The top 18 individual riders after the Grand Prix and Special have advanced to the Grand Prix freestyle, which determines the individual medals. They start on a clean slate score-wise, so the freestyle score alone determines the individual medal finish. 

We’ll be commenting on each ride, updating as they go. Rides go from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. EST. Don’t miss a minute of the action!

Want to know when the U.S. riders and other fan favorites like Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro go? Click on our What You Need To Know article.

IMPORTANT LINKS: The Grand Prix freestyle order of go / What You Need To Know / live streaming / live results / Meet The U.S. Dressage Team / All COTH’s Olympic dressage coverage

12:30 p.m. Our final freestyle results. It’s Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro gold, Isabell Werth and Weihegold silver, Kristina Sprehe and Desperados bronze.  

Don’t forget to check back at COTH.com in just a bit for a full report from the day and lots of photos!

12:20 p.m. Last to go, last dressage rider of these Olympics Games, Isabell Werth for Germany is next on Weihegold. There’s really no one in the world more experienced than Isabell…

Nice entry in canter and square halt. Some nice turning lines in piaffe and passage and then trot half-passes. There’s so much activity in this trot work, but still the mare’s ears are totally relaxed. Good walk work, again so relaxed, and then they kick it up into canter. Twos on a straight line, and they’re clean and crisp and straight. Ones good too. 

Finish with a piaffe and passage centerline. Just a lovely final halt. That. was. beautiful. I think she’s going to get a medal, but which one! And she slots into silver! With an 89.07 percent. That’ll knock Laura and Diddy into fourth individually. 

12:10 p.m. OK, it’s Laura Graves and Verdades up next for the United States! Can they crack into the top three? They earned a personal best score in the Special two days ago. 

Laura’s trainer Debbie McDonald gives Laura a lead down the little ramp, and then pats “Diddy” as he heads in alone. They enter in passage and halt right inside the boards. 

Lovely, steep half-passes at trot are next and then a big extended trot. This horse’s piaffe has REALLY improved over the last six months or so, and it’s regular and active here. His ears flop nicely in the extended walk, he really relaxes. They’ve knocked a board down out of the ring fence, but it’s OK, they can just go around it. 

Very nice one tempis. Then big extended canter into a double pirouette. Twos on a circle, really nice, and then into ones. Another really good line of piaffe and passage on the final centerline. And they’re done! That was extremely nice. How did it score though? It’s an 85.19 percent for Laura! That’s third for now, but there’s still Isabell Werth coming up who can knock her off the podium…

12:00 p.m. Spain’s Severo Jesus Jurado Lopez is the third-to-last today, antepenultimate if you want to get really fancy, on Lorenzo. 

They enter in passage, then extended trot. Some loss of rhythm in piaffe but really good reach in the half-passes at trot. They’re piaffe and passaging to what sounds like a Santana medley. 

Really nice jump in the double pirouttes and then straight into extended canter. He does the two tempis on a circle. They go from piroutte right into piaffe, which earns them a whistle from the crowd! They’re also getting claps on the final centerline as Lopez goes one-handed. Big cheers! They might be crowd favorites today. He earns an 83.55 percent, and right now that’ll hold them in third. The crowd actually boos the score! They wanted him to be higher. 

11:52 a.m. Boy it must suck to follow Valegro, but it’s the task Dorothee Schneider and Showtime have today. They’re obviously quite a top pair in their own respects though, so I’m sure they’ll be fine!

This horse is just SO uphill, it’s really amazing as they start their sweeping half-passes. He also has an adorable snip on his nose.

They do lose some energy in the first piaffe and the horse wants to curl a bit, but she’s good about catching that early and bumping him up. They also break up their extended and collected walk with piaffe. Now they’re into their canter work, which starts with unfortunately falling out of their first pirouette into the canter half-pass. It goes much better on the other side. They get another little mistake with a swap coming out of the extended canter. 

This is some very dramatic music! It’s not my favorite, but, you know, music is subjective. Really nice line of ones. Some bobbles in their final piaffe pirouette on the final centerline. That’s not going to catch Charlotte today with some mistakes, but we’ll see if she catches her countrywoman Kristina.

And nope, she’s going to slot into third behind Kristina on 82.94 percent. 

11:41 a.m. It’s the moment many have been waiting for as Charlotte and Valegro come into the ring. They’ve for sure topped 87 percent in their freestyle career, so we’ll see if they can do it again today. This is new Rio-themed music for them! Beautiful first halt and extended trot. 

