Omaha, Neb.—March 30  

The FEI World Cup Dressage Final gets underway at with the first horse going down centerline at 2:15 p.m. Central time (3:15 p.m. EST) with 16 horses on the order of go for the Grand Prix.

U.S riders go:
9th—Goerklintgaard’s Dublet/Kasey Perry-Glass (3:47 p.m. CT/4:47 p.m. ET)
10th—Rosamunde/Steffen Peters (3:56 p.m. CT/4:56 p.m. ET)
15th—Verdades/Laura Graves (4:41 p.m. CT/5:41 p.m. ET)

CLICK here for What You Need To Know for more information about the competition. The Grand Prix results contribute to establishing the order of go for the Grand Prix freestyle, but the riders start on a clean slate for the freestyle—the World Cup title is decided by the freestyle score only.

Chronicle reporters will be doing a round-by-round live blog here, reporting in real-time what happens with each rider, and after the end of the day will also post in-depth coverage and a gallery full of great photos. Follow along at www.coth.com and on COTH’s Facebook and Twitter. 

IMPORTANT LINKS: The order of go / live streaming / live results / COTH’s What You Need To Know / All COTH’s FEI World Cup Finals coverage

6:06 And that’s it for tonight! Tune back in Saturday for the Grand Prix Freestyle!

5:50 Isabell Werth & Weihegold OLD: The one, the only, the Isabell. This is also not my favorite of all of Isabell’s many top horses, but by God, can you even imagine how deep her bench must be? How many young horses she must start with in her system to produce the tremendous numbers of serious, no-foolin’, top placing international Grand Prix horses? She routinely has 3-4 at a time. She could be her own team for her own country, the Nation of Isabell, and kick all our butts. Unreal. But I digress from this meticulous performance, foot perfect.  The extended trot on this horse is a little understated, but she has a tremendous hind leg in the piaffe and passage, and the piaffe in particular must be getting 10s. Active, on the spot, huge energy and huge relaxation all at once. The second tour has a bit of tension, but the rhythm never changes. A mistake in the twos—oh look, she IS a mortal—but a clean zig-zag and ones. The pirouettes are excellent and she’s back up over 80%. And oh, the last centerline. And she just smiles and pats her horse. Wow. That’s why she’s the best! 82.275%, unreal.

5:41 Laura Graves and Verdades: Heeeeeeere’s Diddy! You can’t not love the story of this combination; talk about grit! Intimate indoor arenas aren’t Diddy’s forte, but Laura’s diligent and meticulous leadership gives him the confidence he needs to do his job. He looked phenomenal in Florida and looks in top form today, showing their typical beautiful swing and elasticity in the half passes. He takes the littlest step backward in piaffe, unfortunately, but the transitions are in good form, and the walk is clear. The second piaffe is much better. Diddy’s changes are excellent, as is the first pirouette; Laura salvages the second when it tries to sneak away from her. I’ve got chills watching her last centerline, just spectacular. They’ll finish just shy of 80% on 79.8%, and the crowd goes wild!

5:32 Inessa Merkulova & Mister X: Mister X is one of my favorite horses in the world of international dressage sport. I had the great pleasure of seeing him live in Las Vegas in 2015, and I would love to see him rise from the successes he’s had to achieve even greater marks. The first few questions of Grand Prix are unfortunately not up to their usual standard: the half passes lacked in elasticity, and the rein back seemed resistant. But the first piaffe and passage tour were excellent, shoving them back up over 70%, and the second was even better. The neck got a bit low in the canter, with a minor glitch in the ones, but the pirouettes showed tremendous sit. Mister X tried to halt before G, sneaky boy, and they’ll finish on 72.014%.

5:23 Wendi Williamson & Dejavu MH: Wendi wins the award for longest commute to Omaha—all the way from New Zealand!—and doesn’t have the first centerline she wants, with an unfortunate break. But they’re back in the game now, showing a very active hind leg in the piaffe-passage work, though the piaffe travels quite a bit. He’s a bit tight in the canter work, with some struggles in the zig zag and in the first pirouette. Dejavu looks a bit impressed by this big environment, but my hat off to Wendi for making the most of this opportunity for her and her wonderful horse! They finish on 63.814%.

5:14 Kristy Oatley & Du Soleil: This is a big strapping lad with a whopper extended trot, but with a bit of a fussy contact in their first piaffe. The second is better in the mouth but a bit too round in the neck, with a slightly glitchy transition in. At this point the margin of error is so close between the top group! Du Soleil is a little croup high in the twos, but shows us a beautiful extended canter. Her entrance to the ones had me holding my breath but she pulled them off! A funky transition from canter to trot but WOW can he extended trot! They finish on 71.8%, for 7th place.

5:05 Judy Reynolds & Vancouver K: This lovely Jazz son makes a beautiful shape with his body in the collected work, with particularly good engagement in the piaffe and passage. He has great bounce in his body, and there’s a little tension and sketchy radar ears in this second piaffe-passage tour, but Judy has been this horse’s partner for a long time, and they know each other well. It was hard to tell from the FEI TV camera position but the canter zig zag wasn’t quite symmetrical, but the pirouettes were fairly equal, and the final centerline was quite beautiful. They’ll finish on 74.443% and, as they scoot out of the arena, it’s clear that they have plenty of tiger left in their tank for the freestyle!

4:56 Steffen Peters & Rosamunde: “Rosie” is a marvelous creature, but I always hold my breath watching her piaffe, because she gets her fancy hind legs SO FAR forward, and her fancy front legs so far back, and the transition to passage is always a delicate balancing act. But Steffen is a master, and the second piaffe was vastly better than the first. The one tempis are quite swingy and sprawling, but the pirouettes are immaculately prepared. They’ll finish on 72.257%, and I for one am THRILLED to see Steffen in a helmet.

