-- Text © Eurodressage - Photos © Stefan Lafrentz
Sixteen of the world's elite dressage riders have gathered at the CHI Health Centre in Omaha, Nebraska (USA) to ride the 2023 World Cup Finals after a year of qualifiers in the Central and Western European and North American League.
The Journey to Nebraska
After a successful importation procedure and a two-day quarantine during which only the grooms in hazmat suits were allowed to take care of the horses, the equines were released and ready to be ridden by their riders who had flown into Omaha. Reigning Olympic champion Jessica von Bredow-Werndl is on American soil, ready to defend her 2022 World Cup title. It took her 32 hours and several planes to arrive in Omaha, the most central point in the United States of America.
After a first light training in the warm-up ring, the combinations were allowed into the main arena for several ring familiarisation with one official training session with the rectangle fully set up for competition with the judges' tables and flower decorations in place.
The vet inspection took place on Tuesday morning 4 April 2023 and all horses barr one passed with flying colours. Dinja van Liere’s stallion Hermes was acting up and trying to bite so got sent to the holding box. He passed upon a second trot up.
Bumps Along the Way
There is no Pacific League combination as two of the qualified horses were not vaccinated on time to enter the U.S.A. The riders (Charlotte Philipps and Kerry Mack) blamed a lack of care and help from their national federation. In their stead, the German based Australian Simone Pearce was invited to compete in Omaha as she had ridden several Western/Central European League qualifiers on Fiderdance.
Two Central European League combinations are also eligible to ride in the World Cup Finals, but this year Moldovan Alisa Glinka saw her dreams dashed when the U.S. embassy refused her a visa to enter the country, seemingly because of her Russian dual citizenship. Glinka told Eurodressage, "I could not convince the American embassy in Chisinau of the urgency of my trip. They did not listen to us, no one was interested in seeing our invitations, letters from the Olympic Committee, letters from the federation." Her spot remained vacant as Glinka got a "njet" from the U.S embassy to late in the process to call up next in line, Estonian Dina Ellermann.
A qualified Patrik Kittel withdrew his Touchdown from the finals, Emmelie Scholtens sustained an injury in February, so Marieke van der Putten got her spot. Then a list of highly ranked riders followed on both the Western European League and World Ranking and several confirmed to Eurodressage they never received an invitation to ride (highly ranked were Kruth, Kanerva, Bachmann, Larsson, Hogberg). Belgian Marc Spahn was in a good position to officially make it based on points but needed to ride in Den Bosch for that. However his entry for Den Bosch got surprisingly rejected and handed to other riders with less chance to make it.
The sorting of the World Cup Finals list is always a process that leaves several riders grinding their teeth.
Order of Go
With all horses in Omaha deemed fit to compete, the first round, the Grand Prix, will start on Wednesday 5 April 2023 at 13h15 American time and 20h15h European time.
Omaha Equestrian Foundation founder Lisa Roskens, who brought the FEI World Cup™ Finals to Omaha, Nebraska for the first time in 2017, talked before the draw about the effect the event has had on Omaha, and further afield.
“The sport is growing and the businesses around the sport are growing too…this event is a catalyst, and it means so much to all of us that people would come and make a difference in our region. And with that said I want to wish everyone an amazing week…particularly the athletes, I hope you have an incredible week of sport and we are looking forward to you inspiring us with whatever is to come!”
