Michael Jung Leads Haras du Pin CCIO4*-S as Quarantine Concerns Loom Large

Michael Jung and fischerChipmunk FRH. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

You’d be forgiven if, coming back from a months-long hiatus from competition, your riding and results were a little bit off the mark. After all, keeping your eye in, remembering how to ride for judges rather than for the patient progression of schooling and sharpening up those little winning details is a pretty tough ask when you have to sit on your hands through what’s amounted to a double off-season.

That is, of course, if you’re a mere mortal. If you’re Michael Jung, you’ve spent the last few months lovingly applying lashings of WD-40 to all your bionic bits, plugging in for a few software updates, and preparing to take no prisoners upon your return to the sport. We saw it at Strzegom, which ushered us all back into the international sporting calendar, and now we’re seeing it at France’s Haras du Pin CCIO4*-S, which hosts the first FEI Nations Cup of the 2020 season.

Ze Terminator’s impressive score of 19.7 aboard the DOKR and Klaus Fischer’s fischerChipmunk FRH isn’t exactly a surprising one — this is now the sixth time we’ve seen the 12-year-old gelding slip into the sub-20s with either his current rider or Julia Krajewski, who produced him through the level and delivered an extraordinary 19.9 with him at the 2018 World Equestrian Games. Now in their second season together, Michael and Chipmunk are well on their way to repeating their successes of last season, which saw them finish top ten in every international outing — bar a trip to Jardy, where Michael opted not to run cross-country — and come a close second at both the European Championships and Aachen. Their 2020 season might be a slender one in comparison, but it’s looking no less impressive, with a win in Strzegom’s CCI4*-S last month and a fourth-place finish in a CCI3*-S pipe-opener at Luhmühlen in June, their first international appearance after months locked down. Let’s take a look at what they laid down in the ring today.

What, exactly, does it take to create a sub-20 dressage score? When most of us spend our riding lives trying to stay — or even get — below the 30 barrier, it’s so easy to think of something a solid ten points lower as being unattainable, somehow otherworldly, and surely, surely just the preserve of the flashiest of horses. And yes, Chipmunk is a nice type — he’s well-built, attractive, and moves easily through the world around him. But is he Valegro? No. Was La Biosthetique Sam before him a total freak of a horse? On paper, sure, but in reality he was just extraordinarily well-trained, blessed with a great brain that had never been sullied by poor horsemanship, and blissfully, wonderfully sound.

It’s easy to sit here behind a screen and a keyboard and write that we could all be getting sub-20 scores — and hey, I hold my hands up here and admit I nearly cried when I got a 29 at one point last year, so I’m no dressage diva — but there’s something in it. And folks, I’m all about drawing inspiration and education wherever possible from the dynamos of our sport, so let’s take a closer look at how well you need to be performing for five to seven minutes to lay down a score like that…

It’s actually … quite achievable, right? Okay, so there are a few 9s scattered throughout there. I’ve earned two nines in my entire riding life, both of which were given to me for final halts, which I’m pretty sure just means the judge was so relieved to be shot of me that they were overcome with a rare rush of gratitude and charity, and sent me on my way with the numerical version of a sweetie and a pat on the head. But despite being, generally, a feral gremlin on the loose in the dressage ring, I definitely find those 7s and 7.5s pretty easy to nab. And the 8s? Not too hard either, and definitely very achievable if and when I really commit to riding circle-shaped circles. Could I produce a score sheet that looks like this? Actually, with a bit of time and effort, and a test appropriate to the level I’m competing at, I reckon I could. I also reckon you could. So, like, well done Michi, and all that, but more pertinently, well done you, reader, for all the schooling you’re about to embark on and ice water you’re going to inject into your veins. Sub-20s are coming, baby.

Several miles behind on a measly (I kid, I kid, promise!) 23.2, Tim Price and the Windrush Equestrian Foundation’s Wesko hold down the fort in second place, having led at the conclusion of day one. Tim and his 2015 Luhmühlen winner are among a number of British-based riders who were faced with a bit of extra stress midway through yesterday’s competition, when the UK government announced — with characteristic short notice — that France would be removed from the quarantine exemption list from 4am on Saturday. That means that anyone returning after that short window of time will need to go into self-isolation for 14 days, or risk a fine of £1000. Concerns about the likelihood of this removal prompted several British and British-based riders to withdraw from the event, including Laura Collett, who had been named to the British team for the Nations Cup competition.

Despite the unfortunately-timed announcement, those riders and teams who have ventured across the Channel have all committed to seeing the competition through, in part because of an exemption in UK law that allows elite sportspeople to travel back after certain competitions — generally, those considered Olympic qualifying events, so any four- or five-star — without the need for a two-week quarantine. The waters, however, are slightly muddied by the strict list of who qualifies for this exemption — while athletes and immediate support staff are safe, though must be signed off by the British Equestrian Federation, owners and family members are not.

With one less thing to worry about, Tim and Wesko were able to deliver the goods for judges Nathalie Carriere (FRA) at H, James Rooney (IRE) at C, and Laure Eslan (FRA) at E, producing a score that would allow them to sneak ahead of third-placed Therese Viklund and Diabolique of Sweden, who posted a 23.5.

Behind them, Michael Jung makes his second appearance in the top five, sitting fourth overnight with comeback queen fischerRocana FST, his three-time Kentucky winner who made an auspicious return to competition in the latter half of the 2019 season. Could she have headed back stateside for a fourth win? Perhaps — but she’ll likely have her eyes on a different long-format prize this season instead.

Three’s company in fifth place, with a Francocentric tie putting Tom Carlile and nine-year-old Birmane on equal footing with Gwendolen Fer and Traumprinz and the exceptionally experienced Thibaut Vallette and Qing du Briot IFCE on 26.6.

The high-class field, which features 93 entries from 15 countries, certainly didn’t mess around in this phase — you’d have to scan all the way down to 20th place before you found a score above the 20s.

Eight of those countries represented also field a team in this inaugural Nations Cup event, though Germany is conspicuous only in its absence here — Michael Jung is the country’s sole representative in this class, though he’s certainly not letting the side down. At the culmination of the first phase, hosts France lead the way on 84.2, with Tom Carlile and Birmane and Thibaut Vallette and Qing du Briot IFCE leading the way and Christopher Six and Totem de Brecey and Karim Laghouag and Triton Fontaine presumably bickering over who counts as the drop-score, since both sit on a 31 currently. The Netherlands follow behind in second on an aggregate score of 90.2, led by Tim Lips and Eclips, and look — after the 2019 they had, we have to admit we’re quietly rooting for the orange army to win. Great Britain hold the bronze position on 91, with young rider Richard Coney out in front with his longtime partner Kananaskis.

Tomorrow sees the commencement of the showjumping phase for the CCIO4*-S, with all the action kicking off at 15.00 local time (that’s 14.00 BST, or 9.00 a.m. Eastern). You can check out the start list here, and follow along with the live-stream on the Haras du Pin Facebook page. In the meantime, enjoy this excellent selection of photos from Photos Les Garennes, who summed up all the emotions of dressage day rather poetically.

“So guys, is dressage hard? Come on, it’s over, tomorrow, it’s jumping!” = the pep-talk we all needed today, frankly.

Haras du Pin CCIO4*-S: Individual Leaderboard | Team Leaderboard | Live-Stream | Showjumping Start List | Cross-Country Map