Meet Laura Bechtolsheimer
Horse: Douglas Dorsey, 15yo 17.2hh German-bred liver chestnut gelding by Donnerhall
Age: 21
Championship experience: Laura has successfully represented Britain at pony and young rider European dressage Championships winning team silver and bronze medals. WEG will be Laura’s first appearance as a senior Britain team member at an international championship show, although she attended the World Cup final earlier this year as an individual.
Recent form
Laura burst into the senior spotlight last year when she won a World Cup qualifier in Marienske Lazne, Czech Republic, with Douglas Dorsey, before going on to become the youngest British Dressage National Champion at the age of just 20. Laura built on this performance by travelling to Bremen, where she finished second in the kür with a massive 76.875%, just ahead of Germany’s Isobel Werth on 76.4%. Following successful visits to Bremen and s’ Hertogenbosch earlier this year, Laura travelled to Amsterdam to contest her first World Cup final in April. She was the youngest competitor at the competition and she won the B final by a significant margin on a score of 73.52%. More recently Laura won the CDI grand prix class at Hartpury (5-9 July) on a score of 69.87%, ahead of Emma Hindle and Lancet.
International results with Douglas Dorsey
- 1st grand prix (69.87%) Hartpury CDI 2006
- 3rd gp special (69.36%) Hartpury CDI 2006
- 21st gp special (67.68%) Aachen CDIO 2006
- 26th grand prix (66.50%) Aachen CDIO 2006
- 1st freestyle B final (73.52%) Amsterdam World Cup final 2006
- 15th grand prix (66.42%) Amsterdam World Cup final 2006
- 10th freestyle (74.02%) s’ Hertogenbosch CDI-W 2006
- 13th grand prix (68.50%) s’ Hertogenbosch CDI-W 2006
- 2nd freestyle (73.00%) Bremen CDI 2006
- 2nd grand prix (67.67%) Bremen CDI 2006
- 6th freestyle (73.92%) Olympia CDI W
- 9th grand prix (67.62%) Olympia CDI W
Background
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Laura started riding when she was given her first pony on her third birthday. She went on to compete in Pony Club eventing and won the National Championships of Independent Schools at Stonar School aged 12. Laura started to concentrate on dressage aged 13 and was selected to ride at the Pony European Championship the following season and won a team silver medal at her first major competition.
