Carl Hester didn’t promise too much. “If we are all in shape, this could be one of the most exciting teams since the days of Valegro.” This is what the British dressage rider wrote about his team in the specialist magazine “Horse&Hound” before the European Championships. He alluded to the glory years between 2011 and 2016, when British dressage riders became European champions and two consecutive Olympic champions.
Not only Carl Hester and his horses played a significant role in this, but above all Charlotte Dujardin and the gelding Valegro, who also became individual Olympic champions in London and Rio. In the years that followed, it was the Germans who earned a subscription to any gold medals at the major international championships. This subscription ended last summer when national coach Monica Theodorescu’s quartet came third at the World Championships in Denmark.
“Carl is a master on the horse”
On Thursday they took second place behind the British at the European Championships in Riesenbeck. If events followed the logic that gold follows bronze and silver, the German team could sleep in peace until the Summer Games in Paris in 2024. But the riders from Great Britain are currently the measure of all things in dressage. Jessica von Bredow-Werndl, currently the best German rider, described the team from the island as “abnormally strong”.
With Charlotte Fry, who is only 27 years old, and the stallion Glamourdale, they have the current world champion couple in their ranks. Carl Hester (56) and Gareth Hughes (52) bring a lot of experience to the team. And Charlotte Dujardin is again an irreplaceable part of the group after a short maternity break. The 38-year-old gave birth to her daughter Isabella in March. Two months later she rode at the tournament again and qualified for the European Championships with young horse Imhotep, where she is now the strongest competitor to Olympic champion Jessica von Bredow-Werndl in the fight for the individual medals.
Dujardin makes no secret about her goal for Paris: “Gold!” she said in Riesenbeck. There, Gareth Hughes used the press conference after winning the European title to eulogize his teammates: “Carl is a master on the horse and for me Charlotte is the best test rider in the world,” he said and added: “It’s an honor for me to watch you and be part of this team.”
Given the British success, the Germans were able to live well with their silver medal: “You have to acknowledge without envy: the British showed great sport,” said Dennis Peiler, sports director of the German association. “We were good, they were better. You have to accept that in sport. Next year we’ll go all out on the attack.”
Will that be enough? With two rides above the 80 percent mark, which is considered the threshold for world class, the British won in Riesenbeck. Charlotte Dujardin and Imhotep got 82.4 percent, Charlotte Fry and Glamourdale got 81.3. The best individual result was achieved by Jessica von Bredow-Werndl with the mare Dalera – the couple from Bavaria achieved 84.6 percent, more than ever before.
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Frederic Wandres and the gelding Bluetooth also set a new personal record of 78.9 percent and didn’t take full risks. “If you want to compete for gold at this level, you need more than one pair that gets over 80 percent,” said Dennis Peiler and raised hopes: “We have the potential in the team and it’s good that we can still do it this year Have Paris.”