No one does it like Valegro, and they’re showing that today so far as they do a perfectly executed piaffe pirouette right in front of C. I quite like this music! It’s jazzy and energetic. The next piaffe creeps just a bit, so, you know, that probably got an 8.5 instead of 9 or 10. They’re very likely pulling 9s and 10s for much of this work though.

Very relaxed extended walk and then it’s into canter. Huge extended canter down centerline and then what’s probably a faultless double canter pirouette right after. Ones on a straight line, and they nail those as well. They do the same thing with the extended canter to pirouettes on the other side, and nail those as well. Big and straight twos. A tiny loss of energy into piaffe on final centerline, but they get right back to it. Well, that was basically flawless! We know it’s going to be a huge score, but we just have to wait and see HOW huge now. She’s crying as she walks out now. 

It’s a 93.92 percent for them! That’s obviously into the lead, and it’s unlikely anyone can touch that today. 

11:30 a.m. Here come Kristina and Desperados down the ramp. This is a beautiful black gelding by De Niro. They start off with some passage half-passes to this nice violin music and then into a big extended trot. The music has a quite powerful feeling to it. He really sits in the piaffe, but it does creep forward a few steps. 

They break up their extended and collected walk with a bit of piaffe, which is quite nice and unsual. Horse REALLY jumps in the double canter pirouette, makes me hope lots of photographers are getting nice pictures of it! (I’m sure they are.) She does twos across the diagonal, just a small flub at the end. Extended canter to another double pirouette, again very lovely. 

Again with the nice violin music on their final centerline, some turns in piaffe. Great final halt. That looks like it’ll challenge Carl Hester, but we’ll soon see. And WOW, that takes the lead with an 87.14 percent! 

11:27 a.m. Alright, we’re starting back up for this final group of six here in just a minute, which includes powerhouses Charlotte Dujardin on Valegro, Isabell Werth on Weihegold, Kristina Sprehe on Desperados and our own Laura Graves on Verdades. Who can get into the top three…? First after the break is going to be Germany’s Sprehe.

11:17 a.m. We’re on a short break right now. We’ll start back at 11:30! 

11:06 a.m. Our last before a final short break is Sweden’s Tinne Vilhelmson-Silfven on Don Auriello. Tinne finished a close second to Hans Peter at her home country FEI World Cup Final this year.

She starts in piaffe and passage to some Beach Boys music, “God Only Knows,” which is really fun. Then it’s another Beach Boys tune, “Good Vibrations.” They’re doing some nice, active work. This horse isn’t always as active behind as he is up front, but they’re doing a nice job so far. I really do like this music! I think it helps the crowd get more into the ride if it’s something recognizable, but then some of the more melodic stuff can be really powerful too.

They do tempis on a circle, which is of course going to add to their degree of difficulty marks. She does her last two pirouettes one-handed! Ah bummer, they have a break in the last extended trot, but then it’s a nice piaffe pirouette, another chance at extended trot and then their final halt! Big smile from her.  They get an 81.53 percent for second at the moment!

10:56 a.m. Next up is Diederik van Silfhout on Arlando for the Netherlands. They made their international championship debut in the 2014 WEG, and this is just a lovely, elegant type horse. Diederick is very tall and leggy too, so they make a nice pair. 

They’re another pair starting with their trot work, some piaffe and passage right out of the gate. Nearly every person now halts either right inside the boards or at D. 

Really nice trot half-pass, big reach and elasticity. Extended canter to a very nice double pirouette is the first thing that happens out of the walk, and then into two tempis on a bending line. Ah, two bobbles in the ones on a bending line. They may find a place to try those again though before this test is over. A really nice double pirouette to the right too.

They get a better line of ones across the diagonal. Piaffe loses some activity for a moment, but this passage is still really super. Really nice final halt. We’ll see if that can take over the lead! Nope, it’s a 79.53 percent, and that’ll put him fourth for now. 

10:45 a.m. And now we’ll have Spain’s Beatriz Ferrer-Salat on Delgado. This pair is ranked fourth in the world right now. 

They start with a lovely piaffe and passage for this elegant chestnut. They move into a passage half-pass. Fun fact: this is one of two horses in the freestyle by De Niro; the other is Desperados. 

