand Prix Freestyle. Part B gets underway tomorrow at 07:00 BST, with our other two U25 riders in action:
For information on how to follow, go to our FEI Dressage European Championship page.