{"id":36821,"date":"2017-08-27T14:33:04","date_gmt":"2017-08-27T04:33:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/?p=36821"},"modified":"2017-08-27T15:00:05","modified_gmt":"2017-08-27T05:00:05","slug":"the-final-showdown-the-kur-at-the-euros","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/2017\/08\/the-final-showdown-the-kur-at-the-euros\/","title":{"rendered":"The Final Showdown – the K\u00fcr at the Euros"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Rebecca Ashton reports, and took the photos…<\/h1>\n

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The final day of dressage dawned and the afternoon start was much appreciated after a 04:00am bedtime once the show jumping had finished!<\/p>\n

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Dante Weltino and Therese Nilshagen – new stars on the international scene<\/em><\/p>\n

Before the fifth last combination of Therese Nilshagan and Dante Weltino OLD enter the arena, the top four are all on 77. The Swedish combination is the first to crack the 80% barrier with a great quality test to score 80.41%\u2026and the Swedish crowd have a new heroine. The test is correct and the stallion can really sit although he gets a bit deep in front in the one tempis today and there\u2019s a mistake\u2026but then I\u2019m being a bit picky.<\/p>\n

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Carl and Barney – flying the flag for Britain<\/em><\/p>\n

Carl and Nip Tuck have to enter to a roaring crowd as Therese\u2019s mark gets put up on the board. Barney\u2019s behaving well and the test is smooth, but that spooky corner at M reappears to test Carl. The extensions look a bit careful as well, but the judges don\u2019t seem to mind awarding the British pair 80.614% with some big artistic marks allowing the duo to finish the comp in 4th. Carl later says that he\u2019s happy with the horse\u2019s consistency and how well and fresh he’s finished after the three days.<\/p>\n

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How nice to see a new face at the top – Cathrine and Cassidy<\/em><\/p>\n

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Then we get to the pointy end of the competition. Although Olympic veterans and Young Rider European Champions, this is Cassidy and Cathrine Dufour\u2019s first senior Europeans. They don\u2019t keep us waiting long; they\u2019re straight into a double pirouette, one tempis, another double pirouette, and we haven\u2019t even got off the centreline yet! The difficult test flows and perhaps Cassidy is looking a little more tired today, but these two are harmony personified. They hit the number one spot and it\u2019s unanimous with the judges, with the judges at K and M giving them 90s for the artistic mark. It\u2019s a PB for the Danish pair. Cathrine later says of her \u201clight footed horse\u201d, \u201cSince Aachen we have more quality and control. Every show he gets better. I think I can get even more control. I will go home and train over winter.\u201d<\/p>\n

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S\u00f6nke and Cosmo – first with two of the judges<\/em><\/p>\n

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S\u00f6nke Rothenberger\u2019s test is a masterclass in freestyle. The music, is so subtle, light and emotive and matches Cosmo perfectly. This is art. There\u2019s just a little hiccup in the one tempis, which S\u00f6nke later explains, \u201cI should have stopped earlier, but I had such a good feeling. I was perhaps a bit eager!\u201d Really, that\u2019s all you can fault and a member of the Rothenberger camp is in tears\u2026as surely are others, but S\u00f6nke is all smiles during his big extended trot down the centreline to finish. It\u2019s 90.982% and like Cathrine, a personal best.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Well known Dutch journo Jacob Melissen points out jokingly to S\u00f6nke at the press conference, \u201c\u2026your horse is Dutch bred, your mother is Dutch, your father became Dutch, when are you coming to ride for the Netherlands?\u201d S\u00f6nke diplomatically replies that he\u2019s done all his competing under the German flag and that\u2019s where he lives, much to team coach Monica Theodurescu\u2019s relief as she stands up the back waving her finger!<\/p>\n

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She’s done it again! Isabell and Weihegold<\/em><\/p>\n

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Isabell Werth is number one for a reason, and where we mere mortals would have given up at the last score announcement, it just fuels the German\u2019s fire and there\u2019s that determination again we saw at Rio. None of these woosy quarter piaffe pirouettes for Isabell, she\u2019s doing full ones. Weihegold is dancing and judge at F, Anne Gribbons, gives the pair 97% for the artistic component. She\u2019s the Queen of dressage for a reason. The final centreline is one handed passage and a few steps before the final halt that free hand clenches into a fist, ready to punch the air in victory. Another PB and just\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 .368% separates the top two! Isabell manages to keep the two youngsters on either side of her to take the hat trick; her third gold for the competition.<\/p>\n

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\u201cToday is the reason why I still compete. Weihe was focussed and I could take all the risk I could take,\u201d an emotional Isabell explained, \u201cSatchmo (Isabell\u2019s last star who has also won European gold) will be proud when Wiehe is coming home.\u201d<\/p>\n

My goodness this is great dressage! Despite no Valegro, there is still real quality at the top of the table. The riders look like they\u2019ve really enjoyed the big stadium and appreciative Swedish crowd at this show as well. The Germans continue their rule and while the Dutch may not have delivered this time round, Denmark and Sweden have shown they\u2019re ready to step up to the plate and give Team GB and the USA a run for their money. There are a couple of fabulous young riders coming through to keep the sport fresh and exciting and their horses are how most of us like them; soft and harmonious.<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rebecca Ashton reports on the freestyle win by the amazing Isabell Werth, but it was oh so close in the end. Action from the Euro Champs…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":36835,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[81],"tags":[1748,1751,537],"class_list":["post-36821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","tag-european-dressage-championships-2017","tag-freestyle-at-the-euros","tag-isabell-werth"],"acf":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36821"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36821\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36839,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36821\/revisions\/36839"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.horsemagazine.com\/thm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}