Jessica left the rest of this incredibly high-quality field trailing in her wake as she scored another personal best of 85.59% with the 16-year-old TSF Dalera BB.
Behind her in silver was Denmark’s Nanna Skodborg Merrald with Blue Hors Zepter on the best special score of her career – 82.79%. The bronze went to Britain’s Charlotte Dujardin and Imhotep, also posting a personal best of 82.58%.
Battle of the champions
It came as a surprise to many to see reigning world champions Lottie Fry and Glamourdale off the podium; as first to go from the last cluster of riders, they finished fourth with a brilliant score of 81.76%.
Lottie and Glamourdale produced a customary display of power and might, with the Lord Leatherdale stallion appearing much more focused than in his grand prix. Their biggest strengths are the two-time changes, extended canter and half-passes, and they earned big marks in these areas. But a mistake in the one-time changes was unfortunate, and lowered their score a little.
“He felt really good, and much more concentrated than yesterday,” said Lottie. “Everything felt good. We had a blip behind in the one-tempi changes but apart from that, I couldn’t fault him. He was much more with me, and feeling much better today but that wasn’t reflected in the marks.”
Lottie was followed by Jessica and Dalera, and these two simply glowed in front of a home crowd, leaving few in doubt that she would go straight to the top of the leaderboard.
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Dalera is a true equine dancer, gliding through her work and producing exemplary piaffe-passage work. She was rewarded with a slew of 10s, especially on the last centre line, and Jessica looked ecstatic as she waved to the crowd after her salute. She was right to be – the score was a personal best again, a massive 85.59%.
“This is difficult to describe, it’s very special,” said an almost speechless Jessica. “Dalera felt so powerful and focused today – it was a pleasure to ride her.
“She wants to please, she wants to show herself, and show what we can do, and she is listening to me 100% from the first second to the last. Last night, I rode [mentally] though the grand prix special 10 times for myself, because when I have everything together, she has everything together.”
Jessica has faced a lot of pressure this year, the hype growing around her duel with Lottie and Glamourdale. As it turned out, it was two other combinations that proved her biggest competition on this particular day.
“It’s good to be pushed. I have been working with all these expectations for months, and I’m so happy to meet them but I try not to think about it, because the only thing I can influence is Dalera and me,” said the gold medallist.
“If it’s not Glamourdale it’s others. There are always more horses coming up, and it’s good for sport. If there was nobody, I wouldn’t improve, so it’s good to be pushed and to continue improving. We have improved the walk, the piaffe, the canter, the changes, so many things, and I still want to improve it more. It’s the art of dressage to have everything together on point, but also with a happy athlete who wants to present herself because she has enough strength.”
European Dressage Championships grand prix special: down to the wire
Charlotte Dujardin was next out of the starting blocks, with fans eager to see whether she and Imhotep (Pete) could recreate the magic they produced yesterday in the grand prix. They soon had their answer. A near-immaculate test saw them post 82.58%, another personal best.
“I’m so proud of Pete today,” said Charlotte. “He’s 10 years old and today he’s given me everything. He’s still young and inexperienced, against a lot of more experienced horses. Next year is going to be very exciting.”
It was now up to the final rider, Denmark’s Nanna Skodborg Merrald, to do what she could to push her way onto the podium. She and the imposing chestnut Blue Hors Zepter had some uncharacteristic errors in their grand prix, and Nanna said the sensitive gelding tends to remember his mistakes when he returns to the ring. But today, they were on fire.
It’s with Zepter that Nanna has risen to become the Danish number one and as of this month, number two in the world. Today, she showed why, riding the test of her life. Zepter was on her every aid, combining power with lightness, spring and expression to score a massive 82.79%.
“I could feel the nerves, definitely, but really had to focus on what I had to do,” said Nanna. “He is so sensitive, and after making big mistakes yesterday it was important to me to really go for it in exercises where I really could, but to keep him calm in others.”
Nanna Skodborg Merrald, Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and Charlotte Dujardin on the individual podium at the European Dressage Championships.
(Image credit: creditUnknown)
Meanwhile, there was magic happening just off the podium, as well.
Having ridden a wonderful grand prix to help Britain to team gold, Britain’s Carl Hester proceeded to demolish his previous grand prix special personal best with Fame, guiding this very talented horse to just over 80% and fifth place.
Once again, his test was such a pleasure to watch, with Fame looking even more confident and in a better frame than in his grand prix.
“He felt easy, I’ve never had him so relaxed,” said Carl. “It was almost a new feeling for me as normally I’m always managing him as he gets a bit tense, but it’s as though he has grown up at this show, accepted all my aids really nicely. I had a lovely ride and couldn’t be happier.”
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