Horse from leading nation one of three held at eventing World Championships first trot-up
There was drama for the home nation in the first trot-up for the eventing World Championships in Aachen – find out who was held and how the inspection went for the British pairs
Three horses were held at the eventing World Championships first trot-up this morning (12 August) in Aachen.
The home side, Germany, who are hot contenders for the podium, had a more dramatic time than they would have wanted during this first test.
Libussa Lübbeke’s Caramia FRH, pathfinder for the gold medal-winning German team at the Agria European Championships at Blenheim last year, was sent to the holding box, but passed on re-inspection.
In addition, Julia Krajewski’s ride Uelzener’s Nickel seemed to slip at the end of the trot-up strip and went down on his side – but he passed the inspection and was quickly back up on his feet.
Michael Jung’s ride FisherChipmunk FRH, reigning Olympic champion and among the favourites for individual gold, showed his high spirits with a little rear in response to the crowd applause as he came off the runway.
The other horses who were sent to the holding box were Qaid, ridden by the Czech Republic’s Matěj Sukdolák, and Enjoy, who will be piloted by the Netherlands’ Sanne de Jong. Both passed when they came back for re-inspection.
Eventing World Championships first trot-up: a thorough inspection
The eventing World Championships first trot-up took place on a strip in Stadium 2, a grass arena where the eventing dressage will take place over the next two days.
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The strip was close to the grandstand, which may have contributed to the fact a lot of horses became quite excited and cantered on the return leg. The ground jury – Denmark’s Anne-Mette Binder, Canada’s Peter Gray and Ireland’s Joanne Jarden – were thorough about asking the riders of these horses to trot again and several had to do so.
Among those in the grandstand was Hinrich Romeike, a member of the gold medal-winning German team here at the 2006 World Championships, but today sporting a Swedish gilet. He is supporting his daughter-in-law Louise Romeike and part-owns her ride Caspian 15.
Seven riders here also competed at that 2006 championship – Australia’s Andrew Hoy, Belgium’s Karin Donckers, Brazil’s Carlos Parro, Denmark’s Peter Flarup, Austria’s Harald Ambros, the USA’s Phillip Dutton (who rode for Australia in 2006) and France’s Nicolas Touzaint.
Many more are on the sidelines this time, supporting or training, often for different nations – among them, William Fox-Pitt, who flew in yesterday morning to coach the Brazilians.
There were no dramas for the British squad (in partnership with Agria) today, as Ros Canter presented Lordships Graffalo, Laura Collett brought forward London 52, Caroline Harris led up D. Day, Tom McEwen showed JL Dublin and Gemma Stevens started the event with Flash Cooley. All the horses looked well and performed professionally.
Britain drew a position near the end of the order, second to last of those nations fielding full teams here. That starting position will carry across to the dressage and cross-country.
With the trot-up over, nations fielding five pairs now have to declare which four are on their team and who rides as an individual. The dressage times will then be published – we will bring those to you later, as well as photos of the cross-country course.
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Pippa is a true eventing geek and has been H&H’s eventing editor since 2005. She has first-hand experience of competing up to British Eventing intermediate and international CCI2*-L level, and has worked in the industry on a top event yard. Pippa enjoys nothing more than immersing herself in the sport at the highest level, reporting from the five-stars and international championships, including the Olympics.