Latest from Horse & Hound in Rotterdam

Get your European showjumping, dressage and para-dressage Championships tickets

Gemma Redrup — Thu, 18 Apr 2019 11:24:26 +0000

The 2019 FEI European Championships for dressage, showjumping and para-dressage take place this year in Rotterdam in the Netherlands (19-25 August) and tickets are now on sale.

There are two main types of tickets available — for the Rotterdam Arena, where the riding action will take place, and the Boulevard area, where you will find stands, food stalls, side-events, activities for children and a different entertainment programme every day (a ticket for the sports will also give access to the Boulevard.).

There will not be tickets for sale for the para-dressage arena. The ticket for the Rotterdam Arena or Boulevard will grant access to the para-dressage arena. Para-dressage fans are advised to be on time to avoid all seats are occupied.

As long as tickets are still available, you will be able to purchase tickets on the gate, but buying tickets online will give you the guarantee and also works out cheaper.

Dressage

Monday 19 August

This is the first day of the team and individual grand prix tests. Tickets start at €15 with action commencing at 9am in the Rotterdam Arena.

Tuesday 20 August

This is the second day of the team and individual grand prix tests. Tickets start at €15 with action commencing at 8am in the Rotterdam Arena.

Thursday 22 August

The top 30 combinations after the first round of dressage compete in the grand prix special. Tickets start at €15 with action commencing at 4pm in the Rotterdam Arena.

Saturday 24 August

The grand prix freestyle kicks off at 3pm. Tickets start at €20 with action commencing at 3pm in the Rotterdam Arena.

Showjumping

Wednesday 21 August

Round one of the showjumping competition for teams and individuals, with an international jumping class beforehand (which doesn’t count towards the European competition). Tickets start at €20 with action commencing at 10am in the Rotterdam Arena.

Thursday 22 August

Round two of the showjumping. Tickets start at €15 with action commencing at 10am in the Rotterdam Arena.

Friday 23 August

The team showjumping final round with an international jumping class beforehand (which doesn’t count towards the European competition). Tickets start at €20 with action commencing at 10am in the Rotterdam Arena.

Sunday 25 August

The individual showjumping final. Tickets start at €15 with action commencing at 1pm in the Rotterdam Arena.

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(Image credit: Peter Nixon)

Para dressage

This takes place on Wednesday 21 August—Sunday 25 August and no special ticket is required, so long as you have an Arena or Boulevard ticket for one of the other events that day.

Season tickets

Season tickets are available, and start from €50. They include seven days admission to the international jumping, dressage and para-dressage competitions and admission to the Boulevard too.

Boulevard only tickets start at €15.

For more information, visit: www.rotterdam2019.com

For all the latest equestrian news and reports, don’t miss Horse & Hound magazine, out every Thursday.

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Rio Olympics dressage: top combination out of contention through injury

Alice Collins — Sat, 25 Jun 2016 10:57:03 +0000

Gareth Hughes is out of the running for a place on the British team at the Rio 2016 Olympics.

His ride, the 10-year-old mare Briolinca, went lame in the warm-up at Rotterdam CHIO yesterday (24 June) in the Netherlands.

She did not pass the initial vet inspection at the show, but represented in the morning of 24 June and was fit to compete.

However, Gareth was then warming up the Trento B daughter, but felt her go lame “just before we were about to take the bandages off” in the Nations Cup grand prix on Thursday.

“She’s tweaked an old injury,” Gareth told H&H. “Of course it’s disappointing that we won’t be going to Rio as I thought she had a good chance, but she is only 10 years old and we’ll take her home and give her a few months off. She will be back!”

British team vet Andre Buthe concurred, adding that a return to competition in time for next year’s European Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden, was certainly possible.

The mare, who belongs to Gareth, his wife Rebecca and Classic Dressage’s Julia Hornig had been a strong contender for a team place at the Rio Olympics in August.

Gareth added: “I wish all the other nominated riders the best of luck and to the team that makes it to Rio.

“I’d like to thank all my sponsors, family and friends for their support this year. We have been very fortunate to have extraordinary support from World Class — without them this would not be possible — and of course our own ‘at home’ team.”

The bay mare had a very realistic chance of a place on the team had things gone to plan in Rotterdam: every one of her six international grand prix starts has yielded a score of over 70%.

Gareth has produced the mare, who is only lightly competed, from a young horse.

