by Nancy Jaffer | Aug 15, 2022
A new era is dawning for equestrian helmets.
Virginia Tech’s Helmet Lab is close to announcing a star system that would rate riding helmet safety. The lab’s work began with football helmets but has now expanded to youth football, flag football, hockey, cycling, soccer, and snow sport.
Equestrian will be the newest addition, as the research is in its final phase. The test methods began with video analysis of 100 equestrian falls, followed by laboratory system comparison, on-site field testing and impactor surface comparison on both dirt and sand surfaces—the “extremes” of hard and soft footing. The last phase is in process and involves the final calculations of STAR values (Summation of Tests for the Analysis of Risk) and the publication of star ratings.
“We’ll often throw a football helmet in there. A football helmet is the most advanced and optimized helmet. We’ll also evaluate a ‘bare’ or no helmet situation to show what the helmet is doing (helping with),” Dr. Stefan Duma of the lab explained.
“If an equestrian helmet is producing similar numbers to a [highly rated] football helmet, it probably doesn’t need improvement.”
At an Equestrian Symposium held last week in Blacksburg, Va., those involved with the lab educated a group of equestrian stakeholders on the progress of their equestrian helmet research. The Helmet Lab began its study nearly four years ago, but the project was brought to fruition with support from the U.S. Equestrian Federation, the U.S. Hunter Jumper Association, the U.S. Eventing Association and Jacqueline Mars, a great supporter of eventing. The group raised more than $425,000 in research funds in December 2020.
“With the same impact, there can be very different biomechanical responses between helmets. We felt a responsibility that everyone should have this information,” said Dr. Steve Rowson, Helmet Lab director.
“Not all helmets are the same just because they meet a [pass/fail] standard. That’s true for skull damage, but not concussions.”
In 2003, Virginia Tech placed the first sensors inside football helmets to measure head acceleration data that could characterize concussions. Nearly two decades later, the Helmet Lab is on the cusp of adding equestrian sport to its arsenal of public safety information on helmet use and unveiling its STAR ratings system for helmets.
The STAR ratings for equestrian helmets are designed to complement existing helmet certifications and fill in the gaps relating to concussion risks. The information, set to be released by the end of the year, will allow the public to search helmets by certification type, helmet type, brand, and more to make more informed choices on the helmets they wear and purchase, as well as educate manufacturers on how to improve the safety of their helmets.
“The equestrian space has one of the noisier standard spaces, which makes it complicated for a manufacturer,” Dr. Duma said.
The Helmet Lab evaluated 26 helmet models and 104 helmets in 312 tests, quantifying elements like actual drop height (where a rider is positioned when parting ways with a horse), what body parts are impacted when falling, liner and rotational impacts, and surface, among other factors.
The STAR value is the theoretical number of concussions someone would sustain if their on-field exposure matched the laboratory impacts and is calculated by multiplying exposure (as a function of impact location and velocity) and concussion risk (as a function of linear and rotational headform acceleration). The ratings correlate with real world injury rates; the lower the STAR value, the better the star rating (one to five stars, with five stars being the highest-rated helmets).
“It’s similar to a new car assessment program. We took a system that works and translated it to the sports world,” Dr. Rowson said.
“Football is a multiple head impact sport,” he added. “In equestrian, exposures are very different, and we have much lower numbers.”
Trainer Joe Dotoli, who has been a key volunteer for promoting safety, said after the tour, “Two plus years of work on the Equestrian 5-star ratings are almost complete. The next giant step forward in safety. Thank you to USHJA, USEF, USEA, NEEC and the Mars Foundation for your support. A great example of working together to make our sport safer. And of course a a huge thank you to the brilliant scientists at VT.”
To learn more about the Virginia Tech Helmet Lab, click here.To learn more about the USEF Helmet Safety Fund, click here.
by Nancy Jaffer | Aug 15, 2022
From the biggest names in U.S. eventing, to competitors whose names you wouldn’t likely recognize, Richard Mark Picken, is being mourned and many show jumping rounds are being ridden in his memory.
The trainer bowed out at the age of 53 on August 13, after a courageous battle with cancer, dying peacefully at home at Four Schools Farm in Paris, Ky.
“The equestrian community lost an incredible horseman,” said Olympic medalist Phillip Dutton. Speaking for himself and his wife, Evie, he commented that they had “lost the best friend you can dream of having and an incredible coach.”
Boyd Martin, Phillip’s Olympic teammate, said of Richard, “There would not be too many people in the sport of Eventing that have touched so many riders here in the U.S.
“Richard was one of a kind with his training and coaching, often driving through the night to help riders at their farms and at the shows. He was so brilliant in his teaching and his support to so many of us. ”
Emily Hamel called Richard “a significant reason for our success to date,” while Allison Springer commented, “the world lost one of the greatest” in his passing.
Born in the United Kingdom, he emigrated to Kentucky in 2013 and became an instant fixture on the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s eventing and show jumping circuits. He traveled to competitions throughout the U.S. and overseas with his students. Richard enjoyed coaching young riders and training inexperienced horses as much as he thrived under the pressure of an international championship.
Richard Picken. (Photo by JJ Silliman)
With his wife Joanie (Morris), he built a successful training business at their farm. He traveled around the country teaching clinics, and the impact of the knowledge he shared will remain very profound.
The highlights of his coaching career included Phillip Dutton’s bronze medal at the 2016 Olympic Games and Alexandra Baugh’s Individual gold medal at the North American Young Riders Championships.
But he loved the day-to-day of training of horses as much as the big stage. Richard befriended so many people along the way. His kindness, profound understanding of horses and sense of humor resonated with everyone he met around the world.
Along with his wife, Joanie, he is survived by his father, David Picken (late mother Suzanne), sister Alexandra Tempest (Andy), aunt Joyce Mitchell (Ed), in-laws Beth, Steve and Amy Morris and his beloved dogs.
A celebration of his life will be held in Kentucky for friends and family in the autumn.
In lieu of flowers, consider making a donation to the U.S. Eventing Association Foundation (donate through this link), as a grant is being established in his name to educate the next generation of American equestrian athletes, or the Rick Herrema Foundation, P.O. Box 87146,Fayetteville, NC 28304 (donate on line here), which supports military families.
by Nancy Jaffer | Aug 19, 2022
Alice Tarjan, the alternate for the U.S. 2022 FEI World Championships dressage team, has been named to the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s list for its pre-elite program.
The Oldwick, N.J., resident was selected with Serenade MF and Donatella M. Serenade went to Germany to train with the championships team of Adrienne Lyle, Steffen Peters and Katie Duerrhammer.
