It was a closely-fought battle for the medals Thursday morning at the FEI Para Dressage European Championship in Ermelo (NED). Louise Etzner Jakobsson of Sweden won her first gold medal at the age of 65, in Grade IV, earning herself the title of ‘golden grandma’, competing in front of her grandson who was at the event to see her crowned champion.
Riding the extravagant Goldstrike B.J, the pair produced a soft yet expressive test to take the top mark of 72.917.
“He’s called Goldstrike, so it’s about time!” Louise said of her result with the 14-year-old Dutch warmblood gelding she has owned for almost five years. “I’m very pleased, I don’t think it has sunk in yet. It will take a while to understand what I have achieved with my horse.
“We’ve been working on our trot work for a couple of years now, and that’s the best part of today, he’s been so much stronger and now we can trot with more cadence. The canter work has always been very good, but today he really did so well.”
Less than a mark behind Louise was Denmark’s Pia Wulff Jelstrup riding Zafia to a Championship personal best score of 72.222 to take the silver, and Pia was thrilled with the 11-year-old mare.
“It’s our best performance in this programme, it felt so harmonious, and she was with me the whole way round,” she beamed.
“We’ve had a lot of problem with her halts in the past, but all three were outstanding. We’ve been working towards this for two years and today it finally came together for us.”
Great Britain is making a habit of winning the bronze medal at this year’s Championship, with Nicola Naylor claiming the nation’s third of the competition. Riding Humberto L at their first championship together, the athlete was overjoyed with their result and first experience in the arena.
“To go in there and have a solid test where he felt happy was my goal. We really went in with that aim of enjoying our moment and I’m so pleased that’s what we got,” Nicola said of the 13-year-old Dutch warmblood gelding.
“His canter work was breathtaking, the other highlight was that he stayed soft and he felt on-side, which is great for his first time in that environment.”
Germany clinches the gold in the toughest contest yet
In another thrilling battle for the title, it was the smallest of margins that saw Germany’s Regine Mispelkamp top the podium in the Grade V individual competition, beating the Netherlands’ Britney de Jong by just 0.025 marks, one of the closest wins that has been witnessed in recent Para Dressage Championships. The excitement was palpable and it was clear from the start that in this Grade, the podium placements are no longer a foregone conclusion.
“I’m so happy with the mare, she was concentrating so hard for me, and we were together the whole test. She gave me a really strong walk, and her canter felt so uphill and forward,” Regine said of her rising star, Pramwaldhof’s Bayala.
The 10-year-old Oldenburg mare is new to Championship level, and Regine felt this year was her time to shine.
All smiles on the Grade V podium for the Netherland’s Britney de Jong (silver), Regine Mispelkamp of Germany (gold) and Sweden’s Lena Malmström (bronze). (FEI / Leanjo de Koster)
“I wanted to give her the experience of a Championship so that she can learn, but I never expected this result. I came into this competition thinking that Britney will be the European champion. But now, we are the winners! I can’t put it into words what this means, I’ll need some time to process it.”
It was down to Britney and Caramba N.O.P’s final centre line to determine who would win the gold, their marks coming in throughout the test were constantly jostling the Dutch duo between first and second place. Although it wasn’t maybe the medal she had hoped for, the young rider was pleased with their performance.
“My result could have been a little bit better, but I think we rode a good test, we didn’t have any big mistakes, so I am happy with our score,” Britney said of her silver medal at her first senior European Championship, with the 18-year-old Dutch warmblood gelding.
Caramba N.O.P is no stranger to a competition arena, and lit up their test with his active trot work.
“His trot felt good, and the half-passes were great. The simple changes are one of his best parts of the test,” said Britney.
Competing on home soil made the silver medal even more special for the 24-year-old athlete.
“For the last four years we have been first reserve for the Netherlands, so this was our first really big competition, and it feels amazing to represent my country at a European Championship in the Netherlands.”
It was down to the final combination into the arena this afternoon to decide who would claim the bronze and it was Sweden’s Lena Malmström who filled the third spot, with Fabulous Fidelie’s expressive trot work propelling them onto the podium. The athlete was overjoyed with the 13-year-old chestnut mare’s test.
“This is my first ever medal at Championship level so I’m feeling great. I was so happy I just cracked [with emotion]. You build up so much expectation, but we did it! Her trot work was fantastic, maybe she was a little bit excited in the canter at times, but she was amazing,” Lena said of her Swedish Warmblood partner of six years.
Battle for team medals commences on Friday
Friday sees the start of the team competition and individual freestyle qualification, with all athletes riding the Para Grand Prix B test, whether they are part of a team or not.
The order of competition was drawn Thursday evening and first to go in Grade III will be Katie Mckenna and D.C.I Cerruti for Ireland at 10:00 with Belgium, France, Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden and Italy all fielding team riders in this Grade.
Following on will be Grade II, with newly crowned individual Champions Heidemarie Dresing and Poesie 143 going down the centre line at 12:45 for Germany, followed by Great Britain, Czech Republic, Denmark, Spain, Norway and the Netherlands.
Grade 1 will close out the day, starting with Norway’s Jens Lasse Dokkan and Aladdin at 14:30 as part of the team competition. Individual athletes for Austria, Latvia, Czech Republic and Portugal will also compete for their qualification into the individual freestyle which will be contested on Sunday. With Italy, Great Britain and Ireland all being represented by team riders in this Grade.
If today’s competition is anything to go by, the rest of the Championship promises to be just as nail biting, and indicative of how far Para Dressage has come.
Full results here.
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