Our pony foursome have made history this morning in taking Britain’s first ever dressage team gold at the FEI European Pony Championships in Malmo, Sweden.
After two great performances on day one yesterday from pathfinder Izzy Berrington and DHI Langar (70.667%) (below) and team debutante Clare Hole with Rembrandt DDH (71.667%) (upper right), Britain lay in bronze position with two experienced combinations to come this morning. Leaders were Denmark with the Germans in Silver.
Rebecca Bell was early on this morning and posted another 71%+ score with Valido’s Sunshire to keep us in the medal hunt. Denmark also laid the gauntlet down with a 73.71% with the third German rider posting 73.3%. So the battle was on with the final round to go.
First of the teams in with a medal shout was Denmark and their final rider posted 74.128% - boosting their consistent scores. Then it was down to our final combination, Phoebe Peters and SL Lucci (left). The duo are used to pressure but this was more than they’ve ever faced as they’re at their final pony championships together as Phoebe moves to juniors next year – so this one had to count!
Phoebe has a cool head on such young shoulders and she didn’t disappoint; expertly guiding Lucci for a polished performance. The wait for the score was unbearable… 79.974% the scoreboard read. The calculators came out… it was enough! The score gave us a 1.385% margin over the Danes…so we were guaranteed at least silver.
The final competitor was the most vital for our medal hopes…the prolific Nadine Krause for Germany – she needed over 76.4% to dash our golden chance. The live scoring kept her on 74 – 75% throughout and she got stronger as the test progressed…and finally stopped at 75.769% and gold was ours. Nadine’s score was enough to secure silver for Germany with Denmark in bronze.
Under the leadership of Chef d’Equipe Liz Mills and expert tutorage of team trainer Peter Storr plus a huge support network of officials, family and friends, these four girls have earned a place in the BD history books – and we’re all proud of you!
The action in Malmo continues with the individual competition on Friday and Saturday with the freestyle on Sunday. All four are through to the individual. Follow the scores – click here. Thanks to Helen Revington for the images - all pictures copyright.
Rebecca Bell and Valido's Sunshine
A very happy British camp when Phoebe's score was confirmed!
Scores:
Gold Great Britain - 222.718
Silver Germany - 222.128
Bronze Denmark - 221.333
4. The Netherlands - 213.59
5. Belgium - 205.872
6. France - 202.717