Alice Tarjan and Donatella M. (Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)
Those three riders were named to the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s elite program, The trio rode to sixth place in the world championships. Adrienne and Steffen were named to the elite list with their championships mounts, Salvino and Suppenkasper. Katie, who rode Quartett in the championships, is on the list with Paxton. The placing in Denmark earned the U.S. a berth in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The pre-elite program lists 10 riders in addition to Alice. Others include Katie with Quartett, Anna Buffini (Davinia La Douce), Sarah Tubman (First Apple) and Nick Wagman (Don John). Also on the list is Ashley Holzer with Valentine, who was on the world championships team but had the drop score.
by Nancy Jaffer | Aug 14, 2022
The U.S. is going home with some medals from the Ecco FEI World Championships after all.
Although the dressage and show jumping teams didn’t medal in Herning, Denmark, the Adequan Para Dressage Team took bronze, along with an individual silver and bronze in the Orifarm Health FEI Para Dressage World Championship. The team medal qualified the U.S. for the Paralympics in conjunction with the Paris Olympics in 2024.
The team had a total of 225.335 percent, behind silver medal Denmark (229.751) and the gold medal Netherlands (230.225).
“What we have done really affirms our position on the world stage,” said coach Michel Assouline.
“We got the bronze in Tokyo and to get this bronze again here means that it wasn’t a fluke, and the level of performance is great. I’m absolutely ecstatic with what they’ve done as a team here, and very proud of this team, and these girls.”
As competition wrapped up with the freestyles, the silver belonged to Kate Shoemaker and Quiana, who began the morning today with a personal best in the FEI Para Dressage Grade IV, receiving an 80.275 percent from the judging panel. Kate, who works as a veterinarian, had only acquired the Rhinelander mare late in 2021 and is already thrilled with the momentum they have built as a combination.
Kate Shoemaker and Quiana. (Photo courtesy U.S. Equestrian)
“We had so many goals coming into this, and a lot of the goals are out of your control because it involves what other people do, but we really wanted this 80 and I’m just so ecstatic we got it,” said Kate, who led the way to team bronze earlier in the week with 75.415 percent.
“I have to give all of the credit to my horse and my team. Without them, I wouldn’t have the opportunity to sit up there and get to experience that. They all work so hard on my behalf, and we did it together.”
Roxanne Trunnell piloted Fortunato H20 to an excellent score in their first international championship together, earning 76.447 percent. The score is a personal best for the duo and as the youngest horse in the entire field, the 2016 Oldenburg stallion owned by Lehua Custer made an impressive debut with Roxie in Grade I competition. The stallion was bred by Kendra Hansis of Frenchtown, N.J.
“This is the first time he’s doing this at a show, so it’s all been new to him,” said Roxie. She noted coach Michel thought that her music, a mix of movie themes from Jurassic Park and Titanic, would suit Tuna well.
“He was a little more tense today, but we worked through it and I’m really proud,” she commented.
In Grade II, Beatrice de Lavalette and Sixth Sense overcame a few bobbles in their test to receive a 72.107 percent, good enough for fifth in the competitive division. The pair, who also are a first-time world championship combination, consistently improved throughout the week and will take what they’ve learned this week and apply it to their training and program looking ahead to an exciting two years before team selection begins for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
“He was a little frisky today and we had a few bobbles where he trotted when we weren’t supposed to, but overall, I’m still really happy with the ride,” said Bea.
“Obviously, I really am going to be focusing on Paris,” she explained, as she discussed her takeaways from this championship.
“It’s my hometown and one I don’t want to miss,” she said of the French capital.
“We’re going to take everything we learned from this week, our bobbles, some of our areas that could have been marked higher and focus on improving those parts of our partnership.”
As the last ride of the day, Rebecca Hart and El Corona Texel warmed up well before the atmosphere of the arena unsettled the 2009 KWPN gelding owned by Rowan O’Riley. Becca kept her composure and reassured Tex through some spooking to finish their test and nailed their finale salute. The pair received a 72.080 percent from the judges, but Becca is sure that the pair can nail their freestyle in the future.
“That was very disappointing, I’m going to be honest. He warmed up so well and felt so good and we got in there and things were waving and moving, and it just overwhelmed him, but it happens and that’s horses,” explained Becca. “I was happy that I was able to keep him relatively relaxed through that.
“Historically, through that I would have tightened up and shortened his neck, but I said to myself that we’re working on this new relaxation approach and I wanted him to have a good experience in there still. We can do better and I’m looking forward to getting to ride a freestyle with him again, though we may change our music after this,” she laughed.
Becca had plenty to smile about, though, because she took bronze in the Individual Grade III Championship presented by Elsass Fonden on Thursday.
The duo received a 73.147 percent for third, while Tobias Thorning Joergensen of Denmark on Jolene Hill took gold with a 78.676 percent and Natasha Baker (GBR) and Keystone Dawn Chorus earned silver on 73.970 percent.
Becca and Tex received strong marks in the trot work and bringing a relaxed and light presence to the BB Horse Arena. The pair is the most veteran combination on the team for this championships, and Becca was pleased with their overall performance on their first day of competition.
“I’m feeling really good about that test. Tex can be a little bit spicy sometimes and we’ve been working a lot on his relaxation and getting what we have in the warm-up and bringing that…into the competition arena,” said Becca.
“I really enjoyed the mediums and the comeback today. He stayed there and I took a breath in and he was right there and all of it I could really just enjoy and not micromanage things and it was a really nice feeling. He was so much happier out there and it’s nice to have a happy athlete and happy horse.”
The duo has been working at home on desensitization and finding a new training routine that best suits the needs of Tex, utilizing a relaxed balance with energy to bring to the arena from their warm-up and home training.
“We’ve been tweaking a few things at home and this is the first big championship environment we’ve been able to try it in and it’s worked really well. For me, we’ve found that doing a walk tour instead of a trot tour before we go into the ring actually works better for him.
“He can see everything, take a breath and focus. Earlier in our career, I never thought I would be able to do that because we would lose energy, but he’s with me even more now because he’s comfortable in his own space.”
Touting her incredible support team and reflecting on the past four years since her first individual medal in Tryon, Hart noted that her growth as an athlete and person and Tex’s growth as a horse has been immense and they continue to learn from each other.
“I am wildly excited to see our program growing like this. I am here with three amazing riders on new young, incredibly talented horses, and to have depth in our program where we’ve got riders with multiple horses and sponsors who are so strongly behind us, it’s just fantastic to see where we are now compared to twenty years ago and to consistently be in that medal hunt is the goal,” said Becca.
