The audience wants to hear recognizable music, sing along lyrics so that they can stomp their feet and clap their hands. To watch the KurFour horses into the programme, the audience was warmed up and started clapping with the final piaffes and passage. This lack is precision in points is what annoys me much as well as the fact that even at the pinnacle of our sport, there are still so many Kurs with elevator music that do not pull the strings of the heart. Where's the transparency? As a journalist you need to tap into the deepest depths of your network, the cave within the cave, to find out what really happened on those freestyle score sheets. Four days after the Grand Prix Kur, the detailed scores (individual marks of the judges) are still not made available to the general public, so to find out what the judges truly did with tongues, mistakes, and artistic scores can only guessed. Emotional judging took the upper hand over practical judging on that memorable Sunday in Riesenbeck.ĭressage sport is supposed to be as objective as possible, but that objectivity is thrown out of the window as soon as music starts to play and riders perform a floorplan tailored to the strengths and weaknesses of their horses.īy the way, Longines Timing is just dreadful in its scoring services. Sure it is a testament to the rising level in the sport, but the points also felt a little ridiculous.
Eighteen pairs competed in the Kur, 12 scored over 80%, 3 over 90%. My head was still spinning with the wonderful performances, the crazy high scores, the lack of care for bridle contact (sure they can write "busy mouth" on the sheets, but if a blue tongue is shown or a red one drops out of the mouth, this should be reflected in the points, which is not truly happening).Ģ023 European ChampionsAs soon as the Freestyle finals started, one immediately felt that the traditionally used range of scores for the technical tests had become relative in the freestyle. there is so much to be said about the Kur finale that I just couldn't get this article out any sooner. Emotional JudgingĪnyway, let's get back on track. if it's in a stadium, decorate it with oceans of flowers and plants (like in Herning 2022) instead of keeping it bare. What is usually key to me is bringing nature to the sport. It's different from staging a competition in an athletics or soccer stadium compared to a real equestrian centre. The venue itself with its tall oak trees providing shade in boiling hot temperatures is also fantastic. The show jumping crowd in Riesenbeck did a wonderful job pleasing a highly critical dressage audience and their attention for detail was outstanding. When it comes to organisation, there was little to be faulted. the 2019 ones in Rotterdam with the thriller team competition (Dujardin got eliminated) and the board that kept changing, as well as Germany being the strongest they ever were (Bella Rose, Showtime, Cosmo, Dalera) and then probably, yes, the 2023 ones in Riesenbeck, although in the end I believe a few years need to pass to see if these Championships stand the test of time and remain memorable ones in the larger scheme of things. Werndl and Dujardin a champagne showerThe most memorable ones for me were 2009 in Windsor with the rise of Totilas and the freezing cold press centre, the 2015 ones in Aachen where Team Holland beat Germany in the lion's den and then all the drama with Totilas being unfit and Undercover getting eliminated. The Dutch equestrian magazine Paardenkrant called this edition of the European Championships "one for the history books" and I reflected back on all the ones I covered since 2004.
The fighter for medal glory was an unprecedented tough one with reigning World Champion Charlotte Fry giving it her all on Glamourdale and Charlotte Dujardin proving her exceptional riding skills in piloting her fourth Grand Prix horse to an individual medal in 11 years time ! "One for the History Books"Īfter the medal ceremony and press conference I drove home to Belgium with my colleague Lily Forado in tow and we kept on discussing the freestyle over and over again. It's been three days since the Kur to Music finals came to a conclusion at the 2023 European Championships in Riesenbeck on Sunday 10 September 2023 and Jessica von Bredow-Werndl renewed her 2021 title of European Champion for another biennial. Text and Photos © Eurodressage (this article expresses Eurodressage's' eye-witness account and opinion about the competition)
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