A bobble in the extended trot for them; the horse tries to canter but Beatriz catches it. Twos on the centerline are very active, but they are not perfectly straight. Same issue with the ones; they just jump back and forth quite a lot. The double pirouette at the end is super though. Piaffe pirouette is regular and active. Horse doesn’t really stand in the final halt, but he still earns lots of pats and Beatriz has a big smile. They get an 80.16 percent, which is third right now behind Carl and Hans Peter. 

10:35 a.m. Next: Great Britain’s Carl Hester on Nip Tuck. He’s a brilliant trainer, brilliant rider and, of course, brilliant tweeter. If you’re not following him, you’re missing out! According to Carl, Nip Tuck “saw a Pokemon” in his Grand Prix test, but he had a much better go in the Special on Friday. 

After the halt, they start off with a piaffe pirouette, very nice. Then it’s a double canter pirouette. Clean two tempis on a bending line. I think we’re going to see a difficult floor plan from them as usual. The ones go on a bending line too.

Some ones on the centerline next, super straight, big and jumping. A very small bobble as they go down from canter to piaffe and passage work, but they quickly get back on the same page. Horse gets a little curled in the extended walk. Extended trot wouldn’t be this horse’s biggest strength, but it goes well for them across the diagonal. They move into passage half-pass and then finish bang on the music! That should get a big score…we will soon see. It’s an 82.48 percent for them! That’ll put them in the lead right now. 

10:25 a.m. Denmark’s Cathrin Dufor is up next on Cassidy. It’s nice that we’re seeing a diversity of nations in these freestyle. There are eight different flags out of the 18 pairs. (P.S. I’d say we’re seeing about the majority top hats with just a few helmets today so far, and she’s one wearing a top hat.)

They start with canter work, a nice double-pirouette into a line of one tempis that are clean. Twos are also clean. Extended canter not quite as bold as the one from Hans Peters “Maybe He Secretly Wants To Be An Event Rider” Minderhoud, but it’s still very nice.

Not a crazy active piaffe from this horse, but it’s still steady and even. It also looks like more spectators have arrived! Their music is quite melodic, a few times I’ve forgotten it’s a freestyle and thought it was just background music the announcers play, but it’s also good that it’s not overpowering this lovely chestnut. They piaffe into the halt, and the horse never quite stops piaffing and is perfectly still, but Cathrin’s got a huge smile at the end. They finish on 78.14 percent, which is good for third right now. 

10:15 a.m. Aaand we’re back. That was actually a 15-minute break…but now we have Hans Peter walking down the ramp on Johnson. They start off in piaffe and passage, which goes very well for them, then some extended trot. This music is pretty dramatic as well, but it’s not quite as stress-inducing as Deja’s. Very expressive half-pass to the right.

They’re doing some piaffe pirouettes, losing just a bit of rhythm in them, and then the collected walk. This horse looks like he’s ready to do something that’s NOT walking; he’s almost trotting off the whole time, but Hans Peter keeps a lid on it.  

BIG extended canter, very nice. It’s so good they do it twice! They do their ones on a diagonal, very clean and jumping. Later I’m sure we’ll see some tempis on more difficult lines from some of the pairs who’ll really be in contenion for these individual medals. They do an extended trot into halt, and they’re done! Waiting on their score now… They take the lead with an 80.55%!

10:00 a.m. We’re on about a 10 minute break until Hans Peters Minderhoud and Johnson go. 

9:52 a.m. Judy Reynolds for Ireland is up next on Vancouver. No offense to any of the other horses, but I think this might be the cutest one here with his big white snip and very bouncy passage. He looks like he thinks it’s so fun! He loses some energy in the piaffe, especially behind, though.

Lovely clean and straight two tempis and then they move into a double pirouette that’s basically the same level of quality for the first and second rotation, which you don’t always see. Some loss of shape in the extended walk, but she gets him back.

Vancouver maybe doesn’t reallyyyyy want to piaffe again, but he does.

A clean set of ones across the diagonal. He changes behind in the second of his double pirouettes briefly and kind of falls out of it. They do a nice passage into the final halt. It’s a 75.69 percent for them, which means Steffen Peters stays in the lead. 

9:42 a.m. Now we’ll see Patrik Kittel on Deja for Sweden. There are only three mares competing today, Orthilia, Deja and then Isabell Werth’s Weihegold, who we’ll see very last of the day. 

