Another Dressage World Cup victory for the titleholder

Defending champion Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and TSF Dalera BB soared on a glittering wave of fluid movement and perfect harmony to take the FEI  World Cup Dressage Final last night for the second time.

Although their mark of 90.482 percent in Omaha was more than three points ahead of runner-up Nanna Skodborg Merrald on Blue Hors Zepter, the astronomical score–with 55 marks of 10 from the judges–wasn’t even a personal best for Jessica, who won the Cup in Leipzig last year with 90.836 percent.

The German rider’s music left no doubt about her goal for next year: Dalera danced to “I Love Paris” and an Edith Piaf vocal. Jessica, the 2021 Tokyo Olympic champion, said the audio accompaniment gave her goosebumps as she headed down centerline at the end of her ride.

While it looks like she and Dalera are all ready for the 2024 Olympics in the City of Light, Jessica won’t be resting on her resume.

“It’s always a challenge to do it again,” she said, “to be in the here and now and have everything together again.” Then she added an understatement–“it worked out.”

Discussing the mindset of her elegant mare, Jessica said that as soon as she lifted her hand, the signal to start her music, “I knew she’s 100 percent there with me.”

Jessica called Dalera her soulmate, someone with whom she loves spending time, as she has over the past eight years. The rider decided to forego sightseeing in Omaha in favor of hanging out with her horse during the week.

“She loves me as much as I love her,” Jessica declared.

The competition was basically non-stop excitement for riders and spectators, with each entry putting their own stamp on riding to the music that defined the talents of their mounts.

The others who would share the podium with Jessica took a different approach from the winner, with horses that showed off their power. Nanna Skodborg Merrald, who rode last, said her 15-year-old chestnut gelding Blue Hors Zepter,  “was really on fire. I had to be so careful all the way around. It was a bit difficult to come back after the extended canter, but I’m so thrilled.”

Nanna has been riding Zepter only fourth months, and this was just their third competition.

” I had the feeling that I can ask for so much more. I only pressed the accelerator at half. He’s amazing,” said the Danish competitor, who also qualified Zepter’s sire, Blue Horse Zack, for the Cup. (He did not attend.)

But while she called Zack “the king,” his son is still working on achieving what she believes is great potential. Even so, they achieved a personal best of 87.146 percent.

Isabell Werth is fondly remembered by those who came to Omaha for the 2017 finals, which she won with a flourish on Weiheigold OLD. Her fan club has grown this week, giving Isabell a standing ovation as she finished a compelling performance with DSP Quantaz, coming down centerline to the beat of “Nothing But a Heartbreak.”

The spectators weren’t the only ones having a ball.

“I really enjoyed my ride and this crowd,” said the German star, who was awarded 85.761 percent, and her smile echoed her assessment of the ride: “It was fun.”

It was also technically complex; Quantaz put in 22 one-tempi changes on a bending line and showed immense control with a walk into a piaffe pirouette that led into a double canter pirouette

The top American was Steffen Peters on his longtime partner, Suppenkasper, better known as Mopsie. They were not far off the podium  in fourth with a mark of 83.921 percent. The crowd loved Steffen too, clapping rhythmically as Mopsie showed off his extended trot.

Discussing the changes that were made in his music, Steffen explained, “We had to try and top it from Tokyo (where the U.S got the Olympic team silver in 2021). We made it a little better. That’s very hard because it was already such a good freestyle to begin with.”

His music was his familiar “We Can Dance,” with “Staying Alive” in the mix and a very personal note added at the end, a vocal rap-style addition that began, “I’m from California.”

Mopsie rose to the music.

“Sometimes he gets a little low in the bridle. Today he was up there looking for every ounce of energy. It felt amazing,” said Steffen.

When Steffen walked into his hotel after the competition, he was greeted with a standing ovation and applause. He definitely was moved by the appreciation, offering a big smile for those who gathered to salute him.

Another Californian, Anna Buffini, reached new heights with FRH Davinia La Douce. They poured every ounce of athletic endeavor into the music from “Top Gun Maverick,” a favorite movie of Anna and her family, especially because of her late grandfather’s military service. She was sixth with a score of 77.843 percent.

“I’m thrilled. I couldn’t have asked for more. I couldn’t have asked for a better test. We were on purpose conservative on the first day (the Grand Prix) to have a clean test and we pushed more today. And to still have a clean test when taking more risk is everything you could want,” she said.

Anna, who is a singer, did the vocal portion of the music that played during the walk break in the freestyle.

She was thinking of the audience, saying, “I hope they loved it as much as I did. We made this for them and I hope we made them proud.”

The third American competing, Alice Tarjan, bounced back from last place in the Grand Prix to ninth with a mark of 75.207 percent on U.S.-bred Serenade MF, a mare she brought along through the levels to the top of the game. The Grand Prix problem involved a miscommunication that led to Serenade stopping twice in the piaffe.There was no such error this time.

Even so, “It’s still a work in progress,” said Alice of her freestyle.

“I’m really happy. The horse was super good, like she always is, and handled the atmosphere great.”

She was, she mentioned, sorry not to have pulled off a double pirouette to the (tempi) changes.

“I can’t count to two apparently. I did a single and I was worried, `Maybe I went around two times?’ and you can’t do three. `I better get out of here now,'” she thought and left it at one pirouette.

Her trainer, Marcus Orlob, offered some advice before she went in the ring, warning her not to focus on being perfect, which she tends to do. He told her, “Make it look easy, pretty. Smile, have fun.” And she did.

Debbie McDonald, the U.S. technical advisor for dressage, was thrilled by the performance of her riders.

“In my opinion, Steffen kind of won the crowd tonight.” When that happens, “No matter where you finish, you won. Anna was amazing. Alice did a great job, her first time here, amazing.”

The evening was filled with emotion, but perhaps one of the most poignant moments was Justina Vanagaite’s one-handed ride on Nabab down centerline toward the finish, as a dramatic Ukraine war song was playing. We all knew her sympathies; the first Lithuanian ever to compete in the final was wearing a light blue and yellow ribbon in honor of Ukraine on her shsadbelly.

“I am supporting the Ukraine with all my heart.You can hear it with my music. It’s nonsense what’s going on now,” she declared about the war. Justina finished 11th with 73.693 percent.

The field for the freestyle was reduced to 13 when Torveslettens Titanium RS2, a son of Totilas, had to be withdrawn after suffering signs of colic. He was ridden by the Netherlands’ Marieke van der Putten and finished eighth in the Grand Prix Wednesday.

He was the third horse to leave the line-up this week. Hermes NOP, another Dutch horse, was declared not fit to compete and did not start. Franziskus FRH, the mount of Germany’s Ingrid Klimke was fourth in the Grand Prix but was withdrawn from the freestyle after a “misstep.”

Even though the field was diminished in numbers, it was not diminished in quality. The overall standard should be given a mark of 10.

Betsy Juliano, whose Havensafe Farm sponsored the dressage in Omaha, said she backed the show because. “I felt that it was very important for this United States-based event to have a United States sponsor, and I’m proud to be that sponsor. It should not be underestimated, the inspiration and the fantastic enlightenment that everybody in this crowd saw with these riders over the last two days of competition. It’s really important to our sport in the world, in the United States, and this region.”