4:48 Kasey Perry-Glass & Goerklintgaards Dublet: This is just such a wonderful combination. I just want to eat Dublet up. He looks super in the contact today, though they had a teenie weenie loss of balance in the rein back. Super first piaffe, exceptional transitions, and another excellent second piaffe and passage tour. Gorgeous changes, maybe a little loss of fluidity in the zig zag, but wonderful balance and sit in the pirouettes. DANGIT one miscommunication into the last piaffe, bummer, and they finish on 73.829%. I think they got robbed today.

4:31 We’re on a ring drag break here now, but coming up in the second half: all three of the Americans, starting with Kasey Perry-Glass. Stay tuned!

4:18 Madeleine Witte-Vrees & Cennin: Ooh, one of my favorite things: a fancy chestnut Dutch horse! Cennin is the youngest here at just 10 years old, and he looks like he’ll be quite something at 12, with two more years of muscle. But today’s test is just a little green and wiggly, with a hiccup into the first piaffe, and the second was much improved, though he’s sometimes a bit overly round. He’s got a huge canter stride, and has a tragic swing and a miss in the one tempis keeping them out of the top spot, but they produce a banging good last centerline. What a talent for the Netherlands! They finish on 73.877% to take 3rd place. Madeleine, if you’re disappointed in your horse, you can just drop him off in Virginia on your way home; I’ll take him off your hands.

4:09 Mai Tofte Olesen & Rustique: Managing Editor Sara Lieser, my viewing companion for today’s Grand Prix, is having heart palpations over the fact the bottom of Rustique’s tail isn’t quite white enough. I am less concerned about this, because this is a cute little marshmellow of a horse who I would also feed if he showed up on my doorstep. He steps back a bit in the first piaffe, but he shows excellent walk. Neither line of tempis were terribly straight, and the zig zag got a little swiggly towards the end. The pirouettes lacked bend, but the final tour was very pleasant, and this combination just leaves a lovely overall impression. They finish on 69.786%.

4:00 Carl Hester & Nip Tuck: I just can’t get excited about this horse, because he’s not the most inspiring of Carl’s many lifetime mounts, but Carl Hester could ride a lame donkey around it would be a performance worth watching. Barney today looks like he’s considering thinking some impure thoughts, but Carl’s gorgeous, quiet riding is keeping the lid on Pandora’s Box so far. Beautiful passage and an active piaffe, though he could sit more. The transitions are excellent, and the canter zig zag is another masterclass. The last extended trot and transition to passage get a bit wonky but the last passage to piaffe and back to passage was meticulous. He (and his irritatingly good posture) take the lead on 76.671%.

3:51 Joao Victor Marcari Oliva & Xama Dos Pinhais: This sporty little Lusitano stallion is giving us a nice performance today with a lovely rein back and quite a good amount of sit in the piaffe. He’s a bit limited in his extended walk, and has a hiccup in the twos. But the ones were clean, and this charming combination finishes on 68.214%.

3:42, Hannah Karaslova & Arlekino: Hannah is unfortunately having a bit of a tough go with this striking bay, who has eaten his Latvian Wheaties today. He launched a bit through the first piaffe, got a bit stuck in the second transitions to passage, and had some lead difficulties in the extended canter. She at least manages to pull off the last piaffe, and at 11 years old, we haven’t seen the last from this young talent. They score a 58.871%.

3:33, Marcela Krinke-Susmelj & Smeyers Molgberg: Marcela and her horse are new to me, but their names are both very difficult to spell, and took me several tries. Fortunately it doesn’t seem to be holding them back, and they show us a lovely, workmanlike piaffe-passage tour. The zig zag led with the haunches in a few of the zigs. I would take this delightful solid-looking citizen home with me any day of the week, as well as her braider, who did a banging good job! She finishes on 71.529%.

3:24, Edward Gal & Glock’s Voice: Edward Gal needs no introduction, and today he’s partnered with the KWPN stallion Voice. They show wonderful bend and elasticity in the trot half passes, and while the piaffes are quite on the spot, they lack engagement, and sometimes Voice steps backwards or out behind. The canter zig zag was a masterclass, and the pirouettes were extremely small and tidy. Voice isn’t the mega-athlete that Edward’s previous partners, Totilas and Underover, are, but the man can sit a horse. The last halt was a bit of a drive-by, but they take the early lead on 74.471%.

3:15, Maria Florencia Manfredi & Bandurria Kacero: We’re up and running with Argentina’s first-ever representative to the World Cup Final. This big bay has a lot of energy, and teeny little Maria does a great job organizing him. He bobs his neck quite a bit in the piaffe, but the rhythm is quite clear. He got a bit discombobulated in the canter half pass zig zag, and there were a few mistakes in the ones, but Maria looks very pleased with her first World Cup start! They look full of running for tomorrow’s Freestyle, and finish on 66.5%.

3:10 p.m. EST: I had the great pleasure of riding at this venue last year, in the “test event” CDI4*. My wonderful mare, Ellegria, was terribly unimpressed by lit panels right at eye level around the exterior of the arena. It’s hard to tell from the live stream but it looks like those have been removed, so I’d like to think it was my contribution to international horse sport! You’re welcome, guys.

3:00 p.m. EST: It’s on! I’m tuning in today via FEI TV, and while we’re 15 minutes away from the first ride, the online coverage has begun, so if you’re an FEI TV subscriber, get online! Some very dashing men in uniform are playing brass instruments. It’s very exciting!

2:23 p.m. EST update: Greetings, Dressage Fans! I’m blogger, DQ and huge nerd Lauren Sprieser and I’ll be doing the live blog for today’s Grand Prix! Check back in as the first rider—Maria Florencia Manfredi of Argentina—goes down centerline at 3:15 p.m.