Danes Dominate at Compiègne

Second place on Sunday went to the Netherlands, led by Alex van Silfhout. A silver medal by Lynne Maas with Electra in the Special and a bronze for Thamar Zweistra with Hexagon’s Ich Weiss in the Grand Prix Freestyle propelled them to the podium.

Germany joined the Danish and Dutch athletes at the prize giving, along with Chef d’Equipe Monica Theodorescu. Two third-place finishes by Matthias Alexander Rath with Destacado FRH and Bianca Nowag-Aulenbrock with Florine OLD in the Grand Prix and the Special sealed the deal for their team.

In Individual competition, it was Great Britain’s Charlotte Fry and Everdale who carried off the gold in the Freestyle. Patrik Kittel of Sweden and Touchdown finished second ahead of Zweistra.

Team Sweden were hoping to repeat their victory from the 2022 season again in 2023. But with 10 nations lined up to challenge them in the beautiful outdoor setting at Compiègne for Les Internationaux de Dressage, it was tough going from the start.

Heading into Sunday’s Grand Prix Freestyle, Denmark were in the lead, having been at the top of the leaderboard all weekend in the Team category.

Twelve duos were on the start list to treat the appreciative audience to Freestyle programmes to music. At the end of the first half, it was Germany’s Evelyn Eger and Westminster 71 on top, with a score of 77.025 percent from the five international judges.

Morgan Barbançon was doing the home nation proud with Bolero, having earned 76.105 percent for her test to land in second for the moment. Her compatriot Corentin Pottier was holding in third with Gotilas du Feuillard on a score of 75.020 percent.

However, the second half of the day had multiple Dressage greats on the roster, and the leaderboard soon became a flurry of changes.

A bouncy programme to music by Michael Jackson put Portugal’s Maria Caetano and Hit Plus into third as the first combo after the break. But their score of 75.300 percent was immediately topped by Zweistra’s 79.445 percent aboard Hexagon’s Ich Weiss — the youngest horse in the competition — after a stellar test to the music of Queen that made it look like they were not “under pressure” at all.

Severo Jurado Lopez of Spain (seventh in the Grand Prix) moved temporarily into second with Fuerstenglory on marks totalling 77.380 percent. But once again they were bumped by the next pair, in this case Lone Bang Zindorff of Denmark and Thranegaardens Rostov, who posted 77.390 to slide into second.

Zindorff’s high score, along with Cassøe Krüth’s two golds and two top-10 finishes by teammate Anna Kasprzak with Addict de Massa cemented Denmark’s victory for the weekend.

With world champion and world number 2 Charlotte Fry up next, though, the Individual board was sure to change again, and indeed it did. Her programme with her Olympic mount Everdale was nearly flawless, earning them 85.675 percent to rocket to the top slot, the first duo to break the 80 percent barrier.

That left only Patrik Kittel to challenge the British champion. “The Greatest Showman” gave the crowd what they came for: a superb James Bond-themed programme aboard Touchdown that had Kittel punching the air in happiness at the end. When the marks came back, their 82.875 percent wasn’t quite enough to overtake Fry, but it did get them to the Individual podium.

In the end, Team Sweden had to settle for fourth place, followed by Great Britain, France, Spain, Belgium, Portugal, and Switzerland.

In Individual competition, Zindorff likewise took fourth, with Jurado Lopez, Eger, Barbançon, Caetano, Pottier, and Domien Michiels (Intermezzo van het Meerdaalhof) rounding out the top 10 in that order.

FEI Dressage Nations Cup™ action moves to Uggerhalne in Denmark next, with subsequent legs in the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, Germany, and Great Britain. Will the Danes stay on their current trajectory to the top, or will Sweden once again take the title?

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