One horse was asked to trot twice at the first horse inspection for the Longines FEI European Eventing Championships this afternoon (Wednesday, 28 August) at Luhmühlen, Germany.
The ground jury asked the final French rider, Karim Florent Laghouag, to head down the runway for a second time with Punch De L’Esques, but the horse was then passed.
The British horses — Billy The Red (Tina Cook), Cooley Master Class (Oliver Townend), London 52 (Laura Collett), Quarrycrest Echo (Piggy French), Vendredi Biats (Kitty King) and Majas Hope (Pippa Funnell) — all looked in good form. An announcement is expected imminently about which four riders and horses will form the British team and which two will compete soley as individuals.
Tina Cook and Billy The Red at the first trot-up at the European Eventing Championships 2019.
The ground jury president is Germany’s Martin Plewa, with Denmark’s Anne-Mette Binder and Australia’s Peter Andrew Shaw also on the jury.
They inspected 73 horses from 17 different nations this afternoon and all will now go forward to the dressage phase. Twelve countries field a team with the other five bringing forward just one or two individual riders.
The trot-up strip at Luhmühlen is tightly wedged between the permanent grandstand and the arena and several horses found it difficult to contain themselves in the highly charged atmosphere.
The crowd were asked to keep quiet for Rioghan Rua, the ride of Ireland’s Cathal Daniels, and Punch De L’Esques. Josera’s Entertain You, the ride of German individual Jörg Kurbel, reared up when he was back out in the arena after leaving the strip.
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Temperatures in Luhmühlen are touching around 31ºC today and with warm weather predicted all week, staying cool will be a priority for riders and horses.
Check back for more updates from the Eventing European Championships in Luhmühlen all week, plus full report in next week’s Horse & Hound magazine (dated 5 September).
