1. Charlotte Dujardin getting bronze at the Euros with Gio
Yes, she’s done it again. Britain’s Charlotte Dujardin took individual bronze in the freestyle at the European Dressage Championships in Hagen, Germany on the weekend (11 September). Charlotte and her Olympic partner Gio scored 87.246% to win the bronze against an incredibly competitive field, pushing Germany’s most decorated dressage star Isabell Werth into fourth place.
2. Isabell Werth’s Bella Rosa needing colic surgery
The night before Isabell Werth rode Weihegold OLD to a team gold medal for Germany in Hagen, Bella Rose, with whom Isabell won team gold and individual silver at the Tokyo Olympics, was being rushed into surgery for colic. Happily Isabell reported over the weekend that the mare was out of surgery and coming home.
3. The fact it really won’t be long before Lottie Fry gets a medal
Great Britain’s Lottie Fry, 25, scored her third personal best in three days in the freestyle at the European Dressage Championships in Hagen on 11 September. Last to go, she rode her own and the Van Olsts’ stallion Everdale to 84.72%, having already notched up personal bests in the grand prix and grand prix special earlier this week. It was good enough for fifth place, and very nearly good enough for fourth.
Lottie’s comments on her brilliant freestyle
4. Adelinde Cornelissen being eliminated after Governor-STR bit his tongue
Dutch combination Adelinde Cornelissen and Governor-STR were asked to stop during their grand prix freestyle at the European Dressage Championships owing to blood being seen in the horse’s mouth when the 10-year-old Totilas x Jazz stallion bit his tongue. The judge at C, Germany’s Henning Lehrmann, following FEI blood rules, rang the bell in the middle of Governor-STR’s left double pirouette. Adelinde experienced a similar situation at another championships, the World Equestrian Games in Kentucky in 2010, though on that occasion was a favourite for the gold medal riding Jerich Parzival.
5. This story of happiness against all the odds
A young rider who was not expected to live, let alone walk or ride again, after a horrific fall has won at her first show since her accident, riding her 22-year-old pony who also defied the odds to jump again. Lucy Ward split her liver in half in September 2019, when she fell from a friend’s horse. She landed on her feet, but the reins became tangled round one hand and she was dragged behind the horse until the reins eventually broke. She is now back competing on her pony, Lucky, who lives up to his name having been kicked in the hock four years ago and given a very poor prognosis.
You may also enjoy reading…
Judges split on Carl Hester’s freestyle as European Dressage Championships gears up for thrilling climax
Hat-trick for Germany’s golden girl as Charlotte Dujardin scoops individual freestyle bronze; no medal for Isabell Werth
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