by Nancy Jaffer | Jul 19, 2024
With social license to operate looming large over horse sports, special attention is being paid to equine welfare on equestrian’s biggest stage.
The “Be a Guardian” initiative was announced just before the Olympics, as the FEI (international equestrian federation) works to “future-proof” the sport against push-back from people concerned about animal welfare. it was a focal point of the FEI Action Plan developed by the Equine Ethics and Wellbeing Commission. According to the FEI, it calls on members of the community “to fully commit to their duties as ‘guardians’ of FEI horses.”
Shouldn’t that have always been the case? And why just FEI horses? Why should those involved with horses at a high level (or really any level) need a reminder to be cognizant of their horses’ welfare? Well, at least the FEI is calling attention to the issue.
As part of the effort, for the first time at the Olympic and Paralympic Games, there will be an Equine Welfare Coordinator. Dr Richard Corde, president of the French League for the Protection of the Horse, is overseeing things. His role is aimed at ensuring all stakeholders play by the welfare rules. He will be handling a responsibility previously divided among stewards, veterinarians and Ground Jury members.
From the get-go at Versailles, where the Olympic equestrian events are being held, horses will have what they need with air-conditioned stables, outdoor areas for exercise and high-quality footing in the main competition arena, on eventing cross-country and in all the training arenas. Environmental conditions, such as heat, humidity and air quality are being monitored to minimize stress and maximize well-being.
Stringent health monitoring protocols will be enforced before, during, and after competition to assess the horses’ fitness and maintain their physical and mental health throughout the Olympics. A team of qualified veterinarians and support staff will conduct regular health assessments, addressing with immediate veterinary care any issues that may arise. Post-event care protocols, including adequate rest periods, will be strictly observed to aid horses in their recovery.
“We cannot prevent every issue, but if we follow these rules and encourage everyone to take responsibility based on our shared values, we can work hard to further improve excellent standards of horse welfare,” stated FEI President Ingmar De Vos.
“As we prepare for the Olympic Games, we are eager to display our sport’s beauty and our dedication to caring for horses responsibly. Together, we are committed to ensuring that every horse at Paris 2024 receives the care and respect they deserve.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Aug 5, 2024
There were some astonishing results in Monday’s Olympic show jumping individual medal qualifier. A couple of very key contenders failed to make the list of 30 eligible starters from a field of 73 seeking a place in Tuesday’s final competition, which still promises to be outstanding.
Podium prospect McLain Ward, for instance, who anchored the USA’s silver medal team last week with the impressive Ilex, had 4 faults at the last of 14 fences, the Le Petit Prince oxer of blue and gray rails named after a famous book.
Only 20 riders were fault-free in the class that drew 73; the other 10 qualifiers all had knockdowns, with the exception of one with a single time penalty. But with time separating the tied 4-fault competitors, McLain was too slow to make the cut, finishing thirty-fourth in 75.50 seconds.
Of Ilex, McLain observed, “He was brilliant; actually jumped it very easy.
“Coming down the last line, it was getting easy coming to the (out) gate. I think I just got myself a little bit anxious and put on little more leg than I needed and made him go a little flat. It was just a small rider error. It’s a little frustrating,” he said.
McLain Ward looks back at his fallen rail.
That’s particularly true because his horse is capable of handling bigger challenges than what was laid out in the Versailles arena.
“For me, I wish it was a more difficult track. It was very soft,” he suggested. (Click here to see the course diagram)
“We’ve seen a lot of that this year, 30 clear in Rotterdam, 25 clear in Aachen. My horse is a big jumper. I wish it was a little bit stronger track. The rail was my fault.”
Richard Vogel of Germany is another who was expected to vie for medals in the final, where riders all start with a clean slate but run in the final according to their order of merit from the qualifier. Richard toppled three rails with United Touch S as he rushed to make a time that would get him in the final. The stallion is deemed one of the world’s best horses and a jumper everyone would like to have in their stable. He finished fifty-fifth and thus will not be seen again at these Games.
The defending gold medalist from the Tokyo Games, Britain’s Ben Maher, had a very bad moment when Dallas Vegas Batilly crashed through the trapezoid-shaped wall at the start of the last line, sending blocks flying everywhere. There were numbers on the pieces, so the ring crew could put the dizzying pattern of suns and horse heads back together properly. No other horses took issue with the obstacle.
Ben Maher and his mare scatter some bricks.
With his great skill, Ben didn’t turn a hair and recouped to finish twenty eighth.