For a full analysis of scores and the rider most likely to claim the fourth team spot, pick up a copy of Horse & Hound magazine on Thursday, 30 June.

Showjumper operated on after heavy fall

Jennifer Donald — Thu, 26 Jun 2014 15:02:55 +0000

Denis Lynch’s top mare Coulisa is reported to be back on her feet following an operation on Monday.

The pair suffered a heavy fall in the Rotterdam grand prix on Sunday. Denis’s brother Shay claimed the surgery to be “very successful”.

“It’s very early days,” he said. “But the first signs are very positive.”

Coulisa is expected to travel back to Lynch’s stables in Germany for a 4 to 8 month recuperation period.

British team wins dressage Nations Cup

Alice Collins — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 12:07:25 +0000

The British team scored a historical win in the Nations Cup team dressage competition in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. This is the second dressage Nations Cup of this year’s pilot series and the result was decided on the grand prix test.

Daniel Watson posted an international personal best with the Fidermark son Fideramber of 67.83%, shortly followed by Carl Hester and the Florestan gelding Fine Time’s 71.53% and another plus-70% score from Gareth Hughes and DV Stenkjers Nadonna.

Valegro (pictured above), now 11, stormed around with his customary bounce and expression for 82.191% under Charlotte Dujardin — a mega score but more than 2% shy of their world grand prix record set at Olympia in December.

Valegro has not been beaten since January 2012.

Daniel said: “We were first to go so it was nice and quiet. I’m overwhelmed by the win — I’m not used to all this attention, I’m normally on my own at shows! This is the best day of my life and nothing tops it.”

The main rivals, the Dutch, had three scores just shy of 70% with their trump card Edward Gal (Glock’s Undercover) still to go.

Three scores from the four riders count towards the final classification. Edward would have needed to exceed Charlotte’s current world record of 84.447% to take the Dutch into the lead.

For much of the test he wavered around that mark, but wobbly changes and an ugly final halt saw the score drop to 79.66%, leaving the Brits the clear winners of the opening leg, scooping the €9,000 first prize.

(Image credit: creditUnknown)

Gareth Hughes (pictured) was thrilled to gain 4% on his test score from the shame show last year with Nadonna.

“She held her nerve and at the last three shows she’s become really secure and is showing herself more,” he said of the Donnerschlag daughter. “It was really nice to break the 70% barrier as part of the team. You think the individual wins are the pinnacle, but to be able to share it makes it more special.

“We’re having a great time together and celebrating — but I don’t really drink so I’ll smell some champagne!”

The British average score was 74.624% to the Dutch 73.035%. Sweden, who fielded a team of just three, were third with an average score of 69.291%.

Charlotte (Uthopia) and Carl (Dances With Wolves) will ride in the CDI3* competition on Thursday evening. They finished second and third respectively in the opening grand prix.

The CDIO5* fixture at Aachen in Germany will stage the next leg on 27 June and the series will draw to a close at Hickstead CDIO3* on Sunday 4 August where the result will be decided on the grand prix freestyle.

For full results from the Nations Cup opening round click here.

(Image credit: creditUnknown)

Carl Hester and Charlotte Dujardin in action in Rotterdam

Alice Collins — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:03:00 +0000

Both Carl Hester and Charlotte Dujardin claimed top three places at Rotterdam CHIO today. They contested the CDI3*, which is a separate class from the Nations Cup rounds, in which they are also riding.

Three judges deemed Charlotte’s test better than Edward Gal’s (the only two judges to have Edward ahead of her were both Dutch), but her final score of 75.064% was only good enough for second.

Edward extended his unbeaten run at international grand prix on the black De Niro stallion Glock’s Voice, squeaking ahead with 75.277%.

Charlotte’s test on Uthopia was not foot-perfect and there were mistakes in the two-time changes.

“It was my fault entirely,” she told H&H. “I messed up — it was simple rider error. I moved my legs too quickly so he started doing ones.”

It’s no wonder the partnership has not totally gelled yet — this was only the second test Charlotte had ever ridden on the 12-year-old stallion by Metall.

Carl did well to keep a lid on the massive, reactive Donnerschwee gelding Dances With Wolves, scoring 71.851%.

“He started mega but got wound up, so I ‘missed’ the one-times,” he reported. “Up until that point he was around the 75% mark.

“He had to go in that big arena as preparation for the Europeans though.

