Versailles, France—Aug. 4
Germany’s Jessica von Bredow-Werndl had trouble putting her emotions into words following the freestyle at the Paris Olympics. She’d just won her second gold medal of these Olympics in as many days, and her fourth lifetime Olympic gold with her super-mare TSF Dalera BB.
Through joyful tears, she extolled her partnership with a mare who has carried her to great heights, which have included World Cup Finals wins and European championships in addition to the Olympic titles and a team gold at the FEI World Equestrian Games.
“She was one thousand percent,” said von Bredow-Werndl. “She had no ear or eye anywhere else than me. She was listening so carefully, and she really showed me that’s what she wants to do. And this is what makes me so emotional, because I don’t know if I will ever get a horse like her. She knows everything. She’s the most intelligent horse I’ve ever had.”
The pair had uncharacteristic mistakes yesterday in the Grand Prix Special to score a 79.95%, but Dalera came out today on a different level to score 90.09%. The difference, von Bredow-Werndl said, was entirely in her mindset.
“Yesterday, it was too much pressure was in us, going in as the last,” she said. “Today I woke up, and I thought, OK, it’s all about trust. We are enough. I can trust myself; I can trust Dalera; I can trust us, and it’s about letting go. Surrender.
“I didn’t even do a whole pirouette in the warm-up,” she continued. “I just tested it a little. She went in with dry hair, came out with dry hair. It was just a mental game. This was a mental game. The change from yesterday to today? I didn’t change anything. I didn’t change anything about the equipment, about Dalera, about anything. It was just here [in my head], to let go and to trust, and to tell her that she is enough.”
Von Bredow-Werndl describes her nine-year relationship with Dalera as a unique one, and one she knows she might not find in another horse.
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Characterizing the mare as smart and funny, she recounted how, earlier today, the mare was trying to push her out of a hammock she was napping in.
“She was just playing with me and wanted to kick me out because she wanted to dance,” she said. “She was so funny; we should have filmed it, but we didn’t. She was just playing, and she was so cheeky and so happy.”
The pair’s music selection included “Je Ne Regrette Rien” by Edith Piaf, a song von Bredow-Werndl recounted listening to while walking on the beach in Spain with her husband, while she was six weeks pregnant.
“I got goosebumps on my whole body, and I told him, ‘This is the music. This is what I wanted to do,’ ” she said. “And I used the whole pregnancy to create new freestyle, and just before I was too big to do extended trot, I filmed the choreography.”
Throughout the year, von Bredow-Werndl has fielded questions about what 17-year-old Dalera’s future will hold, and one thing she’s sure of is that this will not be the Trakehner (Easy Game—Dark Magic, Handryk) mare’s last show. While she hasn’t determined exactly how many more shows Dalera will do, whether two, three or a few more, she said they will not be aiming for the European championships next year. Her ultimate goal is the breed Dalera next season—and “spoil her til the last day of her life.”
Next to von Bredow-Werndl on the podium was her compatriot Isabell Werth, who is the most decorated equestrian Olympian of all time—today’s silver marks her 14th Olympic medal; eight of them are gold. Werth rode Wendy, a 10-year-old Danish Warmblood (Sezuan 2—Skovens Vanilla, Blue Hors Soprano) to an 89.61% for the silver medal.
“She was just fantastic,” said Werth. “Like I said, every day, every day, every day, it comes a little more, and we grow together more and more. And she was so outstanding, and this atmosphere, the crowds. It was amazing.”
While just 0.48 points separated the two Germans, Werth was matter-of-fact about missing out at a ninth-career gold medal by such a small fraction.
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“We had the luck yesterday on our side; the Danish team also could have won [the team gold medal],” she said. “And today I’m really happy with the result. At the end it’s a lucky punch for Jessie or unlucky for me. … We had such a high standard, the first starter was at 80% already. So I think it was just fantastic. And for me, with this horse and in this atmosphere, I don’t feel that I lost anything.”
Slotting into third was Charlotte Fry and Glamourdale, a 13-year-old Dutch Warmblood stallion (Lord Leatherdale—Thuja, Negro) on an 88.97%, bringing Great Britain’s equestrian medal count to five, having earned a piece of hardware each time medals were up for grabs.
“That was a pretty amazing feeling in there, with the music and the crowd and the whole arena; it was so incredible to ride,” she said. “Glamourdale rises always to the occasion. He really delivered his best work today, so I couldn’t be more pleased, to be honest. We had a few tiny mistakes creep in, which was a shame, but it’s been a pretty long week for us here, and he really gave his all, and it was incredible.”
While she described the past 48 hours as demanding, between her test, the medal ceremony, the standard doping testing and an early-morning horse inspection for the dressage horses ahead of the freestyle, the thrill of the ride keeps her going.
“Competition just runs in our blood,” she said. “We wake up every day ready for it, tired or not. And, yeah, the adrenaline of being ready for that arena and entering that arena. You think of nothing else when you’re in there. You’re just enjoying every second, and it’s just an amazing feeling.”
The Chronicle has a reporter on site at the Paris Olympics. See all of our coverage here.