“I don’t know what happened. She felt amazing today,” said Ben of his mount
In terms of the wall, he noted there was a shadow there at the time he rode, which could have affected her perception.
“She rolled around the corner and as she took off, it took her by surprise. Luckily, I’m a little older and experienced, and we made a quick recovery together.”
Ben had a plan B to insure he was fast enough to get into the final if he had a knockdown, and it worked.
Despite having a rail at the C element of the troublesome Champs Elysee triple combination, the USA’s Laura Kraut wound up twenty- seventh and will start on Tuesday, when the class begins at 4 a.m. Eastern time.
Laura Kraut and Baloutinue. (U.S. Equestrian Photo)
While she felt confident going in, Laura noted, “it’s a different sort of mindset when you know how many are clear already. Any mistake is going to be very costly. I jumped into the triple and he jumped a little right. I didn’t hear him hit it; I heard the crowd” (reacting to the knockdown).
She agreed with McLain that course designers Gregory Bodo of France and Santiago Varela of Spain had made their route “a little bit softer,” taking into account that some riders were not in the team competition and so hadn’t jumped in the ring.
But Laura felt the course was well done and noted “nobody’s on the ground. I think it’s been a great week for show jumping.” As for Baloutinue, she emphasized, “I couldn’t ask for a better horse to have in an Olympics.”
Karl Cook, who originally was the U.S. alternate, put in his amazing clear round number three of the Games with Caracole de la Roque. Karl, who gained his spot on the team after Kent Farrington’s Greya suffered allergy problems, had a remarkable Olympic debut as he helped the U.S. to team silver last week.
Karl Cook and Caracole de la Roque. (US Equestrian Photo)
Of his mare, he said, “She has more energy today than she had before, she feels stronger, more power, which is a great thing,” said Karl, who knows she is excited to show.
Karl warms up Cara in a regular bridle, then switches to a hackamore, where he has no option for adjustability. But as he noted, it works for jumping.
Interestingly, the man who previously rode Cara, France’s Julien Epaillard, lived up to his speed demon reputation in the qualifier by finishing first in the class with Dubai du Cedre. Julien, who also rides this mare in a hackamore, will have the advantage of going last in the final, where time will determine the placings when there is a tie.
Julien (who’s in our cover photo) was clocked in 73.07 seconds. The slowest of the fault-free rounds within the 79-second time allowed was Japan’s Takashi Haase Shibayama on Karamell M&M (78.97).
Julien Epaillard triumphant.
Julien recounted, “It was a lot of pressure in the team, I was last to go and playing for a medal and you don’t want to disappoint anyone. Today, the weight was off my shoulders and I rode differently, more relaxed. Also, my mare is every day more relaxed and it helped me to have more precision.
“But it was not so easy, because it’s not a big, big, course. It’s more delicate and a bit open, which is not the best for me. I like when it’s a bit short (distances) with my mare, but I’m really happy to be to be in the final tomorrow.”
He won individual bronze at last year’s European Championship and was second this year in the FEI World Cup Finals. Although France medaled in the eventing and show jumping team events, it has yet to enjoy a gold, so the home side wlll be rooting for Epaillard to end the Games with a win.
EquiRatings analytics gives Julien a 7 percent win chance
Ireland had been favored by many to win the team gold Friday, but only Daniel Coyle had a clear round and they were out of the medals. Today Daniel was clean again on Legacy (he’s one of my medal picks), but it wasn’t the best of circumstances for him. He had food poisoning the night before the class.
“I was under a lot of pressure today in all the wrong ways,” he said.
“But I was just trying to get through the finish with a good score, because after this week, my mare deserves to be in the final no matter what. So I would have been disappointed if she wasn’t there”, he said.
His teammate, Shane Sweetnam, also left all the rails in place with the lovely James Kann Cruz.
“We didn’t really have the rub of the green on Friday,” he said. “When I watched the video of my round (in the team jumping), it was like he just breathed on that fence (that came down). But that’s just show jumping for you. You have to have a little bit of luck, and today we had it on our side.”
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by Nancy Jaffer | Jul 24, 2024
There is no such thing as a sure thing.
Remember that when you and your friends are guessing—even doing educated guessing—about who will win the equestrian medals at the Olympics.
As the Games get under way this week in Paris, there are, of course, clear favorites. But you never know what can happen with them. The Charlotte Dujardin scandal illustrates that with painful detail.
