Merrald Is the Grillmaster in Roasting Hot Grand Prix at 2024 Olympic Games

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Danish Nanna Skodborg Merrald became the high scoring rider of the day in the first part of a two-leg Grand Prix at the 2024 Olympic Games in Versailles on Tuesday 30 July 2024. 

Hot Dressage in Purgatory

Words like purgatory, oven, grill, broil, fry, keep simmering in my brain after having experienced the first day of dressage competition at the 2024 Olympics. Therefore I will proclaim Merrald the "Grillmaster" of the day as she proved her experience and skill aboard one of the most talented horses in the world, Zepter in the "Green Egg" that the lushious park of Versailles had become from one day to the next.

After wonderful weather and one rainy day on the first five days in Versailles, where eventing proved that equestrian sport is a more than thriving Olympic discipline, dressage had to deal with a total change in climate. It went from a lovely 23° C  to a sunflooded day of 33.8 C* which felt like almost 40 ° C

While the FEI implemented climate mitigation protocols to provide ample cooling for the horses (cooling stations, fans, covered arenas, etc), it were the spectators, press and volunteers whose resilience, passion and commitment to the sport were put to the test. With no spot of shade to be found in the 16,000 seat stadium that was practically sold out, hats, umbrellas, towels and sjawls were the dresscode of the day. It was dressed to survive instead of dress to impress.

Heats Became Groups

The Grand Prix serves as the qualifier for both the team medal final (Grand Prix Special) as well as the Individual medal final (Kur to Music).

At the Olympics a rather different qualification system for the Special and Kur is adopted. This was already in Tokyo, where a "heat system" was successfully tested. Now the 60 dressage riders are divided into 6 groups of 10. The two highest scoring riders per group automatically qualify for the Kur and then the remaining 6 highest scoring riders not yet qualified also get a ticket to the Kur.  It's that simple.

This system works very well as in the end it will turn out that the 18 highest scoring riders made it into the Kur.  The FEI wanted to follow the heat/group system also adopted in other sports to make it more understandable and recognizable to a wider audience. Funnily it seems to be a crux for the dressage people. 

The 10 highest scoring teams in the Grand Prix (so 30 riders in total) are allowed to compete for team medals in the Special.

The order of go for the Grand Prix is decided not by a random draw, but the FEI World Ranking for Horses and each group has a nice mixture of lower and higher ranked horses, keeping each block of riders interesting instead of having all the big names at the end of the day.

Now that the rules of the game are explained, let's get cracking.

Group A: Merrald Leads

The first group of the day - Group A -  was straight away a supersize edition as three of the biggest names in the sport were riding it: Both Zepter and Hermes hardly competed this 2024 show season and were therefore lower ranked and had to go first. 

Nanna Merrald and Zepter (by Zack x Wolkentanz II) were second to go into the arena and straight away received the high score of the day from the panel of seven distinguished judges including Susanne Baarup (DEN), Mariette Sanders (NED), Raphael Saleh (FRA), Michael Osinski (USA), Magnus Ringmark (SWE), Henning Lehrmann (GER), and Isobel Wessels (GBR).  The 14-year old Oldenburg had only done one test at the CDI Hagen in June this year to secure his spot on the Danish team. In Hagen he didn't look in strongest shape, but in Versailles he started off with a strong canter for the entry, but then a rather tense first trot extension followed. The first passage was rather uneven and the first piaffe a bit small, but he improved from there with a wonderful second piaffe-passage with proper sit in the second piaffe. The canter started out very collected, but the extension and zig zag were solid, the pirouettes excellent and the one tempi changes straight. The finished with a good final centerline although the piaffe at X was wide in front. The judges rewarded her ride with 78.028% with individual marks ranging from 76.522% to 79.783%.

The next rider to go in was Dutch Dinja van Liere on Hermes (by Easy Game x Flemmingh). The beginning of the test lacked a bit of polish with a stretched halt (instead of the hindlegs tucked under) and a clearly uneven half pass right and a rather flat second trot extensions but they really picked up points in the piaffe and passage. The passage is electric, engaged with the hindlegs under. In piaffe he is strong in the rhythm and stays on the spot. The two tempi's looked easy, just like the zig zag and the ones. There was tension in th extended canter and flying change at the end. Overall it would be nice to see the half halts less visible with the horse not so being hand controlled and shortened in the neck each time they need to brake. Van Liere gives the rein again straight away, but these hands aids should be less visible. They were rewarded with 77.764% and were the second pair to qualify in Group A. The individual marks went from 75.109%  to 79.565%.

Not automatically qualified for the Finals but having scored the third best result in Group A (which will most likely take him into the Kur finals anyway) was British legend Carl Hester aboard Fiona Bigwood's KWPN bred Fame (by Bordeaux x Rhodium). The sensitive Fame has been so beautifully schooled by Hester even though he does not seem to be given his rider an easy ride. A mini spook upon entering the arena and again going on the diagonal proved how "on alert" this horse is. Hester rides him with quite a short neck for control, but the contact is always supple and equally elastic on both reins. The right half pass was a bit tense, the passage was expressive and particularly the second pi-pa smoothly ridden. The last one needed to be more even behind. The uphill one tempi changes were a highlight, the zig zag looked proper, and the pirouettes well executed. It was a meticulously ridden test that earned him a 77.345% score. His marks were between 75.435% and 78.804%.

