Day One of dressage at these 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games meant team dressage with half of the 85 competitors from 32 nations on display during their FEI grand prix test and a brief yet memorable six minutes for each rider. The other competitors will ride their Grand Prix test tomorrow—Wednesday. Of those 32 nations, 17 have teams competing, but that number continues to decline as horses have been withdrawing and retiring throughout the afternoon. The U.S. drew 13th position in Monday’s draw, while the Dutch got last draw—the ideal position.
At the end of day one, which broke a record with 29,500 fans in attendance, four women and one man were sitting in a good spot to make the next cut. Heike Kemmer of Germany and Bonaparte, her 13-year-old Hanoverian gelding, were in first place with a score of 75.792%. In second, was Imke Schellenkens-Bartels, of The Netherlands, with a score of 71.542% riding the 12-year-old mare, Sunrise, owned by P.A.J. Smarius. Following her in third place, with a score of 70.333% was Sweden’s Tinne Vilhelmson and Solos Carex, a 13-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding, owned by Lovsta Stuteri.
“I was very pleased,” said Schellenkens-Bartels. “My mare is in very good shape, and I had a really good warm-up. I was afraid that I was going to get really nervous but she felt great and gave me lots of trust so I could go in with a really good feeling…She was a little bit fresh because she was really excited about the arena, and I expected her to be excited…She’s a great mare, and I have a lot of fun with her…The audience was already happy that we came in, and that is a good feeling.”
In fourth place, was a pleasantly surprised Bernadette Pujals of Mexico and her mount, Vincent, her 14-year-old Hanoverian stallion. Pujals is Mexico’s only dressage rider and earned a score of 70.00% today. On the flipside, it was not one of Australia’s better dressage days. Kelly Layne chose to retire after her horse, Amoucheur, broke part of the arena fence as they were riding around the arena preparing to enter. After their first piaffe, he bolted forward and went in to a series of spins.
Riding today for the U.S. were Leslie Morse and Guenter Seidel. Seidel is currently sitting in fifth-place with a score of 69.792%. Seidel was aboard Aragon, the 14-year-old Bavarian Warmblood gelding, owned by Richard and Jane Brown. Morse rode Tip Top, her 12-year-old Swedish Warmblood stallion to a score of 64.208%.
During Seidel’s ride, a hush came over the crowd and photographers’ shutters from around the world began furiously clicking. The only other riders that received that honor today were from Germany and The Netherlands. Tomorrow, the crowd will witness performances from USA’s Debbie McDonald and Steffen Peters. The three best scores will be used to determine team placing at the conclusion of tomorrow’s grand prix competition.
Of today’s rides, U.S. chef d’equipe Klaus Balkenhol had much to say, as well as sharing his thoughts about tomorrow. “Leslie showed a tremendous start to her test,” he said. “At the start of the canter tour, there was some unfortunate tension in the horse which she had to work through for the remainder of the canter tour. That’s just the nature of the sport. I was very pleased with Guenter’s ride on Aragon which puts us in a strong position going into the second day of competition. I expect a very strong showing with both horses tomorrow, and we feel that we are solid contention certainly for at least the Bronze medal.”
Four horses had already been withdrawn prior to the vet check on Monday—yesterday, two of which were Canadian, leaving them out of team contention. Five additional horses did not pass Monday’s vet check and were re-inspected this morning. Of those, three passed and continued on with two of those three withdrawing before their ride. The two Russian horses that did not pass meant that Russia would now compete as individuals and not as a team.
The top 30 riders after Tuesday and Wednesday’s grand prix will be invited back with a clean slate to ride their grand prix special on Friday, a test with essentially the same movements but arranged in a more difficult pattern and sequence. Medals will be awarded again at the end of the grand prix special; this time it will be an individual medal that the 30 competitors are eyeing. The next challenge will be for the top 15 riders who will be invited back one last time for the creative grand prix freestyle on Saturday where the top three again will medal.
The Germans will, undoubtedly, try hard to retain their Gold medals from the 2002 World Equestrian Games, both team and individual. At the 2002 Games, the U.S. (Debbie McDonald, Guenter Seidel, Sue Blinks and Lisa Wilcox) earned a Team Bronze with Debbie McDonald narrowly missing an individual medal.
The crowd was extremely supportive of those riding as individuals, showing their support regardless of country. Countries currently showcasing individuals in dressage include Netherlands Antilles, Antigua and Barbuda, Belarus (2), Canada (2), Columbia, Finland, Greece, Hungary (2), Ireland (2), Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Russian Federation (2), South Africa and Slovenia.
Countries fielding full teams of four that are competing against Team USA include Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, France, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Switzerland, Sweden and Ukraine.