And in making predictions, remember that where horses are involved, things can change fast. Again, reference Charlotte Dujardin. You couldn’t have predicted this story, and the way the timing of the accusation was arranged just before the Olympics, 2-and-a-half years after the incident.
Charlotte Dujardin and Imhotep.
Britain was under the most pressure going into the Games, because it always had the most to lose. It may well have won gold in dressage if Charlotte was part of the team, and is favored for eventing gold, as well as at least one individual medal in that sport.
In show jumping, Ireland, my choice for team gold, lost its reserve rider when Bertram Allen reported that he was withdrawing due to an injury to his horse, Pacino Amiro. These things often happen on the cusp of the Games.
“I was really looking forward to our second Olympic participation, but my horse’s health is the priority. I will definitely be cheering loudly for our Irish team,” Bertram stated on social media.
Ireland fortunately has great depth in show jumpers, so Bertram will be replaced by Darragh Kenny on VDL Cartello. But remember, Olympic teams have only three members and no drop score, so Ireland’s squad that actually will be competing is still intact.
It’s comprised of Shane Sweetnam (James Kann Cruz), Cian O’Connor (Maurice) and Daniel Coyle (Legacy). Ireland has never won an Olympic team show jumping medal, so this could well be the year, though defending champion Sweden will put on the strongest of challenges, while the U.S. and Germany also are clearly medal threats. And don’t count out the French wanting to show their best before a home crowd.
Ireland’s Daniel Coyle and Legacy. (Photo © 2024 by Nancy Jaffer)
Individually, how can you bet against Sweden’s world number one Henrik von Eckermann and the sensationally consistent King Edward, whose name suits him? But then there is defending gold medalist Ben Maher of Great Britain on Point Break, a different horse than Explosion, the one that took him to the top of the podium in Tokyo. And plenty of others are in the running for individual medals. Cian looks like a possibility. He is the only Irish rider who has medaled in Olympic show jumping. Ever. Germany’s Richard Vogel does a fantastic job with United Touch S and I have been impressed by Germany’s Christian Kukuk and Checker. They won the last big grand prix of the season at the Winter Equestrian Festival in style.
McLain Ward and Ilex. (Photo © 2024 by Nancy Jaffer)
Meanwhile, the USA’s McLain Ward seemed to have found the key to his ride of six months, Ilex, with a tight second-place finish in the Rolex grand prix at Aachen this month. McLain has two Olympic team gold medals, but still needs an individual medal for his collection. And could McLain’s teammates, Laura Kraut (Baloutinue) and Kent Farrington (Greya) somehow figure in the individual medal race?
In eventing, Great Britain is generally considered the candidate for team gold, defending its Tokyo title and going for a historic fifth title in the Games.
European Champion Ros Canter (Lordships Graffalo), a favorite for individual gold, has teammates (Laura Collett/London 52 and Tom McEwen/JLDublin) who are also in the running for individual medals.
The three-person format with no drop score is the same for all the Olympic disciplines, but it matters most in eventing with the three-phase format and the caprices of cross-country causing bumps in the prognostication road.
Great Britain’s Tom McEwen and JL Dublin. Photo © 2024 by Nancy Jaffer
Germany is probably Britain’s stiffest competition for top honors, with marvelous Michi Jung and fischerChipmunk FRH leading the way. At 16, this is likely Chipmunk’s last championship stand. The team was just joined by the first woman to win individual Olympic gold, Julia Krajewski, the Tokyo star. She is riding Nickel, the horse who won the Aachen eventing this month. Julia replaced the 2022 world championship team gold medal combo of Sandra Auffarth and Viamant du Matz, who was said to be not fit. The third member of the team is Christoph Wahler and Carjatan S. Calvin Bockmann and Phantom of the Opera have moved into the reserve slot.
The U.S. has a solid squad, even with the last-minute swap of Will Coleman’s mount, Diabolo, for Liz Halliday’s Nutcracker. Diabolo, who had replaced Will’s original mount, Off the Record, won the 4-star at Kentucky in April, but had developed an abcess and was replaced. Nutcracker was eighth in the Defender Kentucky 5-star that weekend. (See full story in the On the Rail section of this website, or click here).
Liz Halliday and Nutcracker at Kentucky. (Photo © 2024 by Nancy Jaffer)
Boyd Martin and Federman B, an excellent jumper, will be looking for an individual medal as well as team honors for the U.S. It would be the first time in two decades that the team medaled if they reach the podium. Caroline Pamucku is making her Olympic debut with HSH Blake, but she has proven herself to be reliable. At 29. Caroline is the youngest U.S. rider in Paris, and at age 9, Blake is the youngest horse with the American flag on his saddlepad.
