Carl Hester, Becky Moody and Lottie Fry — the brilliant trio who netted team bronze at last year’s Paris Olympic Games — have given Britain more cause to celebrate after securing team silver at the FEI European Dressage Championships.
Riding their Paris horses — Fame, Jagerbomb and Glamourdale respectively, pictured above with their grooms — the team arrived in Crozet, France as the defending champions and just missed out on gold by less than 3%.
Glory went the way of Germany, with this nation’s riders — Isabell Werth (Wendy De Fontaine), Katharina Hemmer (Denoix PCH), Frederic Wandres (Bluetooth OLD) and Ingrid Klimke (Vayron FRH) — finding themselves on the top step of the podium at a Europeans for the 26th time in the history of these championships.
“The competition was completely open; anything could happen, so we’re very happy with the result. It was fun, tense and a really good mix
of everything.
“I’m glad we made it, but it was also just a lucky day,” said Isabell.
Carl leads the way
The star of the British camp was 58-year-old Carl, contesting his 13th Europeans, after he steered his own, Fiona Bigwood and Mette Dahl’s Fame to 76.087%, which would become the team’s top score.
“Every medal’s special, every occasion’s special — you never take anything for granted,” he said.
“Every year that I have Fame I’m just so grateful. I just love riding him so it was lovely to be back on the team again and build on last year’s bronze in Paris.
“It was very exciting this afternoon, because it was wide open. It wasn’t a foregone conclusion and that’s good for the sport.”
Denmark took the bronze, with their team member Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour and Mount St John Freestyle achieving the highest score (80.823%) of the entire competition.
Belgium just missed out on a medal in fourth, ahead of the Netherlands in fifth and Sweden, sixth.
Elimination for British duo
Britain’s campaign got off to a disappointing start when pathfinders Andrew Gould and Indigro were eliminated on veterinary grounds during their test on Thursday morning.
The horse had looked unlevel and the bell was rung during a halt, indicating that there were concerns from the judging panel, before the judge at C, Denmark’s Hans Christian Matthiesen, informed Andrew of his elimination.
“Indigro warmed up well, but just didn’t feel quite his usual, forward self in the arena today,” said Andrew, who was making his senior championship debut.
“While this is a huge disappointment, Indigro is my top priority and I fully support the judges’ decision.”
Disappointment for Germany
There was also disappointment for Germany’s pathfinder, Ingrid Klimke — best known for being one of the country’s top and multi-medalled event riders — after tension crept in as her test aboard Vayron FRH progressed.
The horse also stumbled in the second extended trot, but their lateral work and clean tempi changes were a highlight.
“It is really thanks to my teammates that I am standing here with gold,” said Ingrid, who did do just enough to secure her place in tomorrow’s competition for an individual medal.
‘Quite some pressure’
Andrew’s elimination meant the remaining British riders had to carry counting scores and they delivered.
However, a disappointed Becky, who will be giving a masterclass at this year’s Your Horse Live in November, said “I should have done better” after two errors in the canter — Bomb had changed leads in the extended canter and there was a small hiccup in the canter zigzag — affected their marks.
Lottie and Glamourdale, the individual bronze medallists in Paris, were the final British duo to appear between the white boards and they got off to a bold start.
But a spook in the canter, loss of balance in the first pirouette and below-par piaffes were the difference between a gold medal-winning final score and a silver one.
“It was quite some pressure going in, and in the end we still did a good job with silver,” said Lottie.
“It was very exciting, but I didn’t check the scoreboard before our test. It just wasn’t our day today, that can happen.
“I’m really looking forward to the next days, because Glamourdale always settles in, and usually improves day by day.”
Individual medals
The top 30-placed riders in the grand prix have qualified for the special, which is the first of the individual medal competitions and takes place today (Friday 29 August).
The freestyle, which is the second and final individual competition, will take place on Sunday 31 August.
Images © FEI/Leanjo de Koster