Herning marked the anniversary of a U.S. breakthrough, when it took its first world championships medals in Tryon four years ago.
The U.S. para bronze medal team: Roxie Trunnell, Kate Shoemaker, Becca Hart and Beatrice de Lavallette, with Michel Assouline behind them. (Photo courtesy U.S. Equestrian)
The British, who had long dominated para dressage, could not pass the Dutch in Denmark and would have settled for silver, as they had at the last world championships in Tryon, N.C., in 2018. That was the first time Britain hadn’t taken gold since 1996, but this is the first time they’ve been off the podium in nearly 30 years.
Several nations have improved so much in the sport that it is much more competitive than in the days when the Brits were a sure bet. Even finishing behind the Netherlands, Denmark and the USA, the team placing still qualified them for Paris.
They bounced back big time today, collecting four medals in the freestyle.
Click here for team results
by Nancy Jaffer | Aug 14, 2022
Five tough rounds of show jumping over the last week were no match for Henrik von Eckermann and his barefoot King Edward, as the world’s number one ranked rider and team gold medalist for Sweden took the individual title at the Agria World Championships in Herning, Denmark, today.
King Edward was the only horse not to incur a single penalty in a competition that drew 102 starters. Despite his previous exertions, the 12-year-old Belgian warmblood gelding (Edward X Feo) looked fresh and fit for this afternoon’s two-round competition, which presented the usual amazing challenges by imaginative Dutch course designer Louis Konickx, who was the technical delegate at the Tokyo Olympics.
Henrik von Eckermann and King Edward. (Photo courtesy Herning 2022)
Henrik moved up individually from fifth after Wednesday’s speed round to fourth following the first team test on Thursday. After that, he was ranked number one and no competitor was able to displace him. As soon as he finished his final perfect round, Henrik saluted the crowd whipped off his helmet and hugged his horse.
The man who was just out of the individual medals in fourth place at the Tokyo Olympics last year smiled broadly as he waited to step onto the podium following the final 12-horse Agria competition at Stutteri Arena,. There were nearly 12,000 fans watching the finale of the world championships. Though not everyone in the audience was Swedish, of course, it certainly sounded as if they were, judging by the sound level and the abundance of blue and yellow in the stands.
“My horse jumps so many clear rounds, and he has done so many good things for me, it is a privilege and unbelievable,” said Henrik, cataloguing his feelings after the medal ceremony.
“At the moment, I am just a bit empty, I have tried to keep all those emotions down and tried to just get things done. And now we have pulled the plug and it is just pure happiness,” he said.
“Thank you, King Edward. I owe you for life.”
Although Henrik looks as if he has nerves of steel when he is riding even the most complicated course, he feels the tension beforehand.
“It is always the same with me,” revealed Henrik, who also won a team gold medal in Tokyo.
“Around two hours before my ride, I am so nervous, you know, like difficult to eat and stuff like that. But when I get up on my horse, it somehow changes to focus, and I am just trying to really do the best round for my horse.”
Henrik worked 12 years for German show jumping legend Ludger Beerbaum before starting is own stable in 2020.
Henrik von Eckermann thanks King Edward for making him the champion.
Silver medalist Jerome Guery of Belgium, whose horse, Quel Homme de Hus, came closest to King Edward’s achievement, was as effusive as Henrik.
“It feels amazing,” he said.
“My horse deserves it. It is nice to bring a medal home. It means a lot to get an individual medal, but my team deserved to get one too.”
At the same time, he acknowledged, “The Swedish are amazing, and we knew it before we came here.”
Jerome Guery of Belgium riding Quel Homme de Hus winning the silver medal. (Photo © FEI/Leanjo de Koster)
The Belgians were seventh in the team competition, behind the silver medal Dutch and the bronze medal British, as well as Ireland, Germany and France. They just missed by one place qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics, since the top five teams from the championships are qualified, excluding the host team, which is France.
Quel Homme de Hus, a 16-year-old Holsteiner stallion (Quidam de Revel X Candillo) accumulated only a single penalty throughout the competition, a time fault.
Dutch rider Maikel van der Vleutin, 34, is known as a can-do guy. The individual bronze medalist in Tokyo, he rode the same horse there as in Herning. That’s Beauville Z N.O.P., a 12-year-old Zangersheide gelding (Bustique X Jumpy des Fontaine), who earned him another bronze today.
The medalists: Jerome Guery, Henrik von Eckermann, Maikel van der Vleutin.
Recounting his time at the championships, Maikel said, “Friday (in the second team round), I made a little rider mistake. My horse deserves the medal, and I had two amazing rounds. It gives pressure on the last riders with my two clear rounds– and the luck was on my side today.”
Funny story. Someone asked Maikel’s teammate Harrie Smolders how he could be calmly eating his lunch during Maikel’s ride in the team competition. Why wasn’t he nervous? Harrie explained his calm demeanor this way, “It’s Maikel.” That’s a man in whom his team has confidence.
Maikel had the biggest jump up the standings in the top three; he was ninth after Friday’s test. Ben Maher of Great Britain, aboard Faltic HB, was fourth, less than a rail back of Maikel.
Views varied on the designer’s courses. Germany’s well-traveled Marcus Ehning, for instance, called the first round today “Not an easy course.” Harrie, however, saw it as “very gentle.”
But time definitely was not as much of an issue in the first round as on the previous days. The 87-second time allowed for 16 jumping efforts meant only five riders had time penalties, with 13 of the 21 starters free of jumping penalties. The course had some flow, with striding options.
The challenges included a rollback to a narrow vertical, a 1.65-meter high vertical final obstacle and difficult colors. The white standards that were replicas of Denmark’s Men at Sea monument were connected with red rails offering contrast on Friday. Today, that double had a grey top rail at A and yellow at B, which were not that easy for horses to see, especially coupled with the white standards.
Although that round was supposed to include 25 competitors, five riders withdrew in the interests of their horses’ welfare after a long week. Yuri Mansur of Brazil, who was seventh after Friday’s competition, did not ride because his horse, QH San Antonio, failed to pass the ground jury’s inspection this morning. Even though the list of those able to compete was expanded down to 30th place, but even so, there were still only 21 participating. They were, however, the cream of the original 102-rider starting list from every continent (except Antarctica, which didn’t field a team…).