We can’t ignore New Zealand, definitely in medal territory book-ended by the husband/wife powerhouse of Tim and Jonelle Price, with Clark Johnstone as the third member. Reserve, if you can believe it, is Badminton winner Caroline Powell. An embarrassment of riches. So the Kiwis are well-covered if they lose a team member.
Boyd Martin and Federman B training at Versailles. (US Equestrian photo)
Also expect the French to be in medal territory, or at least its suburbs. As we said with show jumping, they have the impetus of the home crowd behind them. With a French course designer, we’ve seen cross-country really scramble the standings at previous championships, and you can expect the same here with Pierre le Goupil doing the honors.
The fact that the dressage test will be new and shorter could also be a major factor in figuring out who wins what, making it more unpredictable than usual. And don’t forget the atmosphere at Versailles, even though spectators will be further back from the arena than they are in Aachen. That is going to add to the excitement and dare I say it, tension.
Eventers will be the first to test it out with their dressage phase, at 3:30 a.m. Eastern Time on Saturday (9:30 a.m. French time). We’ll be covering, so stay in bed and read our bulletins when you get up for a report on the action. If you want to watch, the livestream is on Peacock, but it starts at 3:30 a.m. Eastern time. USA Network will show the first 10 riders from 3:30-4:30 a.m. Eastern. E! network will have a delayed program of top riders from 4:30-6 p.m. Eastern time.
While anything can happen in show jumping and eventing, where a rail or a refusal may befall the best of contenders, dressage tends to be a little more predictable. But not necessarily (see Charlotte Dujardin).
Britain, with Carl Hester (Fame) and world champion Lottie Fry (Glamourdale) had been my choice for gold when Charlotte was on the squad with Imhotep. Now, they could be in the medals, but it’s no sure thing. Becky Moody and Jagerbomb, who have taken Charlotte’s place, are a worthy pair, but inexperienced. So that makes Germany the gold medal choice, and world number one Jessica von Bredow-Werndl the likely individual gold medalist with TSF Dalera BB.
The eternal Isabell Werth is also an individual medal candidate with Aachen sensation Wendy de Fontaine and depending on how things go, might give Jessica a good challenge for gold. Their number three, Frederic Wandres with Bluetooth Old, isn’t quite at that level (he was more than 6 percent behind Isabell in the freestyle at Aachen, from which Jessica was absent). Alternate Ingrid Klimke withdrew a few days ago after her Franziskus was injured. Sönke Rothenberger and Fendi are replacing Ingrid and Franz.
Denmark is strong, but not strong enough to move ahead of Germany; it could be in a dead heat with Britain, though. Nanna Skodborg Merrald and Zepter may wind up in a battle for individual bronze. The Dutch, previously a dark horse team, can be well into the medal fray now. Interestingly, Dutch star Dinja van Liere (Hermes) will be at the Versailles venue just a few weeks before her brother, Joeri, competes there in wheelchair basketball at the Paralympics. Perhaps Dinja could be an individual medal contender with Hermes.
Pan American Games individual gold medalist Julio Mendoza Loor of Ecuador deserves a look in the freestyle; he should make the cut for that competition. The U.S.-based rider and Jewel’s Goldstrike did very well at Aachen, and while he’s not a medal contender, his performance and enthusiasm will speak well to the push for more countries in equestrian events at the Olympics.
And what about the U.S.?
If you had been speculating last November on who would be named to the U.S. dressage team for Paris, the only name you would have gotten right was Steffen Peters, with the “rave horse” from the Tokyo Games, Suppenkasper. The other combinations that make up the team and the alternate hadn’t even come together yet.
Considering how long it usually takes for a dressage horse and rider to reach the highest level, it definitely was a last-minute deal when Heidi Humphries of Zen Elite Equestrian bought Helix for two-time Olympian Adrienne Lyle and Bohemian for Endel Ots, who had never ridden in an international Grand Prix. But Adrienne made the team and Endel is the reserve. The third member of the squad is Marcus Orlob, who just began riding Alice Tarjan’s Jane in March.
The U.S. isn’t in the medal hunt, but with 15 teams entered, a finish in the top five or six is something to which the U.S. can aspire.
