On Tuesday March 25, 2008, almost all dressage participants headed up to the stables in the ‘Brabanthallen in ‘s-Hertogenbosch in The Netherlands for the 23rd FEI World Cup™ Final Dressage, to be held for the eight’s time in ‘s-Hertogenbosch.
The FEI World Cup™ Final Dressage will be the first exciting contest meeting all giants in the Olympic year. Title defender Isabell Werth showing her powerful chestnut Warum Nicht FRH will have to face home favourite Anky van Grunsven. This season Isabell Werth has been the winner of World Cup™ Qualifiers in Odense, Franfurt and Neumünster, where as Anky van Grunsven has been the winner of the Qualifiers in London, Mechelen and Amsterdam.
“The FEI World Cup™ Final no doubt is the highlight of the indoor season”, Isabell Werth comments. “I am very much looking forward to it! I have never hidden myself and have always faced challenges. Meeting Anky van Grunsven and the other best riders of the world, having to give the best, that only does mean improvement. I am convinced Anky and me are as good as we are just because of each other, not in spite of each other.” Before her last year’s win aboard Warum Nicht FRH alias ‘Hannes’, Isabell Werth earlier did win the World Cup™ Final in 1992 in Gothenburg aboard her mare Fabienne. Anky van Grunsven is the queen of the FEI World Cup™ as she has won the World Cup™ Final eight times, in 2004, 2005 and 2006 aboard Salinero. She feels it will be exciting to compete in the World Cup™ Final again, which she missed last year due to the birth of her daughter Ava Eden. She comments: “I am looking forward to the Final. However I feel it’s not about facing and meeting Isabell in the show arena again, it’s about riding the best possible myself. Riding is my job and I like the competition.”
For the enthusiastic home crowd two team members of the historic gold medal team at the EC 2007 are on the list of participants, Dutch Imke Schellekens Bartels and Hunter Douglas Sunrise and Laurens van Lieren and Hexagon’s Ollright.
Imke Schellekens is in the company of Australian Rozzy Ryan. Ryan has chosen just like previous times the Academy of the Bartels family to stable and train her horse Donna Carrera. In the Eastern weekend she prepared herself and Donna Carrera in a national dressage show in Hulten in The Netherlands. It will be the tenth time Australia is represented in a FEI World Cup™ Final. At an earlier occasion Ryan’s horse Excellent stepped in a nail in the arena. Ryan is not superstitious and says: “It was a sad experience ending at the operation table at the Veterinary clinic in Utrecht but I am sure I will be able to finish my test properly this time.”
The two American participants Jane Hannigan with Maksimilian and Courtney King with Idocus flew in to Amsterdam and prepared at their teamtrainer’s place Klaus Balkenhol in Germany. Her Maksimilian has had a hard time after travelling and was shaking from cold and exhaustion, but was successfully rehydrated with fluids. “After Mak regained his appetite and temperature, he was happy to eat real grass again when being walked. Horses don’t like the grass in Florida! It tastes like plastic grass I think”, Jane Hannigan commented. She is sure both horses regained their good form in time for the Final.
Together with home country The Netherlands Denmark will be the best represented in the FEI World Cup™ Final with three riders, Anders Dahl, Nathalie zu Sayn Wittgenstein and Andreas Helgstrand.
Organiser Gerrit Jan Swinkels is happy and proud to receive the FEI World Cup™ Final for the eight’s time. “We are ready for the fray! Already eight weeks the Freestyle Final on Saturday is sold out! Even our Dutch government is represented. I am proud to again host a very exclusive World Cup™ Final and am looking forward to it.”
Back to the 2008 World Cup Index