At the centenary Olympia Horseshow dressage stepped into a new era. Anky van Grunsven presented her brand new Freestyle composed by virtuoso Wibi Soerjadi, called ‘Dance of devotion’. The judges unanimously agreed on the victory of the Olympic gold couple (83,050%).
Along with this British dressage also stepped into a new era as Laura Bechtolsheimer reached for the unique score of 75,333% in Grand Prix, a score never received by a British dressage rider before. The huge applause and cheering of the home crowd unfortunately tonight was still in the mind of 12 year old Mistral Hojris, resulting in a lower score and fifth position. The runner up position now was for the popular Finnish Kyra Kyrklund and Max, who did a very good job with their Cabaret-Freestyle (76,500%). British Carl Hester ended at fourth position with a nice swinging and controlled test riding Dolendo of mrs Ann Cory. He was overjoyed as he hadn’t ridden a Freestyle since 2003, however the Grand Prix-score of Laura Bechtolsheimer appealed to him even more.

At the press conference a lot of remarks were given about Freestyles, developments in dressage and what Freestyles have brought to dressage. Kyra Kyrklund said: “When we sell our sport, we cannot sell the same piece year after year. I feel it’s our responsibility to bring good new things from time to time.”
Anky van Grunsven said it was not about new Freestyles but about looking closer at horses and Freestyles which brings improvement. A new piece however brings extra tension as a freestyle only can be experienced in full when showed in the arena. Anky felt very nervous before she entered the full house Olympia filled with expectation. “Normally I only have to take care of my horse IPS Salinero before entering such a packed arena. But now I had to take care of one my horse, two my new choreography, three my new music. It was quite a challenge!”
Anky said she felt a bit disappointed when she had left the arena because she sometimes was ahead of the music. “The good thing was that I felt it and did notice it. And I know the first time cannot be perfect. But still I do hope for a perfect ride.”
Chairman of the judges Dr Volker Moritz however was full of praise. “It was a very special atmosphere tonight and I was very impressed by the new Freestyle of Anky van Grunsven. It fitted the horse very well and I rewarded it with very high marks.” Judge Stephen Clarke added: “It was very subtle, very clever, very difficult. I think this Freestyle has every chance to grow as it needs a little exposure and probably practice.”
Compared to Anky’s gold winning Freestyle with the French chansons, not only the degree of difficulty in the technical performance has risen, also the degree of difficulty in the music added to the atmosphere and impression. Composer Wibi Soerjadi witnessed the performance himself and said: “This was not a translation of the movements of the horse into music. It was an expression of emotion. This ‘Dance of devotion’ was played by 70 musicians and had 16 different melodies and voices coming all together to express the endless mastership of this pair. That was what I intended to express.”
According to the judges he succeeded in that quite well.
Anky van Grunsven will bring Painted Black to the next World Cupâ„¢ in Mechelen and will show her home crowd in Amsterdam an even better timed new Freestyle, she promised.

RESULTS

1. IPS SALINERO Anky van Grunsven NED 83,050%
2. MAX Kyra Kyrklund FIN 76,500%
3. AFRIKKA Anders Dahl DEN 73,550%
4. DOLENDO Carl Hester GBR 73,100%
5. MISTRAL HOJRIS Laura Bechtelsheimer GBR 72,450%
6. PAGANINI Jeroen Devroe BEL 72,200%
6. LUXFORM’S NIMBLY Alex van Silfhout NED 72,200%
8. PREMIER Aat van Essen (NED) 72,050%
9. MR PRESIDENT Stephanie Coxford GBR 71,150%
10.ZANCOR Anna-Katharina Lüttgen GER 70,650%
11. QUANTUM TYME Evi Strasser CAN 70,450%
12. CALIMUCHO Julia Chevanne FRA 70,050%
13 DREAM OF HEIDELBERG Emile Faurie GBR 68,300%
14. RANDON Michal Rapcewicz POL 67,800%
15. PROBLESK Iryna Lis BLR 66,400%

FEI WORLD CUPâ„¢ DRESSAGE 2007/2008 - WESTERN EUROPEAN LEADERBOARD AFTER ROUND 4 IN LONDON OLYMPIA:

Please note that due to a change of rules for the season 2007-2008 the actual title defender does not receive World Cup™ Points! This time title defender Isabell Werth was the winner in Odense and Frankfurt but for this reason is not listed in the rankings. Also Canadian Evi Strasser didn’t receive World Cup™ Points in London.