Perfect square halt right inside the ring. Their intro trot music is VERY DRAMATIC. It’s like something you’d hear on Game Of Thrones. They do some lovely trot half-passes, really reaching and cadenced. But this music is kind of stressing me out. Winter is coming, you guys. A couple of bobbles in the piaffe behind. 

Holy extended walk! That is nice. Big steps, so much swing. A little mistake in the twos. Really nice extended canter too, into a double pirouette. If winter is coming, they might be able to out-canter or even out-extended walk it. Big bobble in the ones though. They try again and have a mistake again, so that’s a bummer for their score. Some issues with piaffe on final centerline, but the passage is still active and really good. Big smile from Patrik after the halt!

Woah and right now they’re on the exact same (provisional) score as Fiona Bigwood, a 76.01. 

9:32 a.m. Fiona Bigwood is Britain’s first rider today on Orthilia. They have a lovely partnership you can read more about here (and it also explains why Fiona now rides in an eye patch).

They start off with some jazzy passage work. This is a lovely mare, she’s sort of an old school type but still very elegant. She’s just 11 too, so hopefully we’ll see her again in 2018 and 2020!

Her first extended trot is amazing and active, and then it’s right back into a bouncy passage. The extended walk is lovely; she places every hoof down just. so. and it’s loose and slinky.

They have a little mistake in the two-tempis, ones are clean though. Aw, they break to canter in what was an amazing extended trot on the final centerline, and then they have to halt out of that canter, which is just a bit messy. Otherwise such a nice test!  Those mistakes have proven costly though, and they finish on 76.01 percent, which is fourth out of the four right now. Steffen Peters still leads. 

9:20 a.m. It’s another U.S. rider next, Allison Brock on Rosevelt! 

They enter in passage and then it’s straight into an extended trot on centerline, which is a nice move for this powerful stallion. Their trot tour goes well, no major mistakes, just some occassional loss of rhthym in the piaffe.

They miss a flying change at the end of a canter half-pass, but then they quickly correct it. Their two tempis are beautiful, big and jumping and perfectly on time with this dramatic music. Lovely last centerline with piaffe and passage. It looks like Ali is maybe fighting back some tears after that final halt. She must be thrilled with her first Olympics experience, especially as it included a team medal. 

It’s a 76.16 percent for their test, which will be third right now out of the three who’ve gone. 

9:12 a.m. Next in is going to be Denmark’s Anna Kasprzak on Donnperignon. This horse is 17 now, but you would definitely not guess that from his performance at these Games.

They start off with some nice canter work, including pirouettes and tempis down the centerline, which are very straight and clean. Then into some trot work, half-passes and passage. Their music is a medley of older popular music, like Genesis’ “Invisible Touch.” I like it! It’s very high energy, which suits this horse.

They do their two tempis on a bending line perfectly. A little mistake in the last line of ones. Another piaffe fan on the final centerline, which loses some of the rythym, and then into the halt. Lots of pats for Donnperignon. They get a 76.85 percent for that ride. 

9:02 a.m. This is Steffen and Legolas’ well-known music that starts with “Hey, I’m Legolas!” It’s usually good for a laugh from the crowd, but unfortunately there just isn’t much a crowd in the venue today!

He does a clean line of twos, a lovely double pirouette and then a clean line of ones before another double pirouette.

My personal favorite part of his floorplan is the extended canter to double pirouette and then right into piaffe and then right from that into an extended walk. I’ve heard a very educated dressage crowd gasp at the walk transition, which is pretty impressive. No gasps today, but it is certainly impressive and done well. 

They move into some sweeping half-passes, piaffe and passage work, always a highlight for this horse. Final centerline has a piaffe fan. They finish, and Steffen looks thrilled! It’s always hard going first, but I imagine that’ll still get them a very nice score.

Steffen’s groom Eddie Garcia high fives him on the way out. If you haven’t read the New York Times story about Eddie and Legolas, it’s worth a look here. 

They get a 79.42 provisionally.

8:58 a.m. Good morning from the final 🙁 day of dressage here at the Olympics! But it’s the freestyle, so :). 

Steffen Peters and Legolas 92 are first in the ring at 9:00 a.m. Steffen had a couple of bobbles in his test on Friday (though he still helped the US team to bronze!), so I’m sure he’ll be looking to smooth those out and make this a clean test. Follow along hre!