Germany lays down the gauntlet at Aachen

Germany has got their team gold medal dressage campaign off to a flying start at the FEI European Championships in Aachen.

Stellar

First to go for the home nation was Jessica von Bredow-Werndl, 29, and Unee BB, who scored an impressive 75.200%.

They held the lead for some time until the second Dutch rider,Diederik van Silfhout, produced a superb test with his 10-year-old stallionArlando N.O.P toscore 75.814%.

“I’m really happy as he’s just 10 and still young, and has improved so much in one year,” saidDiederik. “He’s a horse with a lot of potential and a big future.”

Brits

The first of Britain’s two riders to go today was Michael Eilberg and Marakov. The partnerships is capable of scoring in the early 70s at Grand Prix, but today they just slipped below that benchmark with a score of69.943%.

If Michael’s was to be the discount score for Great Britain, the second combination to go – Fiona Bigwood andAtterupgaards Orthilia – had to deliver a good score. This they duly did, despite the mare only having made her Grand Prix debut less than five months ago.

A score of 75.800% saw them take second placebehind the Dutch combination, putting Britain into bronze medal position so far.

“I knew I had to pull out a mark to get a medal, so I knew I had to produce something, so the pressure was on for myself,” said Fiona. “This is only my horse’s sixth international, obviously she’s talented but it’s a case of how much can you ask. My goal was to have a mistake-free test, but at the end I was able to go for the bigger marks.”

Fiona rode with an eye patch, after a bad riding fall last year left her struggling with double vision.

Tight teams

Germany narrowly holds the gold medal spot, after Isabell Werth scored 74.786% to go into fourth place individually to strengthen the team’s position.

But the Netherlands are snapping at their heels, after their pathfinder Patrick van der Meer scored 72.400%.

Tomorrow

The big guns are out tomorrow, including Carl Hester (Nip Tuck) and Charlotte Dujardin (Valegro).

With German stars Matthias Rath (Totilas) andKristina Bröring-Sprehe (Desperados FRH) and Dutch ridersHans Peter Minderhoud (Glock’s Johnson TN) andEdward Gal (Glock’s Undercover N.O.P.) all due to take to Aachen’s famous arena tomorrow, we’re set for a thrilling day of dressage.

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