Denmark, as predicted, made history today, taking the place usually reserved for Germany at the top of the dressage world championships podium and earning the Scandinavian nation’s first medal in the global title competition since it won bronze in 1982.
Cathrine-Laudrup-Dufour and Vamos Amigos. (Photo courtesy FEI)
The home country crowd at the Ecco FEI World Championships in Herning, Denmark, gave full flag-waving and Viking horns-wearing support to its team, anchored by Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour on Vamos Amigos, who stands first individually with 81.864 percent. She put the Danes over the top for the team honors, which they won with a total of a 235.451 combined percentage ahead of irrepressible Great Britain (234.223) and Germany (230.291).
Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour was overcome with emotion after her winning performance on Vamos Amigos.
It was just revealed this evening that Gareth Hughes of Great Britain contracted Covid, but nonetheless contributed to his team’s score on Classic Briolinca yesterday. He stands 13th individually and plans to ride in tomorrow’s Grand Prix Special in the big outdoor stadium.
The bad news for the U.S. was that it didn’t finish near the medals, winding up sixth with a score of 220. The good news was that the top six teams are automatically qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics, so that’s a goal accomplished with a sigh of relief.
The best-placed Americans, Steffen Peters with Suppenkasper (15th on 74.767 percent) and anchor rider Adrienne Lyle on Salvino (18th with 74.394) qualified for the Special, which is open to those ranked in the top 30. They were two-thirds of last year’s silver medal Tokyo Olympic team. The third combination of that successful squad, Sabine Schut-Kery and Sanceo, was missed in Denmark. Sabine had the highest score for the U.S. in Japan, but did not enter any qualifiers for this championships.
“Mopsie was very excited today in extended canter, the arena was getting really small,” recounted Steffen, calling Suppenkasper by his nickname.
Steffen Peters and Suppenkasper. (Photo courtesy U.S. Equestrian)
“He lowered his neck and I couldn’t get him up as much as I wanted to. Well, it’s pretty amazing when you have so much power underneath you. I think we can step it up a bit tomorrow. Pressure? You get there, you’ll always be nervous, I’ve learned to accept it.”
Salvino started well in his running score with 80 percent, but got a bit long in the crucial passage/canter transition, where a number of riders lost points. He broke in the canter half-passes, going into the walk briefly, and received marks of 2 and 3 from the judges for that mishap.
“He got his legs comp tangled up in the zig zag and so I just walked and carried on. I didn’t want to get him worried about it,” said Adrienne. She noted she’s looking forward to the Special and most of all, is excited the team qualified for Paris. Adrienne is in Herning as a coach as well as a rider. She trains Katie Duerrhammer, who rode Quartett yesterday to a score of 70.839 to finish 34th and just miss qualifying for the Special.
The podium in Herning: the silver medal British, the victorious Danes, the bronze medal Germans.
Let’s turn our attention back to Cathrine, who said, “Thank you to the audience–you rocked the arena to perfection. I was a bit nervous, I am always nervous. My horse was nothing short of amazing. I feel so immensely proud for what my team members have done, we are all so proud of our achievement.”
Cathrine is coached not only by Kyra Kyrklund of Finland and but also by Nathalie zu Sayn Wittgenstein. Interestingly, Nathalie is a Danish princess, the daughter of Princess Benedikte, who gave out the medals!
Four women with incredibly impressive performances joined Cathrine at the top of the individual standings. Great Britain’s Charlotte “Lottie” Fry, was only a little more than one percentage point behind the Dane, earning 80.838 percent on the magnificent Glamourdale. With better results on her pirouettes, she might have overtaken Cathrine this afternoon, and she’s hoping to work on that for the Special.
Glamourdale and Lottie Fry. (Photo courtesy FEI)
Glamourdale, whose name suits him, is a dynamic black stallion. I’m guessing Cathrine was playing it safe with Vamos Amigos, but he didn’t have the compelling presence of his rival.
“I’m a little bit numb, said Lottie after her ride.
“From the second we left the warm-up, he had the crowd and he was just ready for it. He was just on fire. When they started clapping on the last centerline, he just rose to it and was seriously loving it.”
Frankly, I appreciate Glamourdale more than Vamos Amigos, because he brings excitement to a discipline that outsiders often compare to watching grass grow. But that’s not the case with this stunning boy.
Lottie’s late mother, Laura Fry, competed at the 1992 Olympics and was a teammate of Carl Hester, the mentor of Charlotte Dujardin (more on her in a minute). Lottie also trained with Carl, who helped her secure a place at Van Olst Horses in Holland, working and training with five-time Danish Olympian Anne Van Olst.
Standing third is Dutch rider Dinja van Liere, who led for the first day on another super stallion, Hermes with 78.835. Her score wasn’t enough for the Netherlands to move ahead of Sweden, however. The Dutch finished fifth on 225.621, while the Swedes were fourth with 227.142.
Germany’s Isabell Werth, the most decorated equestrian in history, is ranked fifth on the stallion DSP Quantaz (77.407), who is not as compelling as some of the horses she has ridden over the years. (I’m thinking of the recently retired Bella Rose, among others).
She finished behind British superstar Charlotte Dujardin, who brings out horse after horse with Carl Hester’s help to boost her standing with her considerable fan club.
Okay, I admit, I’m one, and was happy but not surprised to see her marked at 77.407 percent with Imhotep, who had only been in three international shows before coming to Denmark. After all, this was the woman who teamed with Valegro in perhaps the greatest dressage partnership ever, from the time they were part of the landmark British European Championships gold medal team in 2011 through the 2016 Olympics. I will never forget her gold medal performances at the 2012 London Olympics with that very special horse.
Charlotte Dujardin and Imhotep.
Charlotte was thrilled with Imhotep’s performance amidst the crowd and the buzz. He would have scored higher except for a miscommunication in the transition from passage to canter (as I mentioned above). There’s quite a story behind this 9-year-old Dutchbred by Everdale, so indulge me while I tell it.
Carl picked the horse, who they call Pete around the barn, from a video.
He had a huge canter, but, according to Charlotte, “looked really ugly I’m not going to lie. Whomping head, skinny neck. The naughtiest young horse. Like those bulls you let out of those cages in rodeo. He bucks like I can’t even tell you. He has that side of him, which meant Carl didn’t want to ride him.”
So she took him over when he was 5. “I absolutely love that horse. He makes me smile from ear to ear every day. He wants to please you every day. He never runs out of energy.”
She noted that she and the horse have mutual trust.
“What I don’t want to do is scare him. He feels so ginormous,” she said, noting when she can manage all his power “it’s going to be spectacular.”
He’s only done two Specials, and never a freestyle, so the next few days should be interesting.
Not all the stories are happy at the championships.
I was so sad for New Zealand’s Gaylene Lennard, who had a heck of a time getting her Jax Johnson from his home on the other side of the world to Denmark. Then when he arrived, he had a temperature, which meant he had to skip the horse inspection. He got better, so the inspection was rescheduled and he passed.
But the days he lost meant he missed training time in the arena, and when he arrived today for his competition, the atmosphere had him whirling prior to his entrance to the stadium.
It’s believed he may have bitten his lip during that time. So while he was able to complete his test, the fact that there was pink color on a swab of his mouth meant automatic elimination. And with that, the New Zealand’s team chances were scuttled, because it was only three members to begin with and two members do not count as a team. That ended their chance to qualify for Paris 2024.
There’s often as much heartbreak as there is glory at these events, so we shouldn’t forget those who give it a try, but can’t prevail against circumstances.
To see the individual results, click this link
To see the team results, click on this link
