The last two days have offered welcome time for a deep breath after the intensity of the FEI World Championships’ first week in Aachen.
The eventers, dressage riders and vaulters have gone home. Starting Wednesday, it’s the turn of the show jumpers, four-in-hand drivers and Para dressage.
Week one had so many great moments, but if I had to pick one, it was the performance of perennial eventing gold medalist Michael Jung of Germany and the determined fischerChipmunk FRH. His record has moved beyond amazing.
Michael Jung and fischerChipmunk FRH after clinching individual eventing gold.
A close second in the roster of the week’s impressions, at least for me and any other U.S. supporters, was the determined climb of the American riders from sixth after dressage to the bronze medal spot on the podium, even after one team member was eliminated on cross-country.
Will Coleman, this year’s Defender Kentucky 5-star winner, showed admirable ability on an even bigger stage with the multi-faceted Diablo to wind up just short of an individual medal in fourth place.
In dressage, Britain’s Lottie Fry achieved a first, taking both the Grand Prix Special and Freestyle for the second world championships in a row with the lofty-striding Glamourdale, who always lives up to the Glamour part of his name.
Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour of Denmark, ranked world number one on Mount St. John Freestyle, earned silvers in both the Special and Freestyle. In the Freestyle, local favorite Isabell Werth on Wendy de Fontaine took the bronze despite a big mistake in the two tempis.
Worthy of note was the fifth-place performance of Zen Elite World Cup Champion Becky Moody and her homebred Jagerbomb, a willing partner the British rider trained from the ground up. Their brilliantly executed routine to a medley of Beatles tunes made a statement, proving that if you have ability (and perhaps a little genetic luck) it’s possible to achieve a world-class dynamic without spending seven figures on an imported animal.
Her countryman, Carl Hester, showed yet again what an incredible horseman he is, when Fame took issue with some corners of the arena and was on his toes; his tippy-toes, no exaggeration. Carl, the architect of British dressage success, kept it all together when it could so easily have fallen apart in lesser hands.
Carl Hester keeps the lid on Fame.
Those who can attend Dressage at Devon’s Masterclass in Pennsylvania should do so to watch Carl in action, and learn something in a rare chance to see this equestrian genius in person.
As we look ahead to the jumping, my thoughts go back to the 2006 World Equestrian Games in Aachen.
There McLain Ward and Laura Kraut, who will be on the U.S. team this week, were part of the silver medal squad. Looking back, some things have remained the same, but we also can see how much has changed in the sport over the last 20 years.
The U.S. 2006 World Equestrian Games silver medal show jumping team at Aachen: McLain Ward, Margie Goldstine Engle, Beezie Madden and Laura Kraut with chef d’equipe George Morris.
A nice addition was the recognition of the hard-working grooms, who were saluted on the podiums and given mementoes of their charges’ medal performances.
We still had the Final Four at Aachen 2006, an exciting switch-off of horses among the four highest-ranking riders at the show to determine individual medals. That format has gone away, but it doesn’t mean the excitement has faded.
The Final Four in 2006–Beezie Madden, silver; Jos Lansink, gold; Meredith Michaels Beerbaum, bronze and Edwina Tops-Alexander, fourth place.
Beezie Madden with Authentic on her way to individual silver at the 2007 World Equestrian Games in Aachen.
The stars of the sport will continue to shine. So many have a chance for medals, but Germany’s European Champion Richard Vogel, Switzerland’s Steve Guerdat, Britain’s Scott Brash and Ben Maher, Shane Sweetnam of Ireland and McLain and Laura all have the possibility of being among those who wind up with individual medals.
Countries that could take team medals include the homelands of all of the above and perhaps European Champion Belgium. And I never rule out France.
The routes over the fences will be laid out by Aachen’s resident course designer, Frank Rothenberger, who did the same job in 2006 at Aachen’s last world championships.
He believes, “The distribution of jumps must be perfect, and I have to consider the technical questions and lines. The main issue is that we must keep an eye on the less-experienced riders while also keeping the top riders in the lead. That’s really difficult this week.”
Frank believes each course designer has a distinct signature.
“All my top colleagues, the top course designers in the world, have their own handwriting,” he commented.
“I always try to keep the flow, with rideable lines and no hard turns. I also don’t want to use just poles and planks. We should not bore the horses, the riders or the audience. We need a big variety, and that is what makes a good course outstanding.”
In Para, the U.S. is the undisputed world number one and seems likely to remain so. Who might also be on the podium? Likely the Germans and the Dutch, not necessarily in that order. Perhaps the Danes will get close also.
In driving, the USA’s Chester Weber, ranked number eight in the world, always has a chance at an individual medal, but Europeans tend to dominate the team standings; the Dutch and Belgians are true power players. Australia’s Boyd Exell holds the number one individual ranking in the discipline.
The jumping gets underway Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. in Germany, which is 3:30 a.m. Eastern time in the U.S. There are 145 starters from every continent except Antarctica. Representatives of nine countries will be making their championships debut at Aachen, an extremely diverse group including Monaco, Cyprus, Iran, Uzbekistan and Zimbabwe.
You can keep up with all the action at www.nancyjaffer.com, beginning on Wednesday afternoon and going right through the finale next Sunday. We do our best to send out email reminders, but they sometimes go astray, so keep checking the site for updates. If you missed any stories from last week, some are in the On the Rail section of the site. You can access others by clicking on the “previous columns” icon on the masthead.
