Jemima Green stuns herself with career-best bronze at World Para Dressage Championships
Jemima Green and Fantabulous edged a personal best for individual bronze in a grade II class that had it all – a near miss for the eventual winner, an agonising wait for the scores and a costly mistake from the favourites
Jemima Green and Fantabulous produced a career-best round to take individual bronze in the grade II grand prix A individual test at the World Para Dressage Championships, scoring 75.24% – narrowly eclipsing the pair’s previous best of 75.23%, set at Aachen in April.
The result also came with a notable spread across the judging panel: E, C and M placed her in the low-to-mid 70s but the judge at B – Anne Prain (FRA) – marked her considerably higher at 80.35%, the top score of any competitor from that box.
“It wasn’t the easiest to ride – he almost felt too relaxed in there, which I wasn’t prepared for,” Jemima said. She was referring to their one real mistake – a walk-to-trot transition in which the eight-year-old gelding was slow to react.
“There was a slight moment of miscommunication – I think he just kind of was in his own little world, which we call ‘Fantaland’.
“After that, he was ‘Oh, I’m back with you, Mum’. It is a big place – he’s found the atmosphere over the last few days quite a lot, and he’s been sleeping quite a lot – but he’s still so young.”
On her reaction when the scores were read out, Jemima added: “I was very shocked, because I was actually walking up going, ‘Oh no, that was a disaster’. And then the [judge at B]’s mark came at the end, and I just couldn't hold in the shock. They said it was a personal best – that’s just incredible to get for our first worlds test.”
Jemima Green’s World Championships bronze edges out others
Jemima’s bronze came at the expense of one of the grade’s reliable performers. Fiona Howard and Diamond Dunes – a triple Paralympic gold medallist, and so often faultless in this class – were left to rue an error in the very same corner that had briefly caught out Fantabulous. The pair finished fourth on 75%, just 0.241 points shy of the podium.
“This has been a really hard 18 months for me and my health, and I’m just so proud of that horse because he has risen to everything I’ve thrown at him,” Fiona said. “We didn’t have our best ride out there today, but I really couldn’t fault this horse – he put his heart out there today. And I’m so proud of him because it has not been an easy 18 months for either of us.”
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Gold went the way of Germany’s Heidemarie Dresing and Poesie 143, though not without alarm. A tractor sparked into life just outside the arena as the pair walked down the centre line, sending the 11-year-old mare reversing at speed – a heart-in-mouth moment for her support crew watching.
“I thought it was the end,” Heidemarie, 71, laughed afterwards. “But then I think I had better make the test, ride forward, and show people what my horse is able to do.”
That she did, keeping her composure and steering Poesie back to the task, and although they picked up an average of 1.8 from the judges for their entrance, the pair recovered well enough to top the board on 75.48%, with a nervous wait for the scores to follow.
Denmark’s Katrine Kristensen and Goerklintgaards Quater were next in and took silver on 75.31% with a less expressive but accurate test. Heidemarie’s scores took a while to come through, so it wasn't until both riders had finished that the picture became clear – hers read out first, then Katrine’s, confirming the Dane a fraction behind. In the end, barely half a point separated gold from fourth.
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Oscar joined Horse & Hound in October 2023 and is the magazine’s dressage editor and sports manager, overseeing coverage of equestrian sport. After studying equine science at Myerscough College, he spent four years working for leading dressage rider Emile Faurie, competing at the 2015 National Dressage Championships and travelling with the yard to CDIs including Aachen and Saumur. He holds a master’s degree in Literature from York St John University (2021).