Olympic Dressage Day One Recap

Olympic Dressage Day One Recap

Great Britain has established a lead after the first day of the Grand Prix. Carl Hester rode early in the order and stayed in the top spot for the rest of the day.

Second-last to go, Laura Bechtolsheimer, moved into second place ahead of Germany's Dorothee Schneider in third.

Jan Ebeling, the only rider from the U.S. in the first group, ended up in 13th.

Unfortunately for Canada's David Marcus, he had to ride during a downpour and his horse spooked badly during the test and was eliminated.

The top 20 rankings are:

1. Carl Hester, GBR, 77.720

2. L. Bechtolsheimer, GBR, 76.839

3. Dorothy Schneider, GER, 76.277

4. A. Kasprzak, DEN, 75.289

5. Anky Van Grunsven, NED, 73.343

6. Barbancon Mestres, M., ESP, 73.024

7. C. Fassaert, BEL, 71.793

8. A. Van Olst, DEN, 71.322

9. P. van de Meer, NED, 71.003

10. A. Balkenhol, GER, 70.973

11. M. Lindh, FIN, 70.745

12. E. Kanerva, FIN, 70.395

13. J. Ebeling, USA, 70.243

14. A. Merveldt, IRE, 69.772

15. L. Oatley, AUS, 69.377

16. JM.Martin Dockx, ESP, 69.043

17. Hiroshi Hoketsu, JPN, 68.739

18. J. Brooks, CAN, 68.526

19. K. Oatley, AUS, 68.222

20. M. Telde, SWE, 67.477

The full list is available at London2012.com.

Carl Hester told Britishdressage.co.uk:

"That’s my second international show of the year so I’m very happy, it felt like a good performance; I know it’s not the highest mark I’ve had but I have to take into account it’s the Olympics, it’s the toughest standard, and I’m obviously in the first group.

I’m delighted, we had one mistake where he changed in the extended canter which was costly, that took me down under the 78% which would have been my ideal score I think to start with but hey, 77% is still great. The horse felt good, he’s moving well and you can’t prepare a horse for what we’ve just done. There’s nowhere in the world that I’ve been on a young horse that could prepare for the noise and the feeling and the atmosphere, so all that taken into account I’ve had a great ride and it’s a good start for us.

Check www.britishdressage.co.uk for the rest of his comments.

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