Versailles, France—July 31
Germany has earned team dressage gold in every Olympics save one since 1984, and after the Grand Prix at the Paris Olympic Games, which served as the qualifier for the team medals, it looks poised to extend that streak.
The team had two riders competing today, reigning Olympic champion Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and Isabell Werth, who holds the record for the most Olympic medals won by any equestrian. Von Bredow-Werndl continued to demonstrate her prowess with TSF Dalera BB by scoring 82.06%—the best score across two days of competition—while Werth scored 79.36% aboard Wendy, the third-best score of the competition.
Germany now sits on a score of 237.54—roughly 2 points better than second-placed Denmark. While those scores don’t carry over to the Grand Prix Special, which will take place Saturday and decide team medals, it does put the country in a prime position in the starting order.
“She was so good; it was very hot in there,” von Bredow-Werndl said of the 17-year-old mare. “This is very emotional, because there’s not so many more competitions I’m going to ride with her. And this makes it even more emotional, but she always leaves her heart in there for me. And especially when it’s such a big atmosphere. She’s 100% listening. When I am in the here and now, when I’m totally focused, she is as well.
“This is what makes her so special, and this is why I can ride her on so little aids,” she added. “At the end it looks so easy, but it is 100% body control on my side. She makes it somehow easy for me because I know she is listening very, very well.”
Von Bredow-Werndl said she would let the mare tell her when she’s ready to retire, which is similar to how she approaches their daily training. The Trakehner (Easy Game—Dark Magic, Handryk) spends a lot of time cantering through the forest and hacking out, and von Bredow-Werndl said when “Dalera” starts bucking, she knows the mare’s ready to train again.
Von Bredow-Werndl said in some ways she feels pressure to continue their winning form, but in others she’s grateful for all she’s achieved with her longtime partner.
“Yes, because I would love to defend the titles, and no [because] I have already won it,” she said. “We have proven it for three years now that we can do it, and this gives both of us self confidence. But on the other side, I had huge mistakes at the German championships, and if these mistakes happen here, we have no medal. And we know that—I know that—and this is still so important, to have everything together for these 6 minutes and to be in the here and now, and this is the blessing and the challenge.”
Werth is the most decorated equestrian Olympic medalist, and she showed why today, scoring a 79.36 on Wendy, a horse she started riding in January after the mare’s previous rider Andreas Helgstrand was banned from competition by the Danish federation. It was a personal best for the pair.
“I’m very happy and proud about Wendy,” she said of the 10-year-old Danish Warmblood (Sezuan 2—Skovens Vanilla, Blue Hors Soprano). “She was fantastic. And she was so focused and so with me that it was amazing. After, I don’t know, six, seven Grand Prix [competitions], it’s so amazing how we grow together, and how honest she is to me. That’s really incredible.”
Werth described the mare’s mind as a “12,” and said they built their partnership day-by-day. Though she had more experienced partners in her stable, she said she felt potential with Wendy.
“I believe from the first day that there’s so much more possible,” she said. “Week by week in the beginning, I think people watched it, they were a bit skeptic and a bit, ‘OK, you don’t know,’ but I was really pretty sure that this horse would be there in time.”
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Laudrup-Dufour Also Breaks 80%
The second-best ride of the day came from Denmark’s Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour and Freestyle, scoring 80.82%.
“I’m very relieved. I’m super proud,” she said. “The performance from Freestyle today was wonderful. My plan today was to not push her to do something but just see what she offered, and what she did today, that was just something she offered me. When I picked up the first passage, I just said, ‘Hey, now we’re just going to dance. You just give me whatever you want, and then I’m just going to steer you where we’re supposed to go.’ I’m really proud of her. I think it was a perfect start for me and her at the Games here in Paris.”
While von Bredow-Werndl’s partnership with Dalera is quite long, this partnership is only just starting. Laudrup-Dufour got the ride within the last nine months on Freestyle, who won team and individual bronze at the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games (North Carolina) with Charlotte Dujardin of Great Britain.
The 15-year-old Hanoverian (Fidermark—Donna Gracia, Donnerhall II) took more than a two-year break from international Grand Prix competition, from May 2021 to December 2023, though she did compete a few times nationally with co-owner Emma Blundell of Mount St John Equestrian LLP.
