Britain claimed team gold for the first time in the 25-year history of the FEI European Dressage Championships when Carl Hester and the fabulous stallion, Uthopia, produced a dream performance at the Kralingsbos stadium in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on Aug. 18. 

With his country already in front at the halfway stage following yesterday’s good results from first-line rider Emile Faurie on Elmegardens Marquis and the new British star partnership of Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro, 44-year-old Hester racked up a score of 82.56 percent, which left him with the leading individual mark of the competition and took the pressure off anchor Laura Bechtolsheimer with Mistral Hojris.

The result is a triumph for British dressage which, over the last three years, has risen up the ranks and now looks to be the most threatening force in the sport coming into next year’s Olympic Games on their home turf.

“Some of us have seen Great Britain through the dark days—20 years ago this would never have seemed possible—so it’s a truly historic moment for us, and London should be a sell-out now!” Hester said.

Battle For Silver

Germany pipped the Netherlands by just over 3 points in the battle for the silver medals. Isabell Werth’s test with El Santo NRW was good, slotting her into seventh place overall with a score of 75.21 percent. 

“I was unhappy with the piaffe, but the rest was very good,” she said. And she laughed when adding, “His piaffe was really good during the prize-giving this evening!”

Teammate Matthias Alexander Rath was pleased with his score of 79.45 percent with Totilas, the horse that set the dressage world alight with spectacular performances for the Netherlands’ Edward Gal during the FEI European Championships at Windsor (England) two years ago and at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (Ky.).

The 27-year-old German admitted he feels plenty of pressure every time he goes in the ring, but he said that being at these championships is no different than anywhere else. “There is always pressure riding Totilas, but he always tries his best for me, and he tries not to make mistakes. I have a lot of fun with him every day I ride him,” said Rath.

Ups and downs are what you have to deal with when you ride horses, and Gal, the hero of the 2009 Championships, provided the drop-score for the defending champions from the Netherlands after a tense test with Sisther de Jeu.

“In the warm-up I won, but when I came into the ring it was all gone!” said Gal. The Germans and the Dutch admitted the British were always the favorites to take the 2011 team title. “It wasn’t a surprise to be honest,” said Werth. “We all expected them to be very strong. All of our riders made mistakes today, some unforced errors as they say in tennis, so we have to do better to come closer and be more competitive.”

Breathtaking Test

Hester and Uthopia were among the first group in action this morning and produced a breath-taking test. The crowd gasped with delight as the stallion sprang off the ground in his first extended trot, which earned an average score of 9.6. That set the tone for the rest of the performance, which included lovely piaffe, pirouette and tempi changes. The final extended trot was so extravagant that it drew gasps and giggles from the sidelines and 10s from the judges. 

Hester admitted he wasn’t sure what was happening when he heard people laughing. “I thought maybe there was a dog in the ring or something!” he said. But it was just the sheer enjoyment of witnessing a horse and rider working in perfect harmony, and there were many tear-filled eyes, and faces wearing foolish grins as the British partnership drew to a final halt to rapturous applause. Hester dropped the reins, and Uthopia seemed to be smiling himself as he left the arena with an air of total relaxation.

“Every now and then you have a dream ride, and I had it today,” he said. “It was very smooth, especially for a horse so young. I’ve never had one like this before—I’m so glad he came into my life before my retirement. I’m so very lucky to have him. Today was a great day for us, and for our sport at home.

“He felt more controlled that he did at Hickstead, where he was almost wildly flamboyant,” continued Hester. “He felt really light in my hand today. He’s a 10-year-old, but he behaves more like an old man! He used to be the opposite, big and bouncy, but he’s settling—this is only his sixth Grand Prix in his life, and I’m still finding out about warming him up. I rode him twice today—you see everyone else doing it so you think, ‘Yeah, I better go back out there and do the same!’ “

Already Decided

By the time last British rider, Bechtolsheimer, went into action, the fate of the 2011 gold medals was already decided, so she was only riding for an individual finish that would earn her a place among the top 30 who will ride for the individual medals in Saturday’s Grand Prix Special. That didn’t take the edge off her desire to do well though.

“I wanted to do a great performance, to show that ‘Alf’ and I are in good form, but he was tense. The noise and the atmosphere got to him, and he was really strong today. He was stronger than he has ever been actually, and at one stage I was just holding on for dear life!” Bechtolsheimer said.  Her score of 77.28 percent was good enough for individual fifth place however behind teammate Dujardin who kicked off the British success yesterday.

“I’ve got a wonder-horse, but I was nearly more emotional about Charlotte and Valegro yesterday,” said Hester, for whom Dujardin works as an assistant trainer. “They are so good and so young; it was just so pleasant.”

Rath was pushed down the order by the Netherlands’ Adelinde Cornelissen, last to go in the entire competition with Jerich Parzival and delayed for more than 30 minutes after a thunderstorm and lightning strike on the showgrounds led to a temporary halt to the competition.

Cornelissen is a cool customer however, and with 81.15 percent, she slotted into individual second ahead of the German rider.

Final Results:

1. Great Britain, 238.678—Elmegardens Marquis (Emile Faurie) 70.42%, Valegro (Charlotte Dujardin) 78.83%, Uthopia (Carl Hester) 82.56%, Mistral Hojris (Laura Bechtolsheimer) 77.28%.

2. Germany, 226.110—Damon Hill NRW (Helen Langehanenberg) 71.07%, Donnperignon (Christoph Koschel) 71.44%, El Santo NRW (Isabell Werth) 75.21%, Totilas (Matthias Alexander Rath) 79.45%.

3. The Netherlands 222.645—Moedwill (Sander Marijnissen) 70.57%, Exquis Nadine (Hans Peter Minderhoud) 70.91%, Sisther de Jeu (Edward Gal) 70.91%, Jerich Parzival (Adelinde Cornelissen) 81.15%.

Full results at www.ecdressage2011.com/

Tidbits

• This was Great Britain’s first gold medal in the 25-year history of the FEI European Dressage Championships, and
their total score of 238.678 set a new European record.
• Three teams qualified for the London 2012 Olympic Games as a result of their placings in the FEI European Championships 2011 team event—Sweden, Spain and Denmark who finished fourth, fifth and sixth. 
• The Judges Supervisory Panel changed 40 marks out of a total of 16,000. These 40 marks were spread over 24 horse/rider combinations.