Marcus Orlob and Jane. (Susan J. Stickle Photography)
“We really had to patiently watch these combinations form a partnership and it’s remarkable how that has happened in that short of a time,” said U.S. chef d’equipe Christine Traurig.
“I think we have potential on the team. We know Steffen is very well capable of scoring about a 75 percent. He has proven that in the past. I really feel also that after Jane and Marcus scored so well in Kronberg (during an observation competition) that they are also capable of a score around 75 percent.
“When we look at Helix and Adrienne, I think it’s the same there. I will say we’re going to jump up close to the scores of the other internationally, more confirmed established horses and by established, I mean they have repetitively shown over a period of, not six months, but over a period of one year, two years, if not three years. That’s what I call established with a solid average in that score.
“Do we have that this year? No, we don’t. but should we be excited about having such a good team with such potential? In there we have a solid and seasoned horse and rider in Steffen and Suppenkasper, a proven combination. We have a younger combination in 10-year-old Jane and Marcus Orlob, and that is exciting for us, and exciting for the sport in our country. It is a horse Alice (Tarjan) bought when three years old, trained by Alice through young horse years with the coaching of Marcus and has been produced to Grand Prix in the U.S. That’s a wonderful statement and that’s exciting for us.
Christine Traurig.
“Adrienne is a fantastic rider. What she has accomplished with that horse in a very short time is simply incredible. He has a long career ahead of him and he will get better and better,” Christine emphasized.
“What is our goal? Our goal is to be as good as we can possibly be and to show the world we are not sleeping on the job. Here is where we are at the Paris Olympics and then on to the world championships (2026) and Los Angeles (2028 Olympics).
“It says something about America,” she pointed out.
“There is no standstill. We are moving forward and upward.”
by Nancy Jaffer | Jul 30, 2024
The Cinderella story of dressage did not have a happy ending, as the USA’s Marcus Orlob and Jane were eliminated in their Olympic debut partway through their Grand Prix test after a judge spotted a nick on the mare’s right hind leg. Although it was small, it showed up on the front of her white fetlock. Had the leg been brown or black, the scratch likely wouldn’t have been obvious from the judge’s booth.
The 10-year-old mare had whirled after entering the arena, trying to follow the previous horse who was leaving. For eventing dressage, horses entered and exited through separate gates, but that was not the case for Grand Prix. It is believed Jane cut herself as she spun quickly and half-reared.
Marcus has a cool head and did a great job of calming her down and getting her into the ring, where her test was going well, with marks as high as 7.6 for half-pass. But it was in the zig-zag that the horn sounded for him to stop, and judge Suzanne Baarup, president of the ground jury, came out to tell him why he was being excused.
The U.S. Equestrian Federation reported that after Jane returned to stabling she was relaxing in her stall and the cut was no longer bleeding.
Recalling what had happened, Marcus said, “I was excited to go down center line; clearly Jane, too.
“I believe she maybe nicked herself in the entry, because I never had this issue. She felt in the ring amazing, I was super happy with her once we went down center line. She settled nicely and unfortunately, due to blood, we are eliminated. It’s like a very minor cut, almost like a mosquito bite,” he noted.
“We showered her, nothing to see anymore, she’s happy, she’s healthy. It was bad luck. Unfortunately, that’s our sport.”
Although the crowd made her nervous in the beginning, “Once I got going, she got more and more relaxed,” commented Marcus, who said he was thinking, “Okay, I’ve got this now. I was really sad to hear the bell.”
Marcus Orlob and Jane in their test. (U.S. Equestrian Photo)
That marks the end for the U.S. team in Paris, since there are no drop scores in the Olympics and teams have only three members. Although the U.S. was not a candidate for a medal, it was expect to finish in the top six or seven in the field of 15 countries.
Adrienne Lyle and Steffen Peters, the other team members, are continuing to ride, trying to qualify for the freestyle, which will accept 18 entries. Adrienne scored 72.593 percent Tuesday percent with Helix. That is on the cusp of what is believed will be the qualifying score for the Freestyle. Six-time Olympian Steffen rides Suppenkasper on Wednesday.
Marcus, who only began riding Alice Tarjan’s Jane in March, just made the cut for the U.S. contingent that went to Europe, where competition there would help determine who would be on the U.S. team.
A native of Germany who is a naturalized American citizen based in Annandale, N.J. Marcus had been Alice’s coach. But she turned over the mare she had trained to him because she wasn’t strong enough to show Jane at her best.
The thought of being in the Olympics with such a short run-up was amazing, especially since Marcus had never been on a U.S. team. But the combination had amazing performances in the observation trials in Germany and won a team place on the basis of those scores and the potential they showed.