The second round, for the top 12, had plenty of difficulty, up more than a notch from than the initial round. Among the tasks set for competitors were a first fence standing 1.6 meters, a double of liverpools with a vertical in and an oxer out set seven strides off a bend from a red and white oxer, and a triple combination of a triple bar to a vertical and an oxer that was 1.6 meters wide.
Maikel van der Vleuten on Beauville Z NOP at the liverpools.
Only one woman, Tiffany Foster of Canada, made it to the top 12, where just four riders jumped clear. Interestingly, the first woman ever to win the world championships, Gail Greenough in 1986, also was Canadian.
But Tiffany, who was tenth in the first round today, would not repeat that feat. In the second round, a rail in the middle of the triple combination, followed by another rail down at the ECCO vertical at fence seven, plus one time fault for exceeding the 77-second time allowed, added nine faults to Tiffany’s score, giving her a total of 17.95 penalties and 12th place in the final individual standings.
It actually was quite a good result at the level, and Tiffany had high praise for her mount, Figor, a 12-year-old Dutch warmblood (Zagreb X Indoctro).
“I’m thrilled with him,” said Tiffany, the highest-ranked female rider in the world at number 36.
Tiffany Foster and Figor. (Photo by Arnd Bronkhorst.)
“We’ve never been in this sort of situation before. I was too deep to the triple bar, and I think he was getting a little strong and I was thinking about the time.
“The jumps were big, and I have to learn how to give him more space as the jumps get going. This has been such a great experience and I’m so proud of him. I loved my horse before, but I love him even more now. Everything that he did for me this week and the feeling that he gave me; that’s my number one takeaway. I’m so thrilled.”
There was no U.S. representative in this class, as Brian Moggre did not qualify during Friday’s individual competition, while McLain Ward pulled up there after three fences down. The other two American riders, Adrienne Sternlicht and Lillie Keenan, did not qualify for the group of 60 who competed in that first individual competition. The U.S. was 11th in the team competition.
These Games were amazing. The talent we see in show jumping continues to improve, even when it has seemed to be at its pinnacle. There are always interesting horses and riders coming along.
In the former category, keep on eye on Cayman Jolly Jumper. He is a son of the great Hickstead, Eric Lamaze’s late 2008 Olympic individual gold medal and team silver mount. This 10-year-old gelding is registered as a Selle Francais out of a Quaprice Boimargot Quincy mare. Ridden by former world number one Simon Delestre of France, he seems to have inherited his sire’s athleticism and elasticity. Jolly Jumper (great name!) finished seventh.
And in the category of riders coming to our attention, Ioli Mytilineou of Greece certainly impressed, ending up 13th with L’Artiste de Toxandra265 an 11-year-old Belgian warmblood gelding (Toulon / Kashmir van Schuttershof ).
One of the many nice things about these championships was the recognition given to the grooms, who for too long have labored without acknowledgement to the public, in many cases. Their names were mentioned in conjunction with the announcement of the horses’ names, and they had their own lounge where they could relax and eat free of charge.
Click here for results.
by Nancy Jaffer | Aug 3, 2022
Organized gambling on show jumping has been discussed for years, and got some consideration after the FEI World Cup finals first came to betting-centric Las Vegas in 2000. But now it has become reality via several websites, and the U.S. Equestrian Federation is taking it seriously.
It may not seem to be a widespread activity, but there are new platforms for horse show competition that are like fantasy competition for football or basketball.
Lucy Davis, a member of the USA’s medal-winning show jumping team in the 2014 FEI World Equestrian Games and 2016 Olympics, has developed a site called www.prixview.com, for instance. There are a few other sites out there as well that enable you to wager on certain FEI classes, both in the U.S, and abroad. In last august, the big games include the Global Champions Tour’s London fixture and the Dublin Horse Show. The types of wagering include match-ups and over/under.
PrixView also offers analysis, similar to what EquiRatings does for eventing. Information may be presented on average faults and the knockdowns at the most challenging fences.
A policy adopted by the USEF board that goes into effect Dec. 1 was implemented as a reaction to the growing popularity of fantasy games and betting on equestrian sport. The idea is to mitigate risks that could compromise the integrity and essence of sport.
Under the policy, all competition manipulation is strictly prohibited. Violations include, but are not limited to, a participant in a competition betting money or items of monetary value on the competition; improper use of insider information by participants, whether they use the information themselves or disclose it to an outside person or entity, and giving and/or receiving a benefit in exchange for inside information, whether or not the inside information is actually exchanged.
Other violations include fixing a competition or encouraging another participant to do so or failing to cooperate with a USEF investigation. Those who must comply include not only athletes, but also their support personnel, owner shareholders or interested parties in a horse in a competition officials and volunteers. The FEI also has its own code of conduct in this regard.
Don’t be looking to put your money down on the BetMGM site in New Jersey, however. While you can wager on such relatively obscure sports as table tennis, darts and snooker, a search for show jumping doesn’t yield anything.
The USEF announced this month it is seeking not only to prevent manipulation of the sport as it applies to gambling, but also other types of maneuvering.
Citing instances that “occasionally occur where exhibitors in a class intentionally do not perform the required gaits or movements or purposefully make a mistake (i.e., pick up the wrong lead, break gait, etc.) to ensure they are not placed high on a judge’s card,” it was reported that those situations are occurring more frequently.
The reasons for these activities range from filling a class but not winning so someone else can place higher, or allowing a certain exhibitor to get points. USEF has warned members to refrain from engaging in any activity that deliberately affects the outcome of a competitive effort through willful underperformance.
That is a violation of the USEF’s sportsmanship creed. Violation could result in an official warning, censure, fine, suspension, or other penalties.
While USEF acknowledges willful underperformance can be difficult to definitively identify and is rare, those who witness an obvious, willful, and intentional manipulation of competition should report the incident to USEF by emailing disputes@USEF.org.
by Nancy Jaffer | Aug 12, 2022
It was an FEI world championships show jumping team medal finals to make your head spin, with reversals of fortune aplenty during this evening in Herning, Denmark.
But there were two things that didn’t change.
The Olympic champion Swedes, who had taken control of the leaderboard at the Agria title meet from the beginning, refused to give up their claim on the gold medal, though the silver and bronze were up for grabs until the end.
The sign says it all.
And the other thing? U.S. fortunes failed to improve. The country had only two people riding today, going for individual honors, as the team stood 11th yesterday, one place away from qualifying for the medal round.
McLain Ward, who has contributed to so many team medals, bowed out midway through the course after dropping three rails with Contagious. And Brian Moggre, at 21 the youngest competitor in the championships, had to cope when his mount, Balou du Reventon, reared several times approaching the fourth fence, topped by a plank.
