2005 European Dressage Championships

Tight Nation's Cup Raises Debates

Never before has a nations' competition at any major international championships been so tight at the one at the 2005 European Championships. Germany won its 21st European team gold and Holland had to settle for silver, while Spain and Sweden shared the bronze.

On home turf, Germany put in a strong fight for the gold. "We perform better when we are put under stress," Heike Kemmer said and that's what she did. Her Bonaparte (by Bon Bonaparte) was not in top form with very poor piaffe reprises in the Grand Prix. The extensions were nice though and her score of 72,833% was a bit overrated. Hubertus Schmidt became the anchor member of the German team with a clear ride and a 74,625% score.

It was German Ann Kathrin Linsenhoff who saved Germany's bacon. For the first time at a major championships in recent years, Linsenhoff was able to ride a clean ride, as she normally makes a mistake here and there. On her 10-year old Sterntaler Unicef (Sion x Manstein), Linsenhoff scored 9's and 10s for the extended walk and trot. Her zig zag, however, had imperfections in the half passes to the left and one of the pirouettes was too big and not jumped round the leg. Her score of 74,250% was more than generous and made her win the Grand Prix on day one. Germany collected 221,708% in total.

Prior to the show, most people betted on Holland to win team gold with Las Vegas Aces Salinero and Lingh on the Dutch team, while Germany had no real mind blowing stars in the absence of Rusty. A fever one week before Hagen made Lingh look like a servant instead of a king in the show ring in Hagen. There was no steam in Lingh in the Grand Prix. Edward Gal literally had to kick his KWPN stallion through the test (72.917%). The piaffe and passage lacked impulsion and there was a mistake in the one tempi's. The horse could not live up to the expectations and showed himself in very poor form in the Grand Prix. Fortunately, he got better in the Special and the Kur, but the damage was done for the nations' competition.

In the Special, Lingh and Gal improved a bit, but they were still not flashy (73.560%). In the kur, Lingh looked better with strong trot half passes, but he made a mistake in the ones and the pirouette right was too big. Furthermore, Edward rode his new trance freestyle but due to the strong wind, the music blew away from the ring and it sounded aweful. The music barely marked the movements and it was just one singular beat throughout the test. "I couldn't hear the music with all the wind," Gal commented, "that's why the movements were not really synchronous with the music." Gal scored 76.650% in the kur and still placed fourth overall with three rides which do not even approach by far Lingh's normal star quality.

Holland's third team member Laurens van Lieren on Hexagon's Ollright experienced a reality check in Hagen. In search for a third star on the Dutch team, the judges have been scoring this rider extremely high at shows in Holland this season. In Hagen, the international panel was much more conservative, especially for his Grand Prix ride for which Van Lieren could have received a bit more than 70.833%. His 70.280% in the Special and 75.050% for a beautiful kur ride on Queen music, ranked Van Lieren 13th overall. Holland got 221,167% in total which was only 0.542% (!!) short of the gold.

After the nations' cup, the show grounds were buzzing with rumours, speculations, debates, and gossip about the competition. This year was Holland's chance to win gold and still the Germans got away with it. Was it a fair competition? Maybe Linsenhoff and Kemmer were a bit overscored, but the same can be said of Gal. Give Linsenhoff, Kemmer and Gal a few points less, add a couple to Laurens van Lieren's mark, shake it and what would the end result be? Probably the same: Germany gold with the slightest point advantage.

Routinier Anky van Grunsven takes the nations' cup result with a grain of salt. "Silver is nice. We made everyone really nervous and they should get used it," she joked. Amen to that!

Text and Photos copyrighted Astrid Appels/Eurodressage - No reproduction allowed without permission

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