Badminton Horse Trials dressage: Gireg le Coz and Aisprit De La Loge

Gireg le Coz has posted the only sub-30 score so far from the French contingent in the Badminton Horse Trials dressage. He rides Aisprit De La Loge at the event presented by Mars Equestrian. They scored 26.7 to move into 11th place at lunchtime on the second day, just ahead of Brits Pippa Funnell (Billy Walk On) and Emily King (Valmy Biats).

Gireg, who is based at Le Lion d’Angers, produced a smart and consistent test on the 12-year-old, scoring plenty of eights and even a nine for the extended canter and final halt. The rein-back was the only blip, being a little quick.

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Martha is an experienced journalist who is mad-keen on horses and dogs. Her reporting CV includes the Paris Olympics, European championships, Aachen World Equestrian Festival and World Cup finals. After growing up with assorted liver and white springer spaniels, she enjoyed 14 years with two rescue dogs. Now, her constant companion is Fidget, an extremely energetic and habitually muddy black and white springer. Martha has written on topics as diverse as a top horse’s clone to the best GPS trackers for dogs, as well as equestrian and rural matters for Country Life, The Field, The Times, The Spectator and The Telegraph alongside Horse & Hound.

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Badminton final scores

Badminton Horse Trials dressage: ‘I’ll enjoy the cross-country more’

Arthur Duffort and Maxime Livio both had to ride with the utmost tact on two tense horses to post the bottom scores thus far, 39.8 and 40.5.

“He’s not fresh, he’s genuinely scared and always reacts to atmosphere,” said Arthur of Toronto D’Aurois, a 15-year-old by Polack II, who scored 39.8 to take 78th at the conclusion of this phase. “But I will enjoy the cross-country more than the dressage; he has lots of experience.”

Maxime was also sanguine about the performance of his huge Lando gelding, Vitorio Du Montet, who are 79th . His owner wanted a top-class horse but on a small budget, and Maxime said that they had to compromise on his dressage ability.

“We found a great cross-country horse but we knew we had to manage the rest,” said Maxime, 34, who has steered the 13-year-old to two top-10 finishes at Pau. “His best quality is his mind. He’s an incredible friend who wants to work for you every day.

“Dressage isn’t easy for him and I can’t warm up as the more I practise the worse he gets, so I had to warm up an hour before and then just walk him up here. I am used to being not too disappointed because we can only do our best, the atmosphere is really uncomfortable for him.

“I’d always like a harder cross-country track for him, but it’s hard enough. It’s a course for brave horses and mine is so brave.”

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