Adrienne only began riding Helix this year, but she is a two-time Olympian and the horse had been competed previously in European Grands Prix by a Swedish rider.
Adrienne Lyle and Helix against the backdrop of the chateau at Versailles. (U.S. Equestrian Photo)
Having Marcus eliminated before her ride was bad timing, and Adrienne felt for her teammate at the same time she knew she had to focus on her own ride. But of course, she was sad.
“My heart just broke for him,” Adrienne said.
“I thought he was riding so beautifully and that’s such an incredible horse and combination coming up. To be having such a great ride and hear the bell ring, none of us knew why at first. Sometimes those things happen. The good thing is the horse is fine. Hopefully, he left a nice impression on everybody to see what they’re capable of.”
In terms of her performance, Adrienne said, “I am thrilled with my horse out there. He was really excited at first and the fact that he settled down and trusted me means everything.”
Taking the ride on a horse trained by someone else, when she usually does her own training, “was a challenge and not something I’d done before. It was learning to speak each other’s language.”
Her score was “about dead-on with our average when qualifying. I’m excited for the future.”
Click here for individual results. Click here for team results
by Nancy Jaffer | Jul 30, 2024
While the elimination of Marcus Orlob’s ride, Jane, for a tiny cut on her fetlock was the biggest news as the Olympic dressage competition got under way in Paris (click here to read the story), the big picture of the discipline there was quite compelling.
In his seventh Olympics, Carl Hester headlined for the British team on Fame, earning 77.345 percent. He was chuffed, as the British say, meaning they are delighted.
“It’s a good score. The horse went really well. I haven’t competed for a few months, I’ve got some more tweaking to do,” said Carl, who is bent on qualifying for the Freestyle so he can ride to his new music, saying its character reflects his age, which is 57. By Sunday, he said, he’ll be ready to “step on the gas and go for it” with “one of the most fun horses of my career.”
He was third, not very far behind Denmark’s Nanna Skodborg Merrald on Zepter (78.028) and the Netherlands’ Dinja van Liere with Hermes (77.764).
Nanna Skodborg Merrald of Denmark and Zepter.
Nanna mused, “I think I had a really good solid test without big mistakes but also plenty of room for improvement. I think in my changes I couldn’t have done a lot better, but in piaffe-passage and the pirouettes there’s still room for asking for more.”
Cooling stations for horses were set up across the venue as temperatures soared well into the 90s, but despite the heat, there was a packed house for dressage, as there had been for eventing on Monday. Carl was glad to see it.
He believes that indicates, “There is hope equestrian can survive (in the Olympics. There are huge amount of people enjoying it. We have to show the positives of the sport.”
Carl well knows that horse sport is under fire, because he is the mentor of Charlotte Dujardin, who became the center of a viral scandal when a video emerged days before the Games of her using a longe whip to hit a horse repeatedly during a lesson at a private stable. As a result, Charlotte bowed out of the Games, where she was to have ridden on the British team. Her presence (if there were no scandal) would have given her country a chance of edging Germany for the gold medal. Without her, that outcome seems unlikely.
Carl Hester and Fame. (Photo Jon Stroud Media)
“I think now we’re probably looking at bronze, if it goes well,” Carl mused, noting reserve rider Becky Moody was thrown into the fray with 17.3-hand Jagerbomb in the absence of Charlotte. Becky did well, earning 74.938 percent, ahead of Sweden’s World Cup Champion Patrik Kittel on Showdown (74.317).
Becky called riding her own horse in the Olympics, “An amazing experience. What a horse! He is so special to me. I bred him, so we have done everything together.
“I think we both went in there a little nervous and apprehensive, but we helped each other out,” said the former Pony Clubber. She is now qualified for the Freestyle along with Patrik, Nanna, Dinja, Fredric Wandres of Germany and Daniel Bachmann Andersen of Denmark. Carl is first on the waiting list for the six extra places, with the rest of the field yet to ride on Wednesday.
“I’m just so proud of him,” said Becky.
“It’s an incredible venue and we’ve got an incredible team around us.”
Becky Moody of Great Britain with her homebred Jagerbomb. (Photo Jon Stroud Media)
Team spirit is important, as the margin is very close after day one of competition among Denmark (154.938), Britain (152.238) and Sweden (145.870). The Dutch are also a big threat. Only the top 10 teams among 15 nations (now 14, since the U.S. was eliminated, read the Orlob story) move on to compete for the medals in the Grand Prix Special on Saturday. But the scores are indicative of what’s ahead.
