PrintThe top riders in dressage proved that even they can make mistakes in the Grand Prix Special of the Olympic Games, Aug. 16 in Hong Kong, China.
Throughout Satchmo’s trotwork, Isabell Werth of Germany was earning scores in the low 80s, far ahead of her competitors, but when she went into her first piaffe, the unthinkable happened as Satchmo performed six or seven steps, then reared up and began backing up for several steps.
“There’s nothing I could say is the reason,” said Werth, who posted the top score in the Grand Prix and led her team to the gold medal two days earlier. “Horses are animals, and anything can happen. I have to look at the video. I don’t know what happened; I was really surprised.”
But even with a few judges giving her 0s for the movement, Werth ended up winning the Grand Prix Special (75.20%). “I had a super feeling until the mistake, and afterward it was easy again. It was 1 second, but it was at the wrong time,” she said. “This horse is so outstanding. It was going too straight and easy, and something had to happen.
“I was a bit upset like everyone else, but the most important thing was to get him back as soon as possible. I have no idea what he saw, or why he was spooky, but OK, then he was going on again.”
She said she knew her test was scoring high in the beginning, because after the half pass to the right, she could hear the spectators, who could see the running score, whispering.
And Anky van Grunsven of the Netherlands had left the door open with two mistakes—Salinero cantered through part of his trot half pass and had a bobble in his two-tempis, to score 74.96 percent and finish second.
“I was really disappointed; even in training [the half pass] has not ever gone wrong,” she said. “In the two tempis I took a risk and had another stupid mistake. I was happy for the rest of the test, but at this moment, I am still thinking how this could happen. The rest was a good test, but at this moment it doesn’t feel like it. Maybe in an hour I will be happy again.”
