Germans Show Their Strength Ahead of Dressage Team Competition at the 2024 Olympic Games

By the International Equestrian Federation

Team Germany overtook the first-day leaders from Denmark when the Dressage Grand Prix team competition drew to a close at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Versailles, France today, giving them a big boost as they continue on their mission to lift their 15th Olympic Dressage team title after the completion of the FEI Grand Prix Special.

Great rides from Isabell Werth with Wendy and Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and Dalera secured pole position at the end of the competition that decided the 10 best nations qualified for Saturday’s medal-decider, the Grand Prix Special, in which all teams will start from scratch.

Joining the defending Olympic team champions, and the feisty Danish side who look set to challenge them every inch of the way, will be the British who finished third ahead of The Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium, France, Austria, Finland, and Australia.

There was less than two percentage points between the two top sides, Germany completing with 237.546 while the Danish total was 235.730. The British were not far behind on 231.196.

Meanwhile, the 18 athlete-and-horse combinations that have made the cut for Sunday’s Individual medal decider, the Grand Prix Freestyle, are also confirmed. The finalists are made up of the best two from each of the six qualifying groups plus the six next highest ranked.

The 18 through to the Freestyle are: Jessica von Bredow-Werndl/Dalera (GER), Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour/Freestyle (DEN), Isabell Werth/Wendy (GER), Charlotte Fry/Glamourdale (GBR), Nanna Skodborg Merrald/Zepter (DEN), Dinja van Liere/Hermes (NED), Carl Hester/Fame (GBR), Daniel Bachmann Andersen/Vayron (DEN), Isabel Freese/Total Hope OLD (NOR), Frederic Wandres/Bluetooth OLD (GER), Becky Moody/Jagerbomb (GBR), Emmelie Scholtens/Indian Rock (NED), Patrik Kittel/Touchdown (SWE), Victoria Max-Theurer/Abegglen FH NRW (AUT), Therese Nilshagen/Dante Weltino OLD (SWE), Pauline Basquin/Sertorius de Rima Z (FRA), Emma Kanerva/Greek Air (FIN) and Sandra Sysojeva (POL), the latter something of a sensation as her mare, Maxima Bella, is only eight years old.

Target Score in the Dressage Grand Prix Team Competition at the Olympic Games

Reigning world champions, Great Britain’s Charlotte Fry and Glamourdale, raised the target score to 78.913% when they rode as the pathfinder this morning. “First to go on the second day is not always the best position, but I think in this weather (it was another very hot day) it was really to our advantage,” said Fry (GBR). “Glamourdale doesn’t know that. He just goes in and sees the crowd, and he had a great time in there! And I think the moment at the end was very special, with him very relaxed, on a long rein and enjoying the cheering and the flags waving!

“That test is what we needed to do today. Our whole team the last two days has really performed amazingly and really put us in a good position for the weekend,” she added.

However, 30 minutes later, Denmark’s Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour pushed the target even further when posting 80.792% for a lovely test with Freestyle. The mare won double bronze with Charlotte Dujardin (GBR) at the FEI World Equestrian Games in Tryon (USA) in 2018, but has been out of top sport for a number of years more recently. Laudrup-Dufour took up the reins towards the end of 2023, and although they are still finding their way together the new partnership is clearly blossoming.

“My plan today was to not push her but just see what she offered,” said Laudrup-Dufour, the Danish star who took Team Gold and double Silver at the FEI World Championship in 2022 with Vamos Amigos. “When I picked up the first passage, I said to her, ‘You just give me whatever you want and then I’m just gonna say what we are supposed to do.’ So I’m really proud of her, and I think it was a perfect start for me and her at the Games here in Paris!” .

Talking about building an understanding with Freestyle, she explained, “the main thing has been to really create a proper friendship with her, not just like, pretending, but really see if she could allow me in there, which she did quite quickly. I was quite amazed. Animals are amazing if you treat them well and show them trust. Another key word for me has been respectful leadership. Because in some way I had to be the leader to show her around in a Dressage test, but at the same time respect where she’s coming from, because she’s a skilled young lady. She has done a lot and she has been educated amazingly, and she is a performer,” Laudrup-Dufour pointed out.

The Dressage Grand Prix High Score in the Team Competition at the Olympic Games

This first group of the day produced yet another high score when, last to go, Germany’s Werth put 79.363% on the board with her new ride, Wendy. “She was so focused and so with me that it was amazing!”, said the multiple champion who is competing at her seventh Olympic Games. “We have only done six or seven Grand Prix, but it’s so amazing how we are growing together and how honest she is to me,” she said.

Werth is determined to help the young mare develop, improve, and reach her maximum potential. “You can only do that in competition, so Aachen (in June) was really helpful, with three competitions there. She is only a 10-year-old horse, and as they get older they get more muscles, they get more power, they get more experience, so everything works together. Riding her is really a pleasure,” she added.

Her result bolstered Team Germany’s chances when added to Frederic Wandres’ score of 76.118% from yesterday with Bluetooth OLD. But, with the last ride of the day in the final group, defending Olympic double-Gold medalists Jessica von Bredow-Werndl (GER) and Dalera needed to top up the German total if they were to overtake the Danes and remind everyone that they will be the ones to beat on Saturday.

And they did it in their own inimitable style when scoring 82.065% to seal the deal with dignity and grace. It looked effortless for the 17-year-old mare, whose record includes five European Gold medals, back-to-back FEI Dressage World Cup titles and Team Gold at the FEI World Equestrian Games in 2018 along with her Olympic medal haul from Tokyo three years ago.

“It was a fantastic feeling inside the arena and breathtaking to see how the audience carried us into the ring! I’m happy because I had some hiccups in the Grand Prix at the German Championships in Balve, which was the rehearsal for here. But sometimes when the rehearsal is bad then the performance is good, and that’s how it worked out!” explained von Bredow-Werndl.

She didn’t hold back during the test. “I was really going for it, I took full risk in the extensions and the extended canter! There were two tiny things that didn’t go right, but that’s good because now I know there is room for improvement and I can focus on that,” she pointed out.

But she is well aware that Denmark’s Dufour is a major threat and could swing the balance in both the Team and Individual medal deciders.

“I didn’t see Cathrine’s test, but I know she also had a mistake, so it’s clear she was closer to me than it looks in the result,” von Bredow-Werndl said.

The Danes indeed look ready to tip the scales in their favor if they can. There’s a real cohesion in the team that all three of them have mentioned this week, and Laudrup-Dufour emphasized it again today.

“Nanna (Skodborg Merrald) and I have been riding together since she was four and I was five at her mom’s riding school for 15 years. It’s not like we see each other every week, but we are really close, and we trust each other. I’ve been in the team many, many, many times, but this team (which includes Daniel Bachmann Andersen), I trust with everything I have, and that’s sort of the best feeling you can ride into the arena with really!” she said.

The battle for Olympic Dressage Team glory will resume during Saturday’s competition in the Olympic Games, and it looks set to be a thriller.

How the Grand Prix Special Will Play Out

Competitors will be divided into three groups of 10 with one Athlete/Horse per National Federation in each group. The Chef d’Equipe must declare which athlete/horse combination starts in which group.

Within each group, team athlete/horse combinations will start in reverse order of the FEI Grand Prix overall team results.

Substitutions can only be made up to two hours before the start of the FEI Grand Prix Special on August 3. An athlete/reserve horse that is substituted in cannot compete in the Grand Prix Freestyle as they will not have competed in the Grand Prix, which was the only qualifier for the Freestyle.

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