Brian didn’t give up and continued the course as his horse shook off the momentary confusion and jumped the rest of the difficult route. He finished 52d in his first world championships.
Brian Moggre and Balou du Reventon. (Photo courtesy U.S. Equestrian)
“I don’t know what he saw,” said Brian of his stallion.
“We came out of the corner and the fences come up fast and something happened. Show jumping is such an unpredictable sport. I think the first three fences, I might have put a little bit too much pressure on him, thinking about the time allowed, and came around to fence four and in that turn, he didn’t like so much pressure, and there was a miscommunication. But after that he just jumped incredible,” Brian continued, unfazed by what happened.
“I’d go as far to say it felt like one of the best rounds he’s ever jumped after that, so I was pleased that he finished well and we had a nice ending to the course and the week.”
McLain acknowledged it was “a rough week, but we will survive.”
He retired with Contagious because “This horse has given so much over the last several seasons in making it to Tokyo last year and pulling off being a part of that (Olympic) medal-winning team, and I said afterwards that was really an incredible feat. After weeks like this, you realize truly how hard it is to win those medals.”
McLain was on the USA’s 2018 world championships team that took gold in Tryon, N.C., as was Adrienne Sternlicht, who rode Cristalline in that competition and also in Herning, where she was 68th and thus not in the top 60 that competed today. The team’s other rider, Lillie Keenan, notched her first senior championships to finish 69th with Argan de Beliard.
“It was a disappointing week of results for sure, and we can’t duck that, but the young riders who were here gained a lot of miles and that will pay back for us down the road,” contended McLain.
U.S. Coach Robert Ridland is in agreement. He always puts younger riders on the team, trying to develop them for the future. But they are usually paired with several more experienced competitors. This time, McLain was the lone ranger in that regard. Horse injuries mandated that the team evolved the way it did.
“The five horse/rider combinations we have here are the best we have. Simple as that,” said Robert. (The fifth horse was Jessica Springsteen’s RMF Zecilie, who was withdrawn after being turned down in the first horse inspection)
“Reality is, as in any sport, the ups and downs of injuries plays a role. We unfortunately had the injury bug early on and lost two of three from our silver medal (Olympic) team (Laura Kraut’s Balontinue and Jessica Springsteen’s Don Juan).
Robert noted those horses sustained relatively minor injuries and both are in work again.
“We’re going to have them back in the fold,” he said.
In the raucous, packed Stutteri Arena, where Swedish fans clad in blue and yellow chanted their support for their team, the U.S was “up against veteran teams,” most particularly Sweden, “our arch rival that we went neck and neck with in Tryon, and neck and neck with in Tokyo,” Robert said.
After chatting with Sweden’s chef d’equpe, Henrik Ankarcrona, he noted, “they did a very good job with their veteran team, keeping intact every horse/rider combination that won gold in Tokyo.”
On the other hand, Henrik told Robert, “You guys have involved the next generation of riders in all your championships over the last 10 years. I’ve got the oldest team in Europe and you have the youngest team. Come Monday, reality sets in.”
Robert mentioned, “That was an interesting perspective. His four riders, the average age is 48-49. Three of our four are in their 20s, have been tested under fire and did a great job here. We didn’t miss by much. We had to be realistic about who we are competing against. The depth and quality of the top 10 teams are something like I’ve never seen before.”
The golden oldies Swedish team collected a total of a mere 7.69 penalties, though Peder Fredricson, the man who is usually rock solid, wound up as the drop score today with the generally reliable H&M All In. But no matter. The Swedes were miles ahead of the Dutch, who claimed silver as anchor Harrie Smolders put in a clear round with Monaco N.O.P. to make the team’s total 19.31.
Great Britain’s anchor Scott Brash dropped an uncharacteristic two rails with Hello Jefferson. However Harry Charles, who had two knockdowns yesterday, came back on Romeo 88 with the squad’s only clear trip of the day, making the team total 22.66 to stay ahead of Ireland (23.15) and earn its first world championships medal in 24 years. Those four teams and fifth-place Germany are now qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics, which had been the USA’s goal, though there is still time to achieve that in other competitions. France, which was sixth, is automatically qualified for its home Games.
World Number One Henrik von Eckermann of Sweden on the aptly named King Edward at the weird wall. (Photo courtesy Herning 2022)
Peder proudly pointed out that his older brother, Jens, was also on the squad.
“It’s our first championship together, I think we’re going to keep doing a few more. It was a good start,” Peder said with a grin. Jens, it should be mentioned, was fault-free. Actually, he was also fault-free yesterday, as was teammate Henrik von Eckermann. Sweden was the only team to have riders fault-free on both days.
Dutch course designer Louis Konickx outdid himself with a course that twisted and turned in a serpentine pattern, requiring the utmost focus from the riders and their horses.
It had a green theme (sustainability is a big deal for these games) with a weird wingless wall as the second fence showing off a green map of the world. The standards of the final obstacle depicted wind turbines. In between were other challenges, including a vertical that stood 1.65 meters over a liverpool.
But the piece de resistance was the 13th of 14 fences, a triple combination of red rails comprising a vertical two strides from another vertical, which was one stride from an oxer, and six strides from the final fence. Few competitors came away unscathed, whether they toppled a rail or exceeded the 83-second time allowed in the process of completing the route.
Among those who had problems there was French rider Julien Epaillard, who has a reputation for speed He had no time penalties, but his mount, Caracole de la Roque, toppled both the A and B elements of the triple. That also toppled Julien from the top of the standings, where he had been situated through two rounds, putting him down to 12th on 8 penalties.
Julien was replaced in the number one spot by the world’s number one rider, Henrik von Eckermann on King Edward.
Henrik noted the arena was “more hectic today.” That affected his horse.
“The applause and the light when entering made him turn”
He added “I was really lucky on the triple” when he brushed the B element and it didn’t fall down. The World Championship is difficult, but my horse is really great.”
The world championships medalists on the podium from left: the Dutch silver medal team, the gold medal Swedish team and the bronze medal British team. (Photo courtesy FEI)
The individual final will be held on Sunday, with the top 25 competing.
Henrik has 0.58 penalties as teammate Jens Pederson stands second with Markan Cosmopolit on 2.71, followed by Belgium’s Jerome Guery on Quel Homme de Hus (3.35), world number two Markus Fuchs of Switzerland with Leone Jei (4.36), Max Kuhner, Austria, Electric Blue (4.49) and Israel’s Daniel Bluman, Ladriano Z (5.14).
