The Victorian glass-roofed grand hall at Olympia has witnessed some spectacular pre-Christmas dressage competition over the years but last night’s fifth leg of the Reem Acra FEI World Cup was one of the most special yet. The fact that the venue was a sell-out ten weeks before the competition is testament to the phenomenal rise in popularity of the ‘dancing horses’ and our medallists, some international stars and Olympia debutantes didn’t disappoint an expectant crowd.
Having convincingly won the Grand Prix on Monday night with a new world record score of 84.447%, the pressure was on Charlotte Dujardin with Carl Hester & Roly Luard’s Valegro to produce something special once again. Last time they rode to their Tom Hunt composed British medley, the combination was in front of 24,000 at Greenwich and secured a historic individual gold so expectations were exceptionally high.
You could almost have heard a pin drop as the pair entered the electric arena but something startled ‘Blueberry’ on entry so Charlotte didn’t get the start she’d hoped for. “Something spooked him coming in”, Charlotte explained afterwards. “It messed up the whole beginning, but he settled down in canter. The changes and extensions are quite tough for horses when that happens, but I was actually very happy with them as it turned out. Three times now I’ve ridden this test – just once I’d like it to be mistake free!” she said. There was a loss of rhythm in some of the piaffe work which is unusual for the horse but his ever reliable extended trot earned three tens from the judges. There were mistakes but a score of 87.975% gave them a 7% victory over Germany’s Isabell Werth and Don Johnson FRH, a combination with much more to come. Hearing the chimes of Big Ben, seeing passage to The Great Escape and witnessing extended canter to Land of Hope and Glory sent the crowds home happy and buzzing.
Charlotte commented on the atmosphere in the arena; “At the Olympics there were 24,000 spectators watching, but they were a long way away. Here tonight it was very different, they were so close you could hear them breathing!” In a touching gesture, Charlotte gave two young supporters in the crowd her rosettes – something they’ll cherish for years to come!
When asked if this was her last ride with Valegro, coolly she said; “I don’t think of it like that. Each ride is a bonus and I take it each one at a time. We’re working to get a syndicate together but nothing is finalised.”
Two wins were the icing on the cake for the young lady from Enfield who ends the year with two out of three world records and two gold medals. Sound like a lot of twos but really, she’s number one all round!
The crowd also witnessed the end of one of the greatest modern day British dressage partnerships when Carl Hester rode stallion Uthopia for a final time in competition. Carl made no secret of his disappointment with Monday’s Grand Prix result when they finished sixth with 71.128%, their lowest score since early 2010 so he was hoping to finish on a high. That they did. A ‘stress free’ test showing copybook skill, strength and finesse was awarded 79.9%, just a fraction behind Isabell. Every one of the crowd were on their feet as Carl and ‘Uti’ exited the arena and it was at this point the emotion of it all hit the Newent-based rider. He said, “I wasn’t emotional coming in, I was quite looking forward to it, but when I finished, you kind of get the feeling for what the horses have done for British dressage, so I did feel emotional coming out. The plan always was that he was to be sold, but I do always like to remember that I was lucky to keep the horse for so long”. Carl has a soft-spot for Olympia and rates it among his favourite shows so it was a great place to end the partnership which has done so much to raise the standard and profile of dressage in Britain.
Fourth spot went to Sweden’s Minna Tilde on 77.05% with the black stallion Santana who has adapted exceptionally well to losing his near-side eye after a minor stable accident which worsened. Minna and Santana got into the Christmas spirit by donning a pair of antlers and a santa hat for the presentation which the crowd loved.
John and Julie Deverill’s grey mare Half Moon Delphi gets better each time out with Michael Eilberg and a fifth place with 76.225% has really put the combination on the international map. Their energetic, technical latin-inspired routine was a real crowd-pleaser – but the most pleased of the evening looked to be Michael’s father, Ferdi who was delighted with the performance. Michael said that competing at Olympia was a dream come true but he’d always imagined he’d get there as a jumper, not in dressage!
Nikki Crisp and Pasoa were ninth with 72.98% while Hannah Biggs was 15th on 68.45% with Weltzin.
Carl thanks his faithful partner 'Uti' after their last ride together. “I wasn’t emotional coming in, I was quite looking forward to it, but when I finished, you kind of get the feeling for what the horses have done for British dressage, so I did feel emotional coming out.'' (images courtesy of Risto Aaltonen, 2012)
FEI Facts and Figures:
- Olympia Horse Show in London (GBR) presented the fifth leg of the Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage 2012/2013 series.
- The members of the Ground Jury at the British fixture were: At H, F Verbeek (NED); At E, L Tornblad (DEN); At C, S Clarke (GBR); At M, A Gardner (GBR); At B, K Wuest (GER).
- 15 horse-and-rider combinations competed in Tuesday’s Grand Prix Freestyle to Music.
- Tickets for this competition were sold out over two months in advance.
- Competitors representing 8 nations - Great Britain, Portugal, Norway, Belgium, The Netherlands, Australia, Sweden and Denmark - lined out in the class.
- In the preliminary Grand Prix staged at Olympia on Monday 17 December, Olympic champions Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro (GBR) established a new world-record with their winning score of 84.447.
- Britain's Carl Hester and Uthopia competed together for the final time tonight when they finished third.
- Three further qualifiers take place in the Western European League before the Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage Final which will be held in Gothenburg, Sweden next April.
- Amsterdam in The Netherlands will host the next leg on Saturday 18 January 2013.
- Just three riders per nation can qualify for the Final.
Full results from Olympia – click here