Dressage riders all across Western Europe are polishing up their pirouette, piaffe and passage ahead of the opening leg of the Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Dressage 2015/2016 League which gets underway at Odense (DEN) this weekend. The series, sponsored by Beirut-born New York fashion designer Reem Acra, will see the best riders from the region join their counterparts from the Central Europe, North America and Asia/Pacific qualifiers in the race for a place at the Reem Acra Final which will be staged in Gothenburg (SWE) next March.

The defending double-champions, Great Britain’s Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro, who scored back-to-back wins in Lyon (FRA) in 2014 and in Las Vegas (USA) earlier this year, will be looking to make it three-in-a-row this time around. However the sparkling duo, who have raised the bar as never before in this most technically demanding of equestrian sports, will have to be in tip-top form if they are to succeed. Because a legacy of the tremendous success that has seen them set – and reset – world records with remarkable regularity since they burst onto the international stage four years ago, is that the standard of competition has improved beyond recognition as others work to emulate the British pair’s level of excellence.

It is six years now since top Dressage judge, Britain’s Stephen Clarke, said that the scoring system may have to change because “100 percent won’t be enough!” to reward top horse-and-rider partnerships in this sport. That was on a remarkable night when the now-retired super-stallion, Totilas, produced a breathtaking performance with The Netherlands’ Edward Gal in the saddle. And Dujardin’s Valegro has pushed the envelope even further over the intervening years.

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