More photos in the gallery at the bottom of this page
| HNR | COMPETITOR | NAT | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 211 | Hexagon's Ich Weiss | Thamar Zweistra | NED | |||||
| 13.15 hrs | grey / 10y. / S / NRPS / Hexagon's Rubiquil / Negro / 106UA71 / Owner: Stal Hexagon B.V. | ||||||||
| 2. | 203 | Sir Donnerhall II OLD | Morgan Barbançon | FRA | |||||
| 13.24 hrs | bay / 17y. / G / OLDBG / Sandro Hit / Donnerhall / 103RO36 / Owner: Morgan Barbançon, Marie Carmen Mestre Pons | ||||||||
| 3. | 213 | Mazy Klovenhoj | Johanna Due Boje | SWE | |||||
| 13.33 hrs | chest / 15y. / M / SWB / Bocelli / National Zenith XX / 106LX68 / Owner: Annette Karlsson | ||||||||
| 4. | 212 | Tribiani | Caroline Chew | SGP | |||||
| 13.42 hrs | chest / 19y. / G / NWB / Solos Landtinus / Landadel / 104TL84 / Owner: Melanie Chew, Tony Chew | ||||||||
| 5. | 201 | Charmer | Jorinde Verwimp | BEL | |||||
| 13.51 hrs | bay / 11y. / G / OLDBG / Charmeur / Quattro B / 107CB71 / Owner: Jorinde Verwimp | ||||||||
| 6. | 209 | Torveslettens Titanium RS2 | Marieke van der Putten | NED | |||||
| 14.00 hrs | dbay / 11y. / G / DWB / Totilas / Stedinger / 106ME78 / Owner: Jacques Lemmens, Saskia Lemmens-Reijnen | ||||||||
| 7. | 216 | Serenade MF | Alice Tarjan | USA | |||||
| 14.09 hrs | black / 10y. / M / AHS / Sir Donnerhall / Don Principe / 107DE72 / Owner: Alice Tarjan | ||||||||
| 8. | 214 | FRH Davinia la Douce | Anna Buffini | USA | |||||
| 14.18 hrs | dches / 16y. / M / HANN / Don Frederico / A Jungle Prince / 103VB39 / Owner: Anna Buffini | ||||||||
| BREAK (20 MIN) |
|||||||||
| 9. | 205 | TSF Dalera BB | Jessica von Bredow-Werndl | GER | |||||
| 14.47 hrs | dbay / 16y. / M / TRAK / Easy Game / Handryk / 105AH62 / Owner: Béatrice A. Buerchler-Keller | ||||||||
| 10. | 204 | Franziskus FRH | Ingrid Klimke | GER | |||||
| 14.56 hrs | bay / 15y. / S / HANN / Fidertanz / Alabaster / 104FC44 / Owner: Holkenbrink, Wilhelm | ||||||||
| 11. | 202 | Blue Hors Zepter | Nanna Skodborg Merrald | DEN | |||||
| 15.05 hrs | chest / 15y. / G / OLDBG / Blue Hors Zack / Wolkentanz II / 105AK05 / Owner: Blue Hors Aps | ||||||||
| 12. | 215 | Suppenkasper | Steffen Peters | USA | |||||
| 15.14 hrs | bay / 15y. / G / KWPN / Spielberg / Ips Krack C / 105DN05 / Owner: Akiko Yamazaki, Four Winds Farm | ||||||||
| 13. | 207 | Nabab | Justina Vanagaite | LTU | |||||
| 15.23 hrs | bay / 10y. / G / BWP / Sir Donovan / Krack C / 106UO70 / Owner: Justina Vanagaite | ||||||||
| 14. | 206 | DSP Quantaz | Isabell Werth | GER | |||||
| 15.32 hrs | bay / 13y. / G / DSP / Quaterback / Hohenstein / 106CM92 / Owner: Madeleine Winter-Schulze, Victoria Max-Theurer | ||||||||
| 15. | 210 | Hermes N.O.P. | Dinja van Liere | NED | |||||
| 15.41 hrs | bay / 11y. / S / KWPN / Easy Game / Flemmingh / 105SD82 / Owner: Joop Van Uytert | ||||||||
| 16. | 200 | Fiderdance | Simone Pearce | AUS | |||||
| 15.50 hrs | dches / 14y. / S / OLDBG / Fidertanz / Blue Hors Don Schufro / 106JF48 / Owner: Gestüt Bonhomme GmbH & Co.KG | ||||||||
Related Links
Eurodressage Coverage of the 2023 World Cup Qualifiers and Finals