Canada, which finished 10th, has one rider going Sunday. That’s Tiffany Foster with Figor, who stands 15th.
New coach Eric Lamaze the 2008 Olympic individual gold medalist, stated, “I take full responsibility for my riders not being on top of their game. They got out-ridden. Not necessarily in the skill department, but in the international mileage department. It’s not easy to jump three days in a row. They rode their hearts out yesterday and they needed to do that again today.
Tiffany Foster and Figor. (Photo by Arnd Bronkhorst)
“We started off well and our plan was good – our second day proves that – but they didn’t finish the job. That’s why we need to be in Europe as much as we can, to help them learn how to ride in a tough second round.
“We need to work on the mental part of the game. We got to the second round and some people might call that a win but that’s not what I’m about and this was not a way to finish a championship. If you get that close, you don’t let it slip away.”
Click here to see the individual standings. Click on this link to see the team medals.
by Nancy Jaffer | Aug 11, 2022
It was bad news for the U.S. show jumping team today at the Agria FEI World Championships, as it finished just one place out from qualifying for tomorrow’s final round of Nations Cup competition. But it gets worse.
The goal for the show jumping team in these championships, as it was for dressage, involved a high-enough finish to qualify the country for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Dressage made the cut; show jumping did not.
Ten nations will go through to the team finals at these championships in Herning, Denmark. The U.S. finished 11th this evening in the first round of the Nations Cup. When the team jumping competition presented by Helgstrand wraps up Friday evening, the five highest-placing countries in the finals will qualify for Paris.
This autumn’s Nations Cup final in Barcelona also offers a chance for a spot in Paris, but the U.S. did not qualify for that competition due to complications involving the pandemic. The 2023 edition of the final does the same, so the U.S. will try to qualify for that.
The other alternative for a Paris ticket is next year’s Pan American Games in Chile, where three slots will be available to the highest-ranking countries which did not qualify previously. So all is not lost, but there’s work to do and plans to make for an important trip to South America in 2023.
Sweden, the Tokyo Olympic gold medal squad, is at the top of the team leaderboard in Herning, to the delight of its vocal fans dressed in the country’s yellow and blue colors.
One of Sweden’s equestrian heroes, Peder Fredricson with H&M All In. (Photo courtesy FEI)
It is followed in the standings by, as one might expect, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Great Britain and Switzerland, the western European countries that often dominate the sport. But Canada also made it (nice to know a North American flag is in the mix), with Ireland and Brazil wrapping up the top 10.
“Being one spot off is tough. It didn’t go our way today,” said Lizzy Chesson, the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s managing director of show jumping,
“It was just one of those years. If you look at the record since 2014, this jumping team has had an incredible record.”
True enough. The U.S. was the defending titleist of the world championships, having won gold in its last edition in 2018.
Lizzy noted two thirds of the Tokyo Olympic silver medal team, Laura Kraut’s ride Baloutinue and Jessica Springsteen’s Don Juan, are still recovering from injuries.
“They’re going to be back,” said Lizzy, but it didn’t happen soon enough for a trip to Denmark.
That meant there wasn’t as much choice of top horse and rider combinations as usual, so less-experienced riders needed to step up.
“At this level of the sport, you can’t afford to have two top horses not in the game,” Lizzy pointed out.
“We had a younger group here that really fought hard to get it done. They tried. No one had any major disasters, it was just minor things. Our younger athletes got great experience building for the future,” she pointed out.
McLain Ward, the U.S. four-time Olympic medalist, performed as expected in the Stuttari Ask Stadium with his usual textbook clear trip on Contagious today after a rail down in the speed opener yesterday.
Noting he had a long night trying to analyze what went wrong on Wednesday, McLain switched the time of when he would jump so he could have firmer ground for his horse. And it worked.
“After the third jump, I felt he was in different form than yesterday,” McLain said.
He is 12th individually and will compete with others in the top 60 for the individual medals to be awarded on Sunday.
Brian Moggre, at 21 the youngest competitor among the 103 who started in this competition, put in an amazing clear trip yesterday on Balou du Revonton but had a rail today. He stands 26th individually. I expected nothing less than a stellar effort from Brian despite his inexperience in senior international championships, because he has distinguished himself all along the line.
The other two members of the team did not qualify for the individual medal contest, finishing 68th and 69th respectively.
Adreinne Sternlicht, a member of the 2018 world championships gold medal team anchored by McLain, had a rail and time faults yesterday with Cristalline, and two rails today.
“My plan was to ride a bit more aggressive than yesterday,” said Adrienne.
About her mare, the rider commented, “She has not been at this level for a while, but she was fantastic today. We are both getting used to the level again. She has been out with an injury, so all has been about her well-being, she is more than just a horse to me. I feel blessed having this opportunity again after four years out.”
The other team member, Lillie Keenan, had two rails today with Argan de Beliard and three penalties for going over the 86-second time allowed for the 17 jumping efforts.
“My horse jumped really well today,” commented Lillie, who like Brian, is in her first senior team championship.
“For myself, I expected him to be more green. For the team. it was not what I needed to do. Next time, I need to believe in him more. It is my first championships, and not the last, I hope.”
The highly skilled Julien Epaillard of France kept his top placing in the individual standings with Caracole de la Roque.
France’s Julien Epaillard has ranked number one two days in a row at the championships. (Photo courtesy FEI)
“My horse was so fresh this morning, so I wasn’t in 100 percent control despite a small jog and some flatwork this morning,” said Julien, who warms up his horse in a pelham bit but competes in a hackamore.
Second in the standings is Scott Brash of Great Britain with Hello Jefferson, a horse on which he has spent a lot of time, being patient to develop a partner he can trust. The class took six hours to run, including breaks, as he pointed out.
“It’s quite a long time. We walked the course at midday, and, to remember what I walked at the end, you watch a lot of different horses and riders and they have bigger strides and smaller strides, but then you have to remember that the way you walked is focused on what suits your horse, so you have to remember that plan.”
He characterized his horse as, “a bit sharper today, a bit more tense, not just as smooth as yesterday, I didn’t think, but he was jumping great and I think he’ll be good tomorrow.”
Peder Fredricson, a pillar of the Swedish team, was fault-free on H&M All In and stands third.“I had a good plan after the course walk and I kept it,” said Peder, whose brother, Jens, number 10 in the rankings, also was fault-free with Markan Cosmopolit.
“When I am in there, I have to get the feeling of my horse and have the highest focus on the task,” Peder commented.
