Photo Report: The Tension is Rising at Riesenbeck

The tension is rising at Riesenbeck as Europe's best Grand Prix combinations had their final day of preparation before the start of the 2023 European Dressage Championships on Wednesday 6 September 2023. 

Following a tumultuous horse inspection with several wild horses, several not so clearly moving horses, and the majority fit and fresh for the start, all combinations were given the opportunity to familiarise their horses in the main stadium. In the past few days riders were allowed to ride their horses around the ring in the stadium but on Wednesday afternoon each nation got 25 minutes to school in the ring. 

Many pairs rode through the full Grand Prix programmes, others focused on parts of it, with many practising the trot half passes and first and second piaffe-passage lines, followed by walk or canter breaks in two point seat. 

The anticipation is the highest for the first big duel between Olympic and European champion Dalera (Jessica von Bredow-Werndl) and World Champion Glamourdale (Charlotte Fry) which in the end - if both riders make no blatant mistakes - will all be about the choice of the judges: what do they want to see: grace, harmony, lightness, or power, strength. It will be a battle between experience/age and youth/freshness. 

Both horses gave a fit look with Dalera maybe a touch less supple as the year before but still moving with the greatest of ease and expression. Glamourdale showed that his tank is full of gas and there is no limit to his power, but he appears a tiny bit more stressed than before with a tense mouth and trembling lip, something he show cased first in Kronenberg.  What will the judges do and will both riders keep their cool and control the nerves. 

Some horses showed clear progress in the arena, with more established piaffes, or better balance in the zig zag (especially young Vayron), but the horse that seems to have come most into his own, based on the impression he gave yesterday, was Blue Hors Zepter. He appeared confident, established, and ready for the challenge. 

After a strong impression at the CDIO Aachen, Charlotte Dujardin and Imhotep will also be ones to watch for the medal battle. Dujardin has shown incredible grit and appetitive for a fight. Will Imhotep be able to keep his hind legs under the body? Has his piaffe improved and gained better balance instead of sticking the frontleg too far under the body. All will be revealed in the next few days. 

Another true pleasure to watch was British master rider Carl Hester work Fiona Bigwood's Fame. The Bordeaux gelding gets quite short in the neck, but the precision and calm with which Hester rode him were astounding.

Check out a selection of photos from the training. 

- Text and Photos © Eurodressage (this article expresses Eurodressage's' eye-witness account and opinion about the competition)

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Related Link
Eurodressage Coverage of the 2023 European Dressage Championships