Fábiánsebestyén, Hungary – The 2015 FEI World Driving Championships for Pairs got underway at Kinizsi Park Thursday with the dressage phase. Jacob Arnold and Scott Dancer performed their test on Thursday with half the field. Kathrin Dancer completed her test today and currently sits in 28th place to lead the U.S. team with a score of 60.05. After the first phase of competition, the U.S. stands in ninth place with a score of 122.3. The judges had particularly high standards as only six teams scored below 50.

Kathrin Dancer originally had planned on driving her own and Scott Dancer’s horses, Wimbledon and Redford, during today’s dressage test. Unfortunately, nerves got the best of Wimbledon so she called on Scott Dancer’s Joop van den Bruel hoping he would rise to the occasion. The arena was caked with mud as a result of Thursday’s rain, but the team did the best they could despite the horse swap and tough conditions. They scored low in the free walk and halt as the pair seemed distracted and unrelaxed. However, they excelled at the extended trot and collections. 

“This wasn’t my best test. The footing was awful, but the collections went well. The six-year-old [Joop van den Bruel] isn’t quite ripe, but next year he will be spectacular. This year we have a great team and coaches. We all get along and support each other. It’s such a good atmosphere to compete in,” said Kathrin Dancer.

Scott Dancer felt good going into his test, and his horses, Jan Greve’s Dapper and his own Deniro, were well prepared. However, heavy, rainy conditions did not make the test enjoyable. The team executed beautiful trot work, but had trouble with their collections, circles, and deviations. The judges gave them an overall score of 62.24 for 35th place.

Arnold was the third driver to perform on Thursday and the first for the U.S. team. His pair, Lajos Móró’s Dax 62 and Marco Freund’s Janni 12, struggled with their walk and trot work. The judges gave them higher scores on their deviations, half circles, and loops for an overall score of 66.49 to put them in 45th place.

Currently, Claudio Fumagalli from Italy leads the field with a score of 42.18. The 2013 World Driving for Pairs Champion Vilmos Lázár is in second place with a 43.36, and Jozsef Dibak from Italy is in third with a 44.12. Italy leads the team standings with 86.30 points. Hungary is in second place with 88.02 points, and Germany sits in third place with 105.07 points.

The 2015 FEI World Driving Championships for Pairs continues tomorrow with the marathon phase beginning at 4:00 a.m. ET and is live streamed. For complete results and to access free coverage of the competition, go to Fogatverseny.hu.

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