As I sit here and wait for the start of the freestyle and having a glass of champagne I am very excited to think that every horse is going to be great. The standard of dressage globally has reached an all time height and this is so exciting. The weather looks great and no rain in sight.

Eremo del Castagno 78.214%

The old and the new with the music and a noble and dramatic walk. One handed ones!!! Great. Piaffe pirouettes are amazing. It was a dramatic start.

Scandic 78.678%

The technical needs more engagement and sitting. The music is great and plenty of beat but Scandic looks a little flat and despite the hype he is getting a little open in the frame. Some wonderful passage but Scandic did not perform as I have seen him in the past.

Donnperignon 77.607%

Anna is on fire and great impulsion. Confident but not always steady in the frame. Clear straight in and out of the pirouettes. Great twos on the circle but again the piaffe not so great but better than the special. What a great job indeed and a very happy rider indeed.

What a statement and what a great Kur.

Rubi  77.607%

Such great Piaffe. The half pass great expression, with great pirouettes in the piaffe and milking the piaffe. Great pirouettes. Complicated changes twos to ones on a circle, but a mistake! Extended canter again modest. Techno music in keeping with the rider and the beat of this super horse. The halt at the end hardly established and that's just loosing focus as to gaining the marks. A rider and horse that was not really expected to get into the final, but well deserved and it's always great to see a new talent on the block.

Augustin 78.928%

Music from Phil Collins. The rhythm is not definite enough in the extended trot and same in the piaffe and passage. It just seems to lack that joi de vie. A mistake in the changes, but great pirouettes. A good test but again the continuity and feeling that the horse is doing it alone is somewhat lacking. Still a great test and she received great marks.

Don Aureillo 79.268%

Great half pass. Passage lacks active hind leg. Shame!!!  With great expressive extended trot and freedom of the shoulders. As the test progressed the balance was so evident and good double pirouettes. Great choreography and music, that was in keeping with this wonderful horse. The best mark at the moment but a long way to go. It would appear that the judges are being positive, with the standard starting high and with better horses to come later, I think we can expect the marks to get even more positive.

Ravel 77.428%

Stefen Peters comes in and starts so sharp. This will be Rave’s last appearance. Starts the twos in a mistake. The choreography is difficult and sadly the horse jumped together in the ones. The test was busy and to the music from Avatar. Sadly a mistake in the extended canter. Then extended canter to pirouette to piaffe and then to extended walk is complicated, and so well controlled. Wonderful sweeping half pass. The marks show the problem with complicated choreography that soils what would have been fantastic but had a few mistakes. Some irregularity in the extended trot. One handed passage to the halt.

Undercover 80.267%

They start with calm music but the passage is spikey to with start and their expressive extended trot was a bit sharp and quick too. Great phrases to this music it will score high. But the horse is a bit short in the neck. Great dramatic music that is full of mood. The music is fantastic and clever. Again great double pirouettes and the crowd is amazing in their applause. The music really showed light and shade and was so complimentary to the horse and really helped to disguise the tension. It was a wonderful test. Amazing!

Digby 79.018%

What can you say. It's just a wonderful test and great tempos. The music is so in keeping with the foot falls and that's what it's about. He makes me feel good on the inside and the outside. A together change in the twos is costly. How clever to do the canter to pirouette twos again in between the pirouettes. A truly wonderful pirouette. A pirouette each way to finish and all so easy but a few mistakes will hinder the really high marks. Great choreography and ease with great harmony and a few mistakes technically filters down in to the artistic!

Salinero 82.0%

Yep a walk entry! And wow what passage and piaffe to start. The best extended trot for him all week. So much control and tempo and balance in the half pass to another great extended trot. Good twos and extended canter to a pirouette of great quality to classical strong and dramatic music, inspiring. What a frame and wonderful top line it's wonderful. The contact and confidence here is amazing. The ones clean and on a straight line. This is amazing stuff here!

Passage half pass to piaffe to passage half pass. Its wonderful and brilliantly received. It was artistry and so fabulous in the frame and contact. I am sure it had the judges wondering as it was better than the Grand Prix and the Special. It was GREAT. It's a shame they did not see the quality in the grand prix. Well done Anky what an athlete both Salinero and the rider. It’s a credit to the training and after all this horses international career he is happier and fitter than ever. He looks as if he could go on and on. Well done Anky for all the flack she puts up with and still produces Salinero as you see him here as a older horse, yet still in with the top ones. Anky has won 9 Olympic medals.

Fuego 79,317%

Castinetts and a Spanish influenced score and that passage that I found not quite right! And the extended trot a bit the same. The passage lacks suspension and I find all the work lacking that real cadence but an uphill neck and front end. The canter good to the music but is the canter showing enough jump? The pirouette very big for a good mark and the balance out not so great. Very straight one handed ones on the centerline. One handed passage to the end and it's noted this time he doesn't take his hat off as he did last time, as the horse ran scared away from the hat!  The music seemed a little modest for this combination and lacked a little expression for what everyone was waiting for.