“We’ve got to fight for any medal now,” Carl noted, then mentioned that World Champion Lottie Fry is still to come for Britain on Wednesday in part two of the Grand Prix with Glamourdale, whose long stride just eats up the ground.
The FEI has suspended Charlotte and is investigating the situation depicted in the video. It is a real concern for many reasons, but also under the current situation of social license to operate, which seeks public approval for the sport. Dressage has come under criticism with several public instances of problem training practices, though none is higher profile than Charlotte.
Carl was unaware of the existence of the video — calling it “a huge shock” — before a lawyer made it public on behalf of a whistleblower. Carl has concern for Charlotte, Britain’s multi-gold medalist, who trains at his barn.
“I’ve known her for 17 years. She’s a mom, she’s got a small child and she’s paid very heavily for this in a way you just wouldn’t believe. I know she will have to accept what the FEI gives her, and she will. I hope she’s strong enough to come back from that,” he said.
Carl noted he had never before seen what she was doing on the video. At the same time, he mentioned she has apologized and “she’s surrounded by people trying to help her. She obviously accepts what she did, which she had to do, and I’m glad she’s done that. It’s four years ago,” he said of the date of the video, though it actually appears to be two-and-a-half years ago.
“People do make mistakes. What do we do, never forgive people for all the things that happen in life? it’s going to be a long road for her…and everyone in the horse world.”
“We’re all in shock,” commented Carl, who is on the board of the International Dressage Riders Club, which condemned the whipping. For his part, Carl emphasized, he has an open yard (stable) “where people can see horse welfare to be at its highest by the way I keep my horses.”
click here for team results. Click here for individual results.
by Nancy Jaffer | Jul 31, 2024
It was disappointment on top of heartbreak for U.S. dressage during the final day of Grand Prix competition Wednesday, as six-time Olympian Steffen Peters put in a test that didn’t come close to breaking 70 percent, uncharacteristically finishing on a lackluster 66.491 percent with his veteran mount, Suppenkasper.
“That was tough,” said a discouraged Steffen after his turn in the packed stadium, where spectators busily waved hand-held fans to ward off the oppressive heat.
“He was a little too much on fire. He’s been in places like this before and I thought right up to the walk I had him,” Steffen recounted.
“Then he got more and more excited, even on the last extension. He was drifting a little right. He saw something on the short side and that gave him from behind so much energy for the last passage. I knew that could be trouble for the last piaffe. He’s 16 years old and still has endless energy. I sit almost a little bit in a two-point (position in the saddle) even that was not working today. Unfortunate, very unfortunate.”
Suppenkasper, who gained fame and followers as the “Rave” horse from his 2021 Tokyo Olympics freestyle, got marks as low as 2 and 3 for some movements. On the final center line, he looked odd, with his right front leg pointing awkwardly before he got himself together for a halt where his marks ranged from 2 to 5.
This followed Tuesday’s shocker, when Marcus Orlob was putting in a promising test with Jane when the judge stopped him, pointing to a tiny scratch on the mare’s right hind fetlock. The mare must have scratched herself when she spooked and whirled around after entering the arena, but Orlob had her in hand once he went between the white fences and she was performing well when the judge intervened. The scratch only showed because her fetlock is white. If it had been black, like her body, it wouldn’t have been noticed. With only three members to a team and no drop score under Olympic rules, the U.S. was eliminated.
Steffen Peters and Suppenkasper.
Three-time Olympian Adrienne Lyle, the third team member, had a nice test Tuesday with Helix, a horse she has been riding only since January, but their score of 72.593 percent didn’t make the cut for her to be among the 18 riders who will compete for individual honors Sunday in the Freestyle. She finished twentieth. Steffen was fifty-first.
“I deeply share Steffen’s disappointment with his ride today, especially taking into consideration what this combination has done for this sport, the country and worldwide, bringing so much positive engagement to our sport over the past few years,” said Chef d’Equipe Christine Traurig.
“It became obvious to me during their test, Mopsie was not himself. After returning to the stabling, he was taken care of by his team and our team USEF veterinarian and he is starting to feel more himself, which is the important thing.”
So far, it’s an understatement to say it hasn’t been a lucky Games for the Americans.The eventers had a couple of mishaps and missed a medal and now dressage is finished without that squad even qualifying for the team competition Saturday in the Grand Prix Special. It never had a chance at medals anyway, but there was hope the U.S. could finish in the top five or six of the 15-nation field.
Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour and Freestyle.
World number one and defending Olympic champion Jessica von Bredow-Werndl of Germany and TSF Dalera BB predictably finished first in the Grand Prix on a score of 82.065.
“It was a fantastic feeling inside the arena and breathtaking to see how the audience carried us into the ring,” said Jessica.
“I’m happy because I had some hiccups in the Grand Prix at the German Championships in Balve, which was the rehearsal for here. But sometimes when the rehearsal is bad then the performance is good, and that’s how it worked out.”
Dalera, light and lovely as always, is 17, and the question of retirement will soon be answered. So enjoy watching this star in her last Olympics. She is really a treat. The 10s among her marks came in piaffe and a transition. She got a 5 in the collected walk, so she’s not perfect, although you’d likely get an argument from many of the spectators about that.
Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour of Denmark, who just missed the podium in Tokyo when she finished fourth, is second on Charlotte Dujardin’s former ride, Freestyle (80.792).
Freestyle hasn’t been competing at the top of the sport much recently. So Cathrine explained, “My plan today was to not push her but just see what she offered. When I picked up the first passage I said to her `You just give me whatever you want and then I’m just gonna say what we are supposed to do.’
“So I’m really proud of her, and I think it was a perfect start for me and her at the Games here in Paris,” said Cathrine, who took team gold and double silver at the FEI World Championships in 2022 with Vamos Amigos.
Talking about building an understanding with Freestyle, she explained, “the main thing has been to really create a proper friendship with her, not just like pretending, but really see if she could allow me in there, which she did quite quickly.
“I was quite amazed. Animals are amazing if you treat them well and show them trust. Another key word for me has been respectful leadership. Because in some way, I had to be the leader to show her around in a dressage test. But at the same time, respect where she’s coming from, because she’s a skilled young lady. She has done a lot and she has been educated amazingly, and she is a performer.”
Germany’s Isabell Werth came in third with 79.363 aboard her new mount, Wendy de Fontaine. All scores now go back to zero for the next competitions.
Of Wendy, Isabell commented, “She was so focused and so with me that it was amazing. We have only done six or seven Grand Prix, but it’s so amazing how we are growing together and how honest she is to me.”
Isabell, competing in her seventh Games, is determined to help the young mare develop, improve and reach her maximum potential.
“You can only do that in competition, so Aachen (where Wendy was a star) was really helpful, with three competitions there. She is only a 10-year-old horse and as they get older, they get more muscles, they get more power, they get more experience, so everything works together. Riding her is really a pleasure.”
Fourth in the Grand Prix was Britain’s world champion Lottie Fry and Glamourdale (78.913). She was in the unenviable position of being the pathfinder for Wednesday’s group of riders.
“To go first on day two is always a little bit more challenging, but he was absolutely incredible in there,” said Lottie, who noted that because of the heat, going early could be considered an advantage.
“I had a great ride, a great feeling, and he just loved it. I think you could see that by his face at the end when everyone is cheering for him. He just loved every second of it, and was taking it all in. It’s really an honor to ride down the center line at the Olympics in Paris and I think what we’ve done has put us in a really good place as a team.”
Lottie Fry and Glamourdale. (Photo Jon Stroud Media)
“We had a little moment in the rein-back, (she was marked at 5.9) which was a shame, but apart from that, I couldn’t fault it – he really gave everything. He’s improved a lot, he’s got much stronger, and when he was in there, he just performed at his best, and I couldn’t ask much more.”
Britain is third in the team standings, behind Germany and Denmark, but that’s just a way to gauge the countries’ strengths, since they start from scratch in the next two competitions. The other teams that qualified for Saturday’s Special for the team medals are the Netherlands in fourth, followed by Sweden, Belgium, France, Austria, Finland and Australia.
Jessica von Bredow-Werndl topped the dressage standings on Wednesday with TSF Dalera BB.
Show jumping begins Thursday with the USA’s strongest team in Paris taking the field. Olympic team gold medalists Laura Kraut (Baloutinue) and McLain Ward (Ilex), are on the squad with first-time Olympian Karl Cook (Caracole de la Roque), subbing for Olympic veteran, Kent Farrington (Greya). The last-minute change had to do with an allergy-related situation with Greya, and considering there is no drop score, the decision was to be “erring on the side of extreme caution” with the switch, said coach Robert Ridland.