Home hero Corentin Pottier and Gotilas (by Totilas x Ferro) were welcomed with thunderous applause that sent a singe through the stadium. Initially his horse appeared a bit short-long in the first trot extension and the passage lacked some push and engagement from behind, but overall he rode a very distinguished and sympathetic test. A mistake in the two tempi changes kept the score from going higher than 70.683%

Group B: Another Dane on Top

Early in the afternoon, when temperatures were peaking and heads started to spun from heatstroke, Danish Daniel Bachmann Andersen ended up as the group winner with a rather generous score of 76.910%. His tall bay stallion Vayron (by Vitalis x Gloster) has improved much this 2024 show season, but still relies very heavily on his rider instead of carrying himself in lightness. This tall powerhouse is massively impressive in the trot and canter extensions (like Jovian), but Vayron also shines in the tempi changes that are straight and ground covering. In the passage he is too lanky in the body and not really in self carriage. The hindlegs don't take enough weight and in piaffe he gets narrow behind or crosses. Bachmann has plenty of skill sin his toolbox to present the horse in the best possible way in the current form that the horse is and this mainly seems rewarded by the judges. The marks clearly differed between 75.109% and 79.674%

Frederic Wandres was the first and only German to compete on Tuesday and he qualified himself for the kur by being the second best scorer in Group B with 76.118%.  Aboard Bluetooth (by Bordeaux x Riccione) he stood out with his strong entry in canter and very correct trot extensions which had plenty of overstep. The first and last passage were a bit uneven behind, but the piaffe was on the spot. The tempi changes worked well although the horse dropped into trot after the ones, but in the pirouettes Bluetooth struggled with staying supple in them. The last piaffe was the best one. 

Finnish Emma Kanerva had a season best ride on Greek Air (by Gribaldi x Florestan). The pocket size chestnut was sharp on the aids and very willing today with very bubbly passage, but in piaffe he crosses in front. They posted 73.680% for third place in the group. 

Belgian Flore de Winne and her black stallion Flynn (by Fahrenheit x Sir Oldenburg) achieved a personal best score of 73.028% and even that mark was stingy of the judges. The pair goes through the test with such ease, nicely up in the poll and with minimal aids from the riders. Maybe at times he gets a bit open in the mouth, but overall the picture is a steady one. The passage is wonderful and the horse does the entire canter tour easy-peasy with straight tempi changes and good pirouettes. The piaffes lack sit and lift in the withers, but this horse does not piaffe that much less poorly than some of the higher scoring horses... 

A big blow for the U.S. team as their highest scoring pair of the CDI Kronberg - team rookie Marcus Orlob on Alice Tarjan's KWPN mare Jane (by Desperado x Metall) - were eliminated from the Grand Prix. The mega talented mare is very green at Grand Prix and has little show experience at such big venues. She got overwhelmed entering the stadium and spun around, grazing some skin. Nothing was the matter but as the test progressed, the spot started to show blood and the judge at C - Susanne Baarup - rang the bell to stop the test and excuse the pair from the rest of the test. They were trending at 72-73% at that point.  This means that Team USA is out of the running for the Special. Adrienne Lyle and Steffen Peters can only qualify themselves for the individual final now. 

Group C: Da Bomb

British Becky Moody and her home bred 10-year old Jagerbomb (by Dante Weltino x Jazz) are the fairytale story of the event: home bred, home schooled and riding the Olympics as their first ever international senior dressage championships. Trained by David Hunt, Moody and "Bomb" made a late entry into the British team as first reserve after Dujardin got provisionally suspended right before departure to Paris. 

Although they bay gelding has much show experience and mileage in the UK, his international record is fairly limited and he appeared quite impressed by the arena. He did not halt immobile and the strike off to trot had a few unbalanced steps. He got slow in the trot half pass right, the one to the left was better. Also in the extended walk the overtrack was not the most generous and the collected walk short, but from there it all went up and much better. One can see how well schooled her horse is: the contact always soft and steady. The piaffes were not the most expressive, but on the spot, the passage work was correct with the second one moving like clockwork. The tempi changes were straight, the extended canter uphill. The left pirouette was the best one. They posted 74.938% to become the winner in Group C.

Right behind her were World Cup winners Patrik Kittel and Touchdown (by Quaterback x Sack). The bay gelding has incredible freedom in the shoulder and has so much reach in front, which he shows in the trot extensions and half passes. The passage was rather a slow trot and today the horse regularly backstepped in the two piaffes. The two tempi changes showed improved straightness. The extended canter was good, the one tempi changes ground covering. They got 74.317%

American Adrienne Lyle and the KWPN bred Helix (by Apache x Jazz) ranked third in group C with 72.593%. The gorgeous liver chestnut with dapples is a very talented horse, but the young partnership between Lyle and the gelding still shows. The horse is much too tight in the neck and at times sticks the tongue in front or shows it on the side. Helix has plenty of talent for the piaffe and passage work. The second passage was wonderful and also in the piaffe he can really sit and lift in the withers, but the finesse in the steering is not yet there. The tempi changes were a highlight.

Belgian Larissa Pauluis and Flambeau (by Ampere x Zeoliet) had a best ride in Versailles with a score of 72.127%. The pair flowed from movement to movement with expressive tempi changes and rhythmical piaffe work. They lost valuable points on the final centerline when Flambeau anticipated the final halt and put his foot on the brake too early. They were fourth in the group. 

At the moment, the six highest scoring riders who did not finish in the top two of the groups are Hester, Kanerva, De Winne, Lyle, Pauluis and Ramel. Let's see what tomorrow brings as the Grand Prix comes to a conclusion and we will know which countries ride the team competition in the Special and which 18 individuals made it to the Kur. 

The weather forecast for tomorrow is 31 ° C and a thunderstorm in the late afternoon. A Demain !

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

Eurodressage is taking photos of all competitors in Versailles. No reproduction allowed - NO SCREENSHOTS!

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