1. Anders DAHL (DEN) 46
2. Jan BRINK (SWE) 40
3. Nathalie ZU SAYN WITTGENSTEIN (DEN) 39
4. Patricia CALLAGHAN (NED) 32
5. Victoria MAX THEURER (AUT) 30
6. Laurens VAN LIEREN (NED) 28
7. Louise NATHHORST (SWE) 24
8. Emma KARLSSON (SWE) 20
8. Anky VAN GRUNSVEN (NED) 20
10. Silvia IKLE (SWI) 19
10. Catherina HADDAD (USA) 19
10. Jeroen DEVROE (BEL) 19
13. Wayne CHANNON (GBR) 18
13. Aat VAN ESSEN (NED) 18
15. Tinne VILHELMSON (SWE) 17
15. Andreas HELGSTRAND (DEN) 17
15. Kyra KYRKLUND (FIN) 17
18. Stephanie CROXFORD (GBR) 15
18. Heike KEMMER (GER) 15

PHOTO CATALOGUE - Photographs of the winning riders in high and low resolution can be downloaded from the FEI online catalogue. To access it, please visit www.horsesport.org>Media Centre>Catalogue. There is no reproduction fee, but please credit photographer (photographer’s name will appear under each photo)/FEI. Usage is strictly for editorial purposes. For media also the centenary London Horseshow Olympia has a media section photography.

For further information on the FEI World Cupâ„¢ Dressage qualifier in London, Great-Britain, check out website http://www. olympiahorseshow.com . Press Officer Kellie Lloyd phone: +44 207 598 6532.

The next leg of the series will take place in Mechelen (Belgium) starting 26th December. Check out website http://www.jumping-mechelen.com/_le/home.php.

2007/2008 ROLEX FEI WORLD CUPâ„¢ DRESSAGE SERIES
CALENDAR OF NEXT EVENTS FOR WESTERN EUROPEAN LEAGUE:

5. Mechelen (Belgium) 26 – 30 December 2007 http://www.jumping-mechelen.com/_le/home.php
6. Amsterdam (The Netherlands) 24 – 27 January 2008 http://www.jumpingamsterdam.nl/en/
7. Neumünster (Germany) 13-17 February 2008 http://www.reitturnier.de/
8 ‘s-Hertogenbosch (The Netherlands) 27-20 March FINAL http://www.indoorbrabant.com/

YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE RULES FOR FEI WORLD CUPâ„¢ DRESSAGE RIDERS FROM FEI WEBSITE www.feiworldcup.org

FEI World Cupâ„¢ Dressage has entered its 23rd season. The FEI World Cupâ„¢ Dressage is the only worldwide series in this discipline. The series, created in 1985, today comprises 4 leagues
encompassing Western Europe, Central Europe, North America (including Canada) and the Pacific League (Australia, New Zealand, Asia). Each FEI World Cupâ„¢ Dressage qualifier comprises a Grand Prix test, which in turn is a qualification for the Freestyle to music competitions, where league points are accumulated towards places in the Final. Judged on both technical and artistic merit, the FEI World Cupâ„¢ Dressage combines art, sport and partnership between horse and rider at the highest level and consistently proves a winning formula with audiences all over the world.

The best riders from the preliminary competitions will qualify for the Final in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands, which takes place from 27-30 March 2008. The title-holder is Germany’s Isabell Werth.

For further information on the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) www.horsesport.org
For further information and all FEI World Cup â„¢ news: www.feiworldcup.org

The Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI), founded in 1921, is the international body governing equestrian sport recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and includes 133 National Federations.
Equestrian sport has been on the Olympic programme since 1912 with three disciplines - Jumping, Dressage and Eventing. It is one of the very few sports in which men and women compete on equal terms. It is also the only sport which involves two athletes - horse and rider. The FEI has relentlessly concerned itself with the welfare of the horse, which is paramount and must never be subordinated to competitive or commercial influences.