“It’s just a shame we came third and not fourth and now we have to go back into that electric atmosphere for the prize-giving,” he joked.

Carl and Charlotte are back in action tomorrow in the first round of the Nations Cup.

Charlotte will compete Valegro for the first time since her world-record breaking trip to Olympia last year and Carl rides Fine Time IV. They join team-mates Gareth Hughes (DV Stenkjers Nadonna) and Daniel Watson (Fideramber).

Germany triumph in Rotterdam Nations Cup: Britain sixth

Horse & Hound — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 19:41:57 +0000

A strong German side took its 14th Rotterdam FEI Nations Cup victory despite a strong final attack from the Swedes, who were without fault in the second round.

The win moves Germany into first place in the league standings, taking over from The Netherlands, who finished seventh on their home ground, just one place behind Great Britain.

The time allowed on the course proved to be difficult to achieve, with course designer Louis Koninckx explaining the small dimensions of the arena made it difficult for riders to maintain the necessary 400m/min speed.

Five clears were produced, including one from Germany’s Ludger Beerbaum (Gotha FRH), with his teammates Philipp Weishaupt (Monte Bellini) and Marco Kutscher (Cornonet Obolensky) collecting just one time fault each. Things did not fair so well for Marcus Ehning (Copin Van De Broy) with a nine penalty first round total.

With just a three point advantage over Sweden going into round two, the pressure was increased when all of the Swedes left the arena without error. Marcus again produced the drop score, this time four, with Ludger gaining a time fault and Philipp jumping clear. This reduced the advantage to two for last-to-go Marco and, despite a rather awkward jump over the last with his grey stallion, he finished just outside the time allowed to collect one fault.

“I knew something was wrong because he felt almost scared going to the fence, which just isn’t him,” said Marco. “Afterwards, we found he had overreached.”

Of the British performances, Scott Brash (Hello Sanctos) and Peter Charles (Murka’s Vindicat W) were the strongest with just one fence a piece over the two rounds. Tina Fletcher (Hello Sailor) jumped for five faults in rounds A and B, while Tim Stockdale didn’t have a great day with a 17- and an eight-fault round on Fresh Direct Kalico Bay.

Rotterdam Nations Cup result

1, Germany

2, Sweden

3, France

6, Great Britain

Tina Fletcher to miss this year’s Hickstead Derby

Flora Watkins — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 12:52:30 +0000

Tina Fletcher will not be defending her Hickstead Derby title this Sunday (24 June) because she will be chasing Olympic qualification in Rotterdam.

Last year, Tina became the first woman to win the prestigious class since Alison Dawes in 1973.

Tina and the quirky Promised Land (pictured right) posted the only clear round.

But this year Tina will be hoping to catch the selectors’ attention, by competing at the Nations Cup in Rotterdam (22 June).

She spoke to H&H at the Global Champions Tour (GCT) in Cannes last week about her decision.

“I’m very disappointed not to be at Hickstead,” she said. “I had hoped I might be able to do the Nations Cup on Friday then come back for the Derby on Sunday, but I realised that it would be very difficult to do both.

“Obviously the Olympics are the priority, but hopefully there will be other classes for Promised Land this year,” she added.

Tina will be competing in Rotterdam alongside Olympic hopefuls Scott Brash, Tim Stockdale, Peter Charles and John Whitaker.

Nick Skelton and Ben Maher are not riding there and performances in Rotterdam will be crucial when it comes to Olympic team places.

Carl Hester wins first individual medal at dressage Europeans

Horse & Hound — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 17:04:08 +0000

Carl Hester and Sasha Stewart’s Uthopia have won individual silver at the European dressage championships, scoring 81.682%. They were closely followed by World silver medallists Laura Bechtolsheimer and Mistral Hojris in bronze.

Following their exemplary performance in the grand prix, resulting in team gold, the pressure was on for Hester. The judges are in love with his horse’s extended trot – awarding 10s yet again. However, a big mistake in the one-times brought this movement’s average score down to 3.4. Without this, it could well have been gold for Hester.

“You’re always disappointed when you make a mistake like that, but I said yesterday I wanted a medal one way or another and I’m thrilled to have got one,” said Carl. “For such a young grand prix horse, at this stage in his career, I couldn’t have asked for more.”

In the event, it was The Netherlands’ Adelinde Cornelissen who topped the podium, despite going wrong in her test. Adelinde rode the two-time changes when she should have started the canter half-pass right.

