Britain’s Carl Hester worked his magic yesterday at the European Dressage Championships, under a burning hot sun in Riesenbeck, Germany.
He provided a true dressage masterclass, riding with extraordinary amounts of skill and feel to guide the hot 13-year-old stallion Fame to a personal best international grand prix score of 78.54%.
Video of Carl’s grand prix test courtesy of FEI TV
Their mark put them at the top of the European Dressage Championships grand prix leaderboard overnight, with the second half of the field competing today (Thursday, 7 September) and also putting Britain into pole position in the team standings, too.
Fame, owned by the Bigwood family and Anders Dahl, has only been with Fame for eight months. He and Carl are still developing and strengthening their partnership, but the love Carl has for this tall, talented horse shone through their test, and in his comments afterwards.
Fame is a hot, goey horse, and Carl rode the early section of his grand prix test very carefully. The stallion has a tendency to come quite short in the neck; this is partly down to his conformation, and partly due to some tension, which was evident in the early trotwork. But under Carl’s exquisite riding, Fame remained soft and willing, always wanting to please his rider despite the tension, and it is this what always makes them such a pleasure to watch together.
Carl Hester and Fame in the grand prix at the European Dressage Championships 2023. Credit: FEI/Leanjo de Koster
Fame has a wonderfully crisp, uphill, rhythmic passage that picked up lots of marks from the judges in this test. He has the ability to produce even more power from his hind legs than he did in the passage here, but this reflected the care with which Carl was riding, in order to keep Fame as relaxed as possible in what was undoubtedly the biggest atmosphere this Bordeaux son has ever experienced.
The piaffe is an area in which Fame truly excels. He shows great ability to sit, remaining soft and attentive as he moves seamlessly from passage to piaffe and back again, pulling in plenty of big marks from the judges for this double-marked movement.
Fame does not produce the biggest overtrack in the extended walk, but it was well ridden by Carl. While their collected walk in this test was on the cautious side, it allowed for a smooth gear change up into the passage, with Fame becoming visibly more relaxed as the test progressed.
Carl Hester and Fame exit the arena after their grand prix test at the European Dressage Championships 2023. Credit: Benjamin Clark
Their canter work was lovely. Fame’s changes are not the biggest, nor the most expressive, but he performs the lines of tempi changes with such straightness, regularity and obedience that they are well rewarded from the judges and rightly so. A moment of anticipation at the beginning of their one-tempi line was well handled with Carl, whose tiny half-halt helped Fame wait and remain in balance.
Carl’s exceptional ability to keep a horse in balance was shown in his masterful riding of the canter zig-zag, often underestimated in its difficulty among the grand prix movements. Here Fame stayed fluent and balanced, changing direction with ease and fluidity. The pirouettes too were very good, with just a slight loss of rhythm coming out of the first.
But it was the last centre line that was the most goosebump-inducing. With Carl able to inject a little more power into Fame’s piaffe-passage work, the bay stallion gained even more lift and cadence, dancing down the line to a perfect square halt. Carl wasn’t the only person beaming as he took his salute.
Carl Hester on his European Dressage Championships grand prix
The grand prix continues today in Riesenbeck, with the team medals being decided. Don’t miss the remaining British riders in action today: Charlotte Dujardin and Imhotep at 12.24pm (11.24am UK time), and Lottie Fry and Glamourdale at 4.15pm (3.15pm UK time).
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