“I really have to concentrate the whole time and take one thing at a time. Jens and I had the same plan. He did seven strides to (fence) eight I kept the plan and did six. Our team spirit is great, and we are there for each other. Everything can happen and we have to take 1 day at a time and really do the best we possibly can. Tomorrow will be a long day.”
World number one Henrik von Eckermann of Sweden is fourth with King Edward, while the only woman among the top 17, Tiffany Foster, couldn’t talk enough about her ride, Figor.
Tiffany Foster and Figor.
“My horse is a bit sensitive and tends to get stressed, so it could go either way, but he was so cool in this atmosphere with the audience close by. He saved me on fence number four, after that I thought ‘Let’s do this for him’ and went for it. With a double clear, this is the first time on this level I dare to think we might have a shot against the big names.”
Every rider in the first five is carrying less than one penalty.
It was nice to see some competitors who are not big names and don’t come from show jumping powerhouse countries distinguish themselves. One was Roger Chammas of Lebanon, who missed the cut for the individual competition by finishing 62d. He had just a single time penalty this afternoon for a memorable round on Humphrey G today, and I was impressed.
“Today was just amazing,” he agreed.
“Yesterday, we had a tough time because it’s the first time on the course, and it is the first time my horse competes at this level,” said Roger, who had three knockdowns.
“I wanted to do good, and the horse is ready for it so I know the result will be good if I ride properly.” And that’s how he left the poles in place today.
It certainly wasn’t easy. Dutch courses designer Louis Konickx upped the ante without making the route too hard. He had varying levels of riders competing, and the challenges were appropriate.
Brian Moggre and a view of the “houses.”
He didn’t overdecorate the interesting fences, which had a bit of local color. The next-to-last obstacle was flanked by statues of legendary Danish writer Hans Christian Anderson and one of his creations, the little mermaid.
From the 4-meter water jump, it was eight strides to Hans Christian and then five to the final vertical (though a few ambitious riders with long-strided horses did it in four). That segment at the end had plenty of heart-breaker knockdowns.
Another interesting fence featured mischievous Danish trolls. The focal point of the ring, though, had to be the triple combination, two strides from an oxer to a vertical and one stride to another vertical. There was an expression I used to hear from riders walking a course when they saw big fences—“They’ve built houses out there,” and so it was with the triple. Really. The first part had houses as its standards, the B element had two lighthouses on either side and the C element repeated the houses.
For team standings, click here. For individual standings, click this link
by Nancy Jaffer | Aug 10, 2022
Brian Moggre, only 21 and riding in his first international senior championships, made his mark as the top American finisher today in the Ecco FEI World Championships, not far behind some of the greatest names in the sport of show jumping.
The results of the speed class that kicked off four days of the discipline in Herning, Denmark, are led by distinguished French rider Julien Epaillard, 45. He was clocked in 79.48 seconds on Caracole de la Roque over the course of 17 jumping efforts designed by Louis Konickx of the Netherlands, under a format that adds 4 seconds for each knockdown.
“I had a good start and my horse felt relaxed today. I had my plan and followed it,” Julien said after his ride.
Commenting about his horse, he noted, “She jumps everything with a great scope but can sometimes react to the public.”
Julien Epaillard of France and Caracol de la Roque at the triple bar.
Even so, the rider who is ranked number nine in the world was able to keep everything under control with his mare, who is shoeless like the Swedish horses that excelled in the Tokyo Olympics.
Julien has 402 wins in 3,431 starts, and is known for his ability to ride fast, as demonstrated this morning. He has won gold, silver and bronze medals in both the Olympics and previous world championships.
In contrast, Brian has 27 victories in 404 starts, which have never included a competition on the magnitude of this one. But his performance did not reflect his lack of experience.
Riding Balou du Reventon, his fault-free round finished in 83.89 seconds. He now ranks 19th among 99 competitors, finishing 10 places ahead of U.S anchorman McLain Ward, who has four Olympic team medals and led the U.S. squad to gold in the last world championships, held in 2018 in Tryon, N.C. Brian understandably was overjoyed with his mount.
Brian Moggre and Balou du Reventon. (Photo courtesy of U.S.. Equestrian)
“He was fantastic. I am so, so happy. My plan after watching the first two riders from my team go (was) giving it a shot,” said Brian, who trains with Laura Kraut and her partner, British Olympic gold medalist Nick Skelton.
“I was going for it and to finish like this is a very great start of the weekend. My horse is such a gentle stallion outside the ring, but inside, he is such a powerhouse. He is fantastic, and has such a nice temperament.”
The first American to ride, Adrienne Sternlicht on Cristalline, had a knockdown that added 4 seconds to give her a time of 93.07. The veteran of the USA’s 2018 championships gold medal team stands 69th. Her teammate, Lillie Keenan, was fault-free but relatively slow on Argan de Beliard, 38th with a time of 87.23 seconds.
The U.S. is in ninth place on 9.6 penalties as Tokyo Olympic champs Sweden took the lead with 3.69. France is second on 5.44, even though anchor Kevin Staut had a fall when his horse looked down over an oxer. Belgium is a very close third with four strong performances and 5.49 penalties.
McLain said of his trip that included a knockdown, “It wasn’t the starting round I wanted to have, but Contagious dug in and we kept it on a good score.”
McLain Ward and Contagious. (Photo courtesy U.S. Equestrian)
Now the team faces a challenge.
“‘We have to jump some clear rounds. We’re sitting on a mediocre position…all the riders and horses are capable of it, but we certainly have to step up our game,” said McLain, who blamed a miscalculation on his part for the error in his trip. Contagious, he noted, “is afraid of everything but brave when he has to do his job.”
McLain called having mentored Adrienne and now working with Lille “an incredible source of pride.”
The course was just testing enough as a prelude to the Nations Cup that will decide the team medals tomorrow and Friday. There were faults around the course, but if you wanted to say there was a bogey fence, it was the triple bar one stride from a vertical in a double combination.
The ring is not perfectly flat, it is a bit elevated where the double stood, and that made it hard for some riders to judge the triple bar early in the going. By the end of the class, they tended to figure out what to do there. Meanwhile, a flat and narrow Longines wall, that I thought would cause problems, was handled easily by most horses.
Right behind Julian in the standings
The British, who stand fourth on 6.66 penalties, had a good day. Their two most experienced riders, Scott Brash and Ben Maher, were second and 10th respectively. Scott was on Hello Jefferson and Ben, the Olympic individual gold medalist from the Tokyo Games, left Explosion W at home and rode Faltic B instead.
