The 30 highest individual scorers from Saturday and Sunday’s Team Grand Prix at the 2022 FEI Dressage World Championships in Herning, Denmark, went head to head in the Grand Prix Special on Monday. Emerging victorious from the pack was Great Britain’s Charlotte Fry and Glamourdale.

Host country Denmark’s Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour and Vamos Amigos, a 10-year-old Westphalian gelding owned by herself and Sarah Pidgley, claimed the silver medal, and the Netherlands’ Dinja van Liere aboard Hermes, a 10-year-old KWPN stallion owned by Joop van Uytert, took home the bronze medal.

Experts of the Extended Canter

Fry and Van Olst Horses’ 11-year-old KWPN stallion put on a show that had the crowd gasping with awes of amazement. The judges seemed to be on the same page, and awarded the duo a 82.509% for their efforts. Fry used Glamourdale’s breathtaking extended canter to garner a whopping 9.9 from the judges.

During her test yesterday in the Team Grand Prix, Glamourdale’s extended canter got the same jaw-dropping reaction from the audience, but Fry didn’t notice while she was in the ring. Today, she made a point to pay attention. “I did actually hear it once today,” said Fry. “Yesterday, I guess I didn’t hear it, but I almost waited for it today in the extended canter.”

She continued, “Glamourdale just rose up to [the challenge] and he could feel the atmosphere. It was incredible in there today. He was trying so, so hard with everything.” Fry noted that she wasn’t happy with her pirouette’s during the Team Grand Prix, but felt they were improved in the Grand Prix Special. “I was very happy with them today,” she commented.

Laudrup-Dufour Dons Another Medal

Still whirling from Denmark’s victory in the 2022 FEI Team Dressage World Championships, Laudrup-Dufour and Vamos Amigos, a 10-year-old Westphalian gelding owned by herself and Sarah Pidgley, extended the excited energy into their Grand Prix Special test. With the home crowd cheering them on, Laudrup-Dufour and Vamos Amigos racked up an 81.322%.

Similarly to Fry, Laudrup-Dufour said that Vamos Amigos’ performance in the Grand Prix Special was better than it was in the Team Grand Prix, regardless of the team gold medal they helped earn Denmark. “My feeling was way better than yesterday, actually. … I really felt that the connection was improving a lot.”

Dinja van Liere

The Netherlands’ van Liere and Hermes, a 10-year-old KWPN stallion owned by Joop van Uytert, also continued their their success following a Team Grand Prix performance that had the nation at the top of the leaderboard after the first day. The combo’s Grand Prix Special test earned a 79.407% to put them into podium position. “We had a job to do, and we really wanted to do a nice test without big mistakes. So, I was really happy that I could do that.”

van Liere added that Hermes was impressed by the atmosphere in the arena, which caused a couple of missteps. “He spooked twice a little bit, but he was really fast focusing again. I had to control that really fast, then he was doing a really good job.”

Even with the bronze medal, van Liere has her sights set on a personal accomplishment. “I want to have an 80,” van Liere joked when asked what she thought of her Grand Prix Special score. “That’s just sort of the bar I’m raising. I really, really, really want to have an 80.”

One U.S. Rider to Advance

Only the top 15 horse and rider combinations in the Grand Prix Special advance to the Grand Prix Freestyle. One of those combinations is Adrienne Lyle and Salvino, a 15-year-old Hanoverian stallion owned by Betsy Juliano LLC. The pair earned a 75.699% to secure 9th place and a ticket to the final round of dressage competition at the 2022 FEI Dressage World Championships.

“It is our first Special since we did our last five-star show in February,” Lyle shared. “[Salvino] was a bit more loose and on the bit, really going by himself, I barely had to keep my leg on him. He is such a wonderful horse when he is in this mood he was today.”

Steffen Peters and Suppenkasper, a 14-year-old KWPN gelding owned by Akiko Yamazaki, racked up 73.708 percentage points, ending up just out of the top 15 in 17th place. “I thought the test was a little better, we had some balance problem from the passage to medium trot but the rest felt good. The judges saw it very differently tonight but that’s OK. That’s the part of the game and I will certainly accept it.”

The Competition Continues

The 2022 FEI Dressage World Championship resumes Wednesday, August 10 at 2:00 p.m. EST with the Individual Grand Prix Freestyle.

You can tune into the livestream of the 2022 FEI World Championship on FEI TV. Watch highlights, including winning rounds, on the FEI’s YouTube channel.

For the time schedule and results, click here.