New combination claims individual gold after nail-bitingly close finish at World Para Dressage Championships

The individual grade II final went down to the wire, with just 0.8% covering the top three riders in the Arifarm Healthcare FEI World Para Dressage Championships results.

In the end it was Denmark’s Katrine Kristensen who inched her way to the top of the podium with 75.79% aboard Goerklintgaards Quater. Austria’s Pepo Puch slid into silver with Sailor’s Blue on 75.33%, just slightly ahead of Britain’s Sir Lee Pearson and Breezer, who posted 75.09% for bronze.

This is the Katrine and Quater’s first championship as a combination; Katrine rode at the Tokyo Paralympics with Welldone Dallas, but has only been partnered up with the 14-year-old Quaterback son since the start of this year. The two have already developed a super strong partnership, as shown by their fluid, expressive gold medal-winning test here.

Quater has beautiful paces and Katrine had him in a beautiful uphill frame during their test. They scored at least one eight for almost every movement, and Katrine reported that “he was really with me from the beginning”.

Katrine told H&H: “In the warm-up he was also so calm and cool. He has been a bit fresh these days before entering the arena, but today it was amazing.”

“I knew that I had a good horse [coming into the championships], so I believed a medal could be possible,” she said, adding that had she not had the opportunity to buy Quater over the winter, she might have taken a break from the sport.

“Welldone who I rode in Tokyo has been retired, but Quater was already on the same farm, so I have known him for two years before I bought him. When I came home from Tokyo, I didn’t know if I wanted to ride or have a break, but there was Quater and he wanted to have a rider. I wanted to try riding him because although he is a very fresh horse, I could see in his eyes that he also very calm and that he always wants to do the best for me. I started riding him for his former rider, and then I bought him two months after that.”

World Para Dressage Championships results: Pepo Puch claims silver

Pepo Puch is no stranger to the podium, and his silver here marked his 20th para dressage medal. It’s also his fifth World Para Dressage Championships silver – he won double silver in both Tryon 2018 and Caen 2014.

With this horse, the 14-year-old Swarovski gelding Sailor’s Blue, it is the fluidity and the horse’s fabulous walk that really stands out, with high marks coming from all five judges.

Pepo has been at the top of the sport now for over a decade, and he is thrilled with how the standard is growing, making for really exciting competition with so many riders now vying for the medals across the five grades.

“The quality of the sport is so high now. The daily luck or [lack of] luck is the key, but that’s fantastic for the sport and it’s progress. We hope by the next World Championships we can go in the big stadium,” said Pepo, referring to the fact that the para riders do not compete in the large Stutteri Ask Stadium here, but the smaller BB Horse Arena to the side of the main showground.

Some riders, though, were thankful that after two years of competing mostly without any crowds, their horses did not have to cope with such a massive atmosphere, including Britain’s Lee Pearson, who won bronze.

“I was really pleased we weren’t in the main stadium,” he said. “Part of you thinks you’d love to be, but I think my particular horse wouldn’t cope.

“I enjoy being at home in my arena on my own training, and at shows I don’t mind if there is an audience or not,” he added. “From a horseman’s perspective, less is more and of course safety [is key] in para dressage as we are not exposed to many audiences so when we are it has to be done carefully.”

You may also be interested in…

‘I’m taking the best horse home’: How Sir Lee Pearson scooped Britain’s first para dressage medal of World Championships

Major shows urged to help para riders win medals in Paris 2024

‘I like to come out of a test feeling happy’: trailblazer Georgia Wilson leads British hopes at early stage of World Para Dressage Championships

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