“The main thing has been to really create a proper friendship with her, not just pretending, but really see if she could allow me in there, which she did quite quickly,” Laudrup-Dufour said of getting to know the mare. “Actually, I was quite amazed. Animals are amazing, if you treat them well and show them trust and all that. Then suddenly you’re in there, and that’s been the main thing.
“Another key word for me has been respectful leadership, because in some way I had to be the leader to show her around a dressage test. But at the same time, I had to respect where she’s coming from, because she’s a skilled young lady,” she added. “She’s done a lot, and she has been educated amazingly. She is a performer, so in some way, it was just for me to be the respectful leader, telling her, ‘Now you go right, now you go left, and now we do this.’ But at the same time just respecting who she is and what she’s coming from.”
Her score contributed to the Danish team’s second-place score of 235.73.
“I’m just really proud of [my teammates Nanna Skodborg Merrald and Daniel Bachmann Andersen],” she said. “I was actually crying when Nanna went in yesterday, because it was just like a moment to see her ride into the ring. We’ve been riding together since she was 4 and I was 5, at her mom’s riding school for 15 years. Even though it’s not like we see each other every week, we’re really close, and we trust each other.
“This team, I trust those two with everything I have, and that’s sort of the best feeling you can ride in with, really,” she added.
Great Britain Qualifies Third
The British also only had one rider competing today, reigning world champions Charlotte “Lottie” Fry and Glamourdale, who scored 78.91% for a team total of 231.19.
“I had an amazing test,” she said. “Being the first to go on the second day is not always the best position. But I think in this weather it was really to our advantage. And Glamourdale doesn’t know that; he just goes in and sees the crowd, and he had a great time in there. And I think the moment at the end was very special, with him being very relaxed on a long rein and enjoying the cheering and the flags waving. That was really an amazing feeling.”
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She was pleased with her test and with her team.
“I think our whole team the last few days has really performed amazingly, and really put us in a good position for the weekend,” she said.
All three teams were projected to be in a tight race for the medals, and if the Grand Prix is anything to go by, it’s likely those three nations will stand on the podium on Saturday. The top 10 teams from the Grand Prix continue to the Special, but the United States won’t be one of them.
The team was eliminated Tuesday after Marcus Orlob and Jane were eliminated under the blood rule. The remaining team riders, Adrienne Lyle and Steffen Peters were then left to compete as individuals, but both failed to qualify for the freestyle either by being one of the top two in their group or by having one of the top six scores of those already qualified.
The top six who were not already qualified are: Great Britain’s Fry and Carl Hester (Fame), Finland’s Emma Kanerva (Greek Air), Norway’s Isabel Freese (Total Hope OLD), Sweden’s Therese Nilshagen (Dante Weltino OLD), Poland’s Sandra Sysojeva (Maxima Bella).
FEI Implements Hot-Weather Measures
On Tuesday, in response to temperatures at the outdoor venue at the Palace of Versaille that rose to almost 93 degrees, the FEI implemented heat and humidity protocols to monitor horses health and ensure they were comfortable and properly cooled after competing. Those measures included veterinarian-supervised thermal imaging of horses, new cooling stations with ice, and fans added throughout the equestrian venue. The FEI is using the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature Index to continuously monitor weather conditions.
“The WBGT Index measures solar radiation, ground heat reflection, humidity and windspeed, and is used by several sports as it is the most comprehensive index to monitor the climate’s effect on humans, and in our case, also horses, FEI Veterinary Director Göran Åkerström said in a statement. “This precise method allows us to accurately gauge the potential for heat stress at events and implement the necessary measures to safeguard our horses’ and humans’ welfare. These measures get put in place once the WBGT index is higher than 28 degrees Celsius [82.4 degrees Fahrenheit], and in [Tuesday’s] case the index reached the high peak of 33.8 degrees Celsius [92.8 degrees Fahrenheit].”
Tuesday’s high point was still not as hot as the Tokyo Olympic Games, where Åkerström said the index reached 34 on eventing cross-country day, but the heat mitigation measures were effective in preventing heat-related problems amongst the horses.
Riders said they appreciated a decision to change the dressage warm-up to a different arena that gets a breeze, which makes it more comfortable during the heat of the day. The temperatures Wednesday were forecast to reach 91 degrees but are expected to drop into the 80s for the remainder of the Olympics.
See the full Grand Prix results.
The Chronicle has a reporter on site at the Paris Olympics. See all of our coverage here.