“I am used to bigger horses, Faltic is smaller, but very athletic and I tried to ride as fast as I felt possible,” said Ben, who mentioned the question was deciding how much he would risk for a fast time.
Scott and Ben are the two most experienced British competitors in Herning. The other half of the team is composed of younger, up-and-coming sons of two well-known riders.
Harry Charles, who rode in the Tokyo Olympics, said Scott Brash is his idol, but he works closely with his own father, longtime team member Peter Charles. Romeo88 and Harry are 48th with a knockdown.
Joseph Stockdale, 65th on Equine America Cacherel, was a cricket player who had to make a choice whether to pursue that sport or ride full-time. He decided on the latter when his father, Tim, was dying, so he could continue working with the horse the family bought as a 3-year-old.
The rest of the top six is Switzerland’s Martin Fuchs, the world number 2, standing third with Leoni Jei, followed by Sweden’s Peter Fredericson and H&M All In. His teammate, world number one Henrik von Eckermann and King Edward, is fifth. The highest-placed North American is Canada’s Tiffany Foster with Figor, in sixth place,
Click here for the individual standings.
Click on this link for team standings.
by Nancy Jaffer | Aug 10, 2022
There’s a new queen of dressage.
Great Britain’s Charlotte Fry made it two victories in a row with the expressive Glamourdale to take the Blue Hors Grand Prix Freestyle this evening at the Ecco FEI World Dressage Championships. It happened the day after she beat the odds and Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour’s Vamos Amigos to win the Grand Prix Special.
Charlotte and the extravagant black stallion earned 90.654 percent for their freestyle as part of a British medley to tunes that included “God Save the Queen” and “Another One Bites the Dust.”
Lottie Fry and Glamourdale.
Odd juxtaposition, but the judges obviously liked it, giving her two 10s for choreography, use of the arena and inventiveness. They weren’t reluctant to hand out more 10s for everything from the extended canter (the gait in which Glamourdale excels) to extended trot, two-tempis and rhythm, energy and elasticity.
“He was just dancing and I was literally loving every second,” said an ecstatic Charlotte, only 26 years old and unable to believe what happened to her in front of 12,000 cheering fans at the Stutteri Ask Stadium in Herning, Denmark.
“I think I never dared to dream of a 90 percent,” she said, explaining that she really appreciated, “the fact that we got it here tonight at the world championships in our second-ever freestyle together with amazing new music.
“Glamourdale went in there and knew what he had to do and he could feel the atmosphere. If there’s a lot of crowd, he’s going to show off even more. I can just sit there, it felt so easy and he was just bouncing through his music.”
She was so excited that she jumped up and down when she stood on the top spot of the podium.
Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour is greeted by Princess Benedikte of Denmark during the medal ceremony.
The competition, presented by Helgstrand, included a bevy of stars, but what made it most exciting was that many saw it as a face-off between Glamourdale and Vamos Amigos, the anchor of the Danish gold medal team that triumphed in the Grand Prix over the weekend.
Cathrine looked nervous as she was led into the arena on her bay gelding, but he was on point, as always, when they got going to themes from “Les Miserables,” which earned 10s and one 9.8 for her music and its interpretation.
Vamos Amigos lacked the expression of Glamourdale, though he was perfectly correct, but what cost Cathrine was the extended trot. It garnered a 6, a 6.5 and a 7, in addition to 7.5s. In the end, her score of 89.411 fell just short of her rival’s. But she was happy anyway.
“It was crazy good to enter the arena today with all the audience meeting us already when we passed through the entrance of the arena,” commented Cathrine.
“I think we have had fantastic sport, what a medal podium we have. And I really thrive under this kind of pressure, it just makes me better. This championship has been good for Denmark and our sport.”
In third place, as was the case in Monday’s Grand Prix Special, the Netherlands’ Dinja van Liere on Hermes found her technical marks lagging behind her artistic marks (80.143/93.657) for a total of 86.900. The three women celebrated on the podium and off, joyfully shaking their bottles of champagne and spraying them on each other until officials told them to go get their horses for the victory pass.
The medalists take their victory pass.
Isabell Werth of Germany, the world’s most decorated dressage rider, wound up ninth on DSP Quantaz (83.339) who is workmanlike but not particularly exciting.
“It was a great experience for Quantaz. He needs more routine, but I am very happy with him today, he really listened to me,” said Isabell.
“We had some mistakes in our 2-tempis and he waited for me to tell him what to do next. We love to compete in this great atmosphere, and in the last piaffe pirouette I was hoping for the audience to cheer–which they did.”
Right behind her was the woman who hold’s the world’s freestyle record, Charlotte Dujardin, but Valegro her multi-gold medal mount is long retired and she was dealing with Imhotep here. He had never done a freestyle, and it was quite a credible effort, good for 83.132 percent. He’s only nine and full of energy, so she was clever not to be too clever and make the challenges she posed doable. Her mentor, Carl Hester, has said Pete, as the horse is known, may be the best he and Charlotte have ever had. That’s saying something.
“I’m so happy with Pete,” said Charlotte, who rode to the same music with which she won individual bronze at the Tokyo Olympics on Gio.
“He’s done absolutely amazing this week and I couldn’t have asked any more from him,” Charlotte enthused.
“He has taken everything in his stride, he’s gone beyond what I thought he could have done here. He’s dealt with the atmosphere and the crowd amazingly. When I go in, they all applaud and he stays very calm. He’s never been in that environment before, so I’m absolutely thrilled with him.”
The USA’s only competitor among the 15 who qualified for the Freestyle was Adrienne Lyle, sixth on Salvino (83.704). This was a first for her with the U.S. team. Adrienne missed competing in the freestyle at the Tokyo Olympics when Salvino wasn’t feeling up to snuff after he and his rider contributed to the team silver medal, and the freestyle at the 2018 world championships was cancelled due to heavy rain.
Adrienne Lyle finally gets her chance to ride the freestyle with Salvino at a team championship. (Photo courtesy U.S. Equestrian)
Herning offered a most welcome opportunity for her to really show off the stallion.
“He was very electric today in the warm-up,” Adrienne mentioned.
“This is the third time he’s been in the stadium now packed with people and he started to realize there was a big crowd in there and had a few more nerves than we normally do, but once we got into the ring, he took a breath and he knew what his job was and what he was doing and that’s what makes him such a special horse.”
She already satisfied her other ambition in coming to Denmark when the U.S. team finished sixth to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics, which was the squad’s main goal.
For full results, click here.
(Feature photo of Lottie Fry courtesy of British Equestrian Federation/Jon Stroud)
