There was a time when the world of international Dressage was all too predictable, but how much that has changed. Since the last Olympic Games in 2008 this sport has experienced an extraordinary make-over which, despite the reticence of the purists, has ensured that the buzz ahead of London 2012 could hardly be more electrifying.
Who could have known that one black stallion would prance into a floodlit arena on an August night in 2009 and that things would never be the same again? The Dutch combination of Totilas and Edward Gal are no longer together, and the horse whose magical spell attracted a whole new audience to this most disciplined of sports during a record-breaking spree that is already the stuff of legend, will not be returning to the country where it all began during the FEI European Championships three years ago. His new rider, Germany’s Mathias Alexander Rath, cannot compete in London due to unfortunate ill-health, but Totilas has already created a wonderful legacy – gone is the stuffiness, and the fear of making a mistake. If riders are prepared to take the risk, the rewards for expressive, inspired performances – while still retaining the accuracy – are scores like we have never seen before.
And the records just keep on tumbling. At Hagen CDI 4* in April this year, Britain’s Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro brought the German crowd to their feet when setting a new standard in the Grand Prix Special with a mark of 88.022%. Dujardin, who turned 27 last Friday, was a member of the quartet that claimed Great Britain’s first ever team gold medal at the FEI European Dressage Championships in Rotterdam (NED) last August. Not long ago, Olympic glory would have seemed an almost impossible dream for this year’s host nation. But now they are surely destined for both team and individual medals – the only question is what colour they will be, as Dujardin joins her mentor, the inimitable Carl Hester, and Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ triple silver medallist Laura Bechtolsheimer in the Grand Prix, which gets the first leg of the team and individual competitions underway on August 2nd.