‘The horses always come first’: Australian rider shares positive news following grand prix special elimination at World Dressage Championships
Lyndal Oatley and Eros, pictured during the grand prix team test at the 2022 World Championships.
(Image credit: Peter Nixon)
Australia’s Lyndal Oatley has reported her “unicorn” Eros has been checked by the vet and “looks to be fine” after the pair’s Blue Hors FEI World Dressage Championships elimination in the grand prix special.
The pair were nearing the end of their test today (Tuesday, 8 August), when the bell rang in their final extended trot. A post from Equestrian Australia said the pair were eliminated owing to Eros “showing some irregular movement”.
Lyndal said after her World Dressage Championships elimination that the “most important thing” is that Eros is ok.
“I don’t think anyone ever goes in there expecting to have that feeling and this is the first time ever for me so it’s very surreal, and a bit of an odd feeling,” she said.
“At the end of the day the horses always come first and ‘Ross’ is my little dream pony. I literally left everything and ran with him down to the stables. Thankfully, he looks to be fine. The vet has gone straight over him. We’re very lucky, we have a great team vet, Robin [Bell]. We checked everything, [his] trot-up was fine. So it appears that there’s just a bit of tension in his body, and that’s a lot of atmosphere for some horses.
“For him, this is still early days and I think he put his heart and soul into yesterday, and today the tension was a bit too much [resulting in] the irregular rhythm, and that’s what happened.”
She added he felt “a little more introverted than normal” in the arena.
“But then you never know [whether] what you’re feeling, and what it looks like, could be two totally different things,” she said.
“The judge did the right thing for sure and the horse’s welfare must come first.”
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H&H’s Herning horse of the day: Eros – the eventer and former para horse turned grand prix ‘unicorn’
Britain’s Lottie Fry takes gold in World Dressage Championships special: ‘It’s unreal’
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