 Desperados 81.37%

Again not so even behind at the passage in the beginning not. It's not the swish of the tail that I dislike, it's the fact that he holds it out so stiff and the end of the dock turns up instead of down, enough of that!  Such a great frame and uphill way. Great bounce in the canter work. Gold pirouettes with good sitting. One handed turning piaffe at the end and some very good passage. Kristina had a great time and so did Desperados. It all looked easy and expressive.  Am sure there is plenty of improvement here for this young horse.

Damon Hill 84.196%

Silver medalist already here in London in the teams. Great passage circles to start and passage half pass to trot half pass. Again the piaffe a little too under behind and then the tempo becomes too slow and looses rhythm. The canter flowing and double pirouettes are in such a great balance. Steel zig zag in canter, well presented and as always a great extended trot. Better piaffe at the end. A seamless extended trot down the centre line to a truly engage and soft transition to halt. Shame there were a few mistakes in there and what a great test and such a great frame and it was a little more open tonight.

Diva Royal 81.661%

And what a great classical combination. After Damon Hill you really notice that there is a degree of elasticity lacking but WOW what a piaffe and dorothea shows plenty of it. The extended trot lacks forward ground cover and transitions in and out.  The walk ground covering. A mistake in the change in the half pass tour, but the ones on a curving line and expressive and balanced. There is absolutely no overtrack in the final extended trot at all. Again the piaffe great and the passage to halt cadenced. An interesting test and difficult to mark with the music jumping around a little, but all in all a good all round performance.

Mistral Horjis 84.399%

The Lion King theme and it really suits. It is all about the horses balance and Laura rides a great collection and piaffe to extended walk. The trot music really enhances the horse and the work is better than all week. So easy in and out of passage and the piaffe better and better as the test goes on and Laura just puts it in so easily and in a great way. After the classical music this is light and easy but a mistake in the twos will be costly and clean ones. Just drums at the final piaffe and it was truly great. This will be Alfs last Olympics and what a way to go out. It was better than the Grand Prix and the Special and he was elastic and in self carriage. Laura rode a great test and a crowd pleasing performance.

Uthopia 82.845%

The passage to start modest, and the trot a little fast. The extended trot looked a little tricky in the contact but forward and expressive. Great transitions to piaffe. Extended trot to piaffe pirouette passage to extended walk. Mistake in the ones and against the bridle for a moment. Carl looks as if he is having to work hard to keep Uthopia motivated, a clever line of ones again this time good. Not so sure if this was consistent enough to get to the line. Uthopia seemed to be struggling just a bit here and despite being such a great horse and rider, there test lacked and honest continuity throughout.

Parzival 88.25%

The nutcracker suite. I think it's gold already and it's only done the extended trot. This is already way ahead, it's beautiful. The fluency from one half pass to the other is awesome and the music so telling one story. Great relaxed walk. I think this is the best I have seen the horse ever so far. It's tingling stuff. Every canter step in the pirouette to the beat. The most wonderful sweeping half pass on canter. WOW! This horse stays so uphill the whole test and it's truly wonderful.  The piaffe and passage are so airy and regular with big loose elastic strides. To the end it is consistency personified. That will take some beating for sure. It was better than at the world cup final a few months ago.

Valegro  90.089%

Have to love the entry music and Valegro with checks on the rump. The passage is a little modest and the extended not such a big overtrack. Great trot half pass. The collected trot seems a little quick and the half pass lacks that cadence. The walk lacks a little overtrack. Missed a change after the half pass. Big Ben bells in the pirouettes. Extended to land of Hope and Glory. Only eleven ones on a straight line. A mistake in the communication at the end and I think it's not going to get up and beat Parzival but what a horse. What you see in Valegro is always a great rhythmn throughout and such a great expression and confidence. What a wonderful games no matter what. I was wrong!! Valegro to win easily!

So to the end of the Olympics for all the equestrian sports. What a way to go. For me I have to say I thought that Parzival was absolutely fantastic and Valegro was amazing as well, but with a low mark for the walk and not such a great extended trot today and passage that also lacked the up off the ground that we have seen I was surprised and not sure where the degree of difficulty was assessed here. Valegro is the horse of the games and that is for sure. It is always hard to see on TV as it cuts in and out but the Gold to the wonderful Valegro and the cool as cool Charlotte Dujardin then Parzival for Adelinde Cornelissen and then Mistral Hojris for Laura who pulled out a seriously great test. It will be good to see where Valegro gained the edge in this Kur. The music was great as was that for Parzival.

The standard of dressage has absolutely leapt to another level and this freestyle was simply fantastic from the beginning to the end.

What more can I say other than cheers to an Olympic Champion and to all the medalists and competitors that traveled so far and all trained so hard to produce their Grand Prix mounts.  

To the horses and especially Valegro.

Can I also say thanks to the coverage from Fox Sports for covering all the equestrian sports it was simply sensational.

(Guess that's another champagne!!!  :)

Roger Fitzhardinge for Equestrian Life