Tomorrow the FEI World Cup Dressage Final kicks off in Omaha, Neb., and we’ve compiled all that you could need to know before the first horse canters down the centerline.
Important Links: Omaha World Cup website ⁄ Orders of go and results / Live-streaming / COTH live blog of Grand Prix
When: The dressage kicks off with the Grand Prix on Thursday, March 30, at 2 p.m. local time, which is Central Daylight Time (one hour behind East Coast time). All the riders start in the Grand Prix, and all those scoring 60 percent or higher can move on to the Grand Prix freestyle on Saturday, April 1, at 2 p.m. The Final title is decided exclusively by the freestyle score.
How To Follow Along: The Chronicle will have live blogs of competition sessions, Twitter updates, photo galleries, stories about each day’s competition, and so much more on www.coth.com. Don’t miss a thing—we’ll have everything you need to know. Also make sure to follow along on the Chronicle’s social media outlets: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
How To Watch: The Longines FEI World Cup Final will be live-streaming on FEI TV. FEI TV is subscription only—$79.99 for the year or $14.99 for a month.
Who’s Hot To Win? Germany’s Isabell Werth is definitely the one to beat this year, but the United States has some strong riders and horses in the mix as well, with Laura Graves and Verdades leading the way.
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Isabell Werth on Weihegold OLD. Photo by Lindsay Berreth
In his predictions for the Chronicle’s World Cup Preview issue, Michael Barisone noted that the dressage World Cup Final has “one of the strongest fields in recent years, [and] U.S. spectators are in for a treat—and a masterclass—in Omaha.” (Don’t have a copy? Subscribe now, or go to The Chronicle of the Horse mobile app to purchase a single copy of the World Cup Preview issue.)
Barisone thinks it’s going to be very tough to beat Werth and her Weihegold OLD, but he points to Carl Hester of England, Steffen Peters and Laura Graves as contenders for top placings.
Sadly, two of the most eagerly anticipated pairs—last year’s World Cup Final winner Hans Peter Minderhoud of the Netherlands and German rider Jessica von Bredow-Werndl—were last-minute withdrawals.
The U.S. also has Kasey Perry-Glass in Omaha with Goerklintgaards Dublet for her first World Cup Final. Ireland’s Judy Reynolds made quite a splash in the United States in the fall at Dressage At Devon (Pa.) and the Rolex Central Park Horse Show (N.Y.) and is in Omaha with Vancouver K.
Russia’s Inessa Merkulova, who reads romance novels aloud to her horse, has brought Mister X to Nebraska. And Maria Florencia Manfredi of Argentina will be riding Bandurria Kacero in her first World Cup Final.
In total, there are 16 riders from 13 different countries. Find a complete list of the entries here.
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Get To Know Them Better: You can go Behind The Stall Door with U.S. horses Rosamunde and Verdades.
Where?
In Omaha! More specifically, at the Century Link Arena in downtown Omaha.
World Cup horses grazing outside the CenturyLink arena.