“I was kicking myself afterwards for that,” she said. “But I’m so glad he still won because he deserved to and I didn’t want it to be my mistake that cost us the gold.”

Mistral Hojris much improved

Laura Bechtolsheimer had a difficult time in Thursday’s grand prix, with Mistral Hojris becoming very strong. Today, she looked more in control from the start, with “Alf” standing still in his first halt.

There were still moments that can be improved in tomorrow’s kur. They too came unstuck in the one-time changes, but finished on 79.256%.

“For the first half of the test he felt as good as he ever has, then after the walk he lost impulsion and because of that we had mistakes,” she explained. “I’m still over the moon to be on the podium and up here with another British rider.”

Asked if she would feel more confident for tomorrow’s kur having got Alf under control today she said: “I never feel totally confident going into a kur with Alf, but he was listening to me more today so we’ll see what we can do.”

Last to go, Germany’s Matthias Rath and Totilas, had a few communication errors, including before the flying change out of the half-pass right. Consequently the horse who took gold in Kentucky last year finished fourth.

Brits don’t hold back

Where they were faultless in the grand prix, Britain’s team debutants Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro had too many errors in the special to allow them onto the podium, but still finished in an incredible sixth place.

Britain’s Emile Faurie was determined to go for it in the special. Since this score does not count for the team effort he had no need to play it safe. Elmegardens Marquis showed huge power and expression in his piaffe and passage, but the horse’s excitement got the better of him in the halts and extended walk. Despite this and an error in the changes they finished on a respectable 68.577%.

Results

GOLD: Jerich Parzival (A Cornelissen, NED) 82.113.

SILVER: Uthopia (C Hester, GBR) 81.682.

BRONZE: Mistral Hojris (L Bechtolsheimer) 79.256.

Don’t miss H&H this Thursday for full report, pictures and results

GB’s Nations Cup team announced for Rotterdam on Friday

Horse & Hound — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 16:50:21 +0000

Two British riders will make their Meydan FEI Nations Cup debuts this Friday, in the fourth round of the competition in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands.

World Class performance manager Rob Hoekstra has mixed old hands with younger talent for the next leg of the series, in which Team GB is sitting in second place so far.

John Whitaker will ride Rebecca Stones’ 13-year-old bay stallion, Peppermill for the pairing’s third team appearance of the competition, having jumped clear rounds in two of the previous legs, in Rome and St Gallen
Peter Charles will partner Olga White’s 11-year-old bay gelding, Murka’s Pom d’Ami. This combination has also featured on all three British teams in the series so far, producing three clear rounds including a double clear at La Baule.
David McPherson will ride his own nine-year-old grey gelding Chamberlain Z. Rotterdam will be this combination’s Nations Cup debut for Team GB.
Scott Brash and his father Stanley’s 11-year-old bay gelding Intertoy Z, will be hoping to emulate their Meydan FEI Nations Cup debut in round one in La Baule, where they jumped a perfect second round clear.
Gemma Paternoster will ride her 2006 European Young Rider Champion, the 14-year-old bay gelding Osiris. Gemma and Osiris make their nations cup debut at Rotterdam.

France is currently in the top place in the league, following three wins out of a possible three, with Germany in third.

The Rotterdam Nations Cup takes place on Friday 18 June at 2:30pm BST.

Britain third in CDIO Rotterdam Nations Cup

Horse & Hound — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 17:02:52 +0000

Carl Hester lead the British team to third place at CDIO Rotterdam, The Netherlands (June 20-24), behind Germany and Holland.

Carl scored 69.29% in the grand prix with Sasha Stewart’s Lecantos to finish third. They were second to Isabell Werth’s (GER) World Cup champion Warum Nicht in the special with 71.2%.

Carl and Lecantos are on the team for Hickstead CDI (25-29 July).

Wayne Channon is earning some impressive scores, with 66.58% in the grand prix and 71.3% in the kür for fourth.

Emile Faurie and new ride Dream Of Heidelberg II improved 4% on their 64.07% grand prix to finish sixth in the special, while Maria Eilberg, 22, improve by 2% on her grand prix score for 67.25% and seventh in the kür riding Two Sox.

Read this report in full, plus reports from other top dressage shows around Britain, in this Thursday’s Horse & Hound (5 July, ’07)