The dancing shoes are dusted off as exciting new season begins this weekend | ||
Isabell Werth celebrating that winning feeling! © FEI/Liz Gregg
by Louise Parkes Contenders have their strategies planned as the new FEI Dressage World Cup™ Western European League season gets underway this weekend in Herning, Denmark. There are 10 qualifying opportunities in eight countries over the next six months, and all eyes are fully focused on a place at the Final in Gothenburg, Sweden next April. For the top names it’s about holding form, and some are spoiled for choice. The defending champion and four-time winner, Germany’s Isabell Werth, has three of the top four horses in the World Rankings and is unlikely to hand over her crown without a serious fight. In the number 2 spot she has the 13-year-old mare Weihegold with which she claimed her second consecutive title at the Final in Paris (FRA) earlier this year and who also carried her to triple gold at the Longines FEI European Championships in 2017 and team gold and individual silver at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. The highest-ranked rider in Herning will be 2013 World Cup champion Germany’s Helen Langehanenberg. She’s currently eighth in the world with the 16-year-old stallion Damsey FRH who was also on that gold medal winning European team in 2017 where they also finished individually fourth. And she’ll be in good company this weekend alongside European team silver medallists Agnete Kirk Thinggard and Anna Kasprzak from Denmark and seven-time Olympian Tinne Vilhelmson Silfven and Rose Mathisen who were on the European bronze medal winning Swedish side 14 months ago. Ireland’s Judy Reynolds is looking forward to lining out a little later in the season. “I really enjoy competing in the Western European League because the shows are all in fantastic venues and it’s a whole lot of fun! When I finished fourth at the Final in Omaha in 2017 I was very close to the podium and I loved every minute of it - I can’t wait to get back out there again this season to show what we can do!” she says.
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© copyright. Equestrian Life. Monday, 6 May 2024 https://www.equestrianlife.com.au/articles/The-dancing-shoes-are-dusted-off-as-exciting-new-season-begins-this-weekend |
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