Ingrid Klimke and FRH Butts Abraxxas, courtesy of FEI
From Heather Reimer of GermanEventing.de:
Black, Red, Gold dominates the leader board at the end of the 2nd day of the European championships and Germany takes a 20 point team lead into the cross-country. Their full team score is a 98.7. Frank Ostholt (GER) riding Little Paint was the fifth rider to enter the arena this morning and rode a test which I am sure his wife Sara Algotsson-Ostholt (SWE) will be very proud of even if it did remove her from the top of the leader board. It certainly looked as if the Germans have been doing their dressage homework! And this set the trend for the day.
Laura Collett (GBR) riding Rayef was the very next rider and it look as if she would be taking over the leading position until her second flying change marked her down and she finished the day equal 4th with Sandra Auffarth(GER). Mary King the third team rider for Great Britain rode a good test and was rewarded with tenth place but then came Ingrid Klimke (GER) riding Butts Abraxxas and not only did she receive 3 x 10 for her halt and mobility but a further 3 x 10 points for other elements in the test, she moved up to the top of the board with 30,00 points. It was now going to be hard to challenge the German dominance. Stefano Brecciaroli (ITA) riding Apollo van de Wendi Kurt, an 11 year old Belgian bred gelding, a horse with beautiful paces put in a very impressive performance and not only secured the 6th place in the individuals but also moved Italy up to bronze medal position in the Team results and I am sure we will be hearing more about him in the future. William Fox-Pitt and Cool Mountain came out with a disappointing 17th place; Cool Mountain unfortunately didn’t live up to his name and found the main arena rather awesome!
The final rider of the day was Michael Jung (GER), last team rider for Germany and the pressure was on, The first halt and salute were suboptimal and the gelding cantered a pace at the beginning of the extended trot but he then seemed to find his rhythm and put in a top performance and finished the day 2nd on the overnight leader board. The judges seemed to be more generous with their marks today but we did see some nice rides. The youngest rider in the Championships is Christoffer Forsberg (SWE) he is only 21 years old and finished his test today with just 43,30 minus points and a super 19th place.
[Individual Results, Team Results, Dressage Photos, FEI TV Coverage, Polly withdraws, H&H Recap]
The horses and riders had to cope with high temperatures and high humidity today, hopefully this won’t be the case tomorrow, many of the riders are of the opinion the cross county course will not be easy; it will demand high concentration from both horse and rider. A lot can happen in the next 24 hours and Germany has been known to have problems in the cross country phase before. I look forward to seeing the leader board this time tomorrow!
