The Dutch Masters: last chance to qualify for 2018 World Cup Dressage Final

After starting their World Cup qualifying circuit in Herning, Denmark last October before heading to Lyon, Stuttgart, Salzburg, London Olympia, Amsterdam, Neumünster, Germany and Gothenburg, Sweden, the city of ‘s-Hertogenbosch and its Dutch Masters Indoor Brabant Horse Show, taking place from March 8-11, will be the final opportunity to secure a ticket for the French capital.

In the World Cup Dressage Final, a maximum of 18 athletes and horses may participate (one horse per rider) with last year’s champion from Omaha, Isabell Werth of Germany and her 13-year-old mare Weihegold Old, automatically qualified. Werth is entered at the Indoor Brabant this week with Emilio 107. Nine other riders will have a shot from Western Europe, 2 from Central Europe, 1 from the Pacific League, 2 from North America, 1 from non-league federations and 2 possible wildcards distributed by the Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI) in certain circumstances.

Currently in the Western European standings, Great Britain’s Emile Faurie is tied for sixth and is in Holland this week with Lollipop, alongside compatriot Hayley Watson-Greaves and Rubins Nite, within striking distance of qualifying, in 12th. Watson-Greaves is tied with rising star Cathrine Dufour of Denmark, who is not expected to go to Paris after the FEI rejected her request to bring newly-minted World No.3 mount Cassidy to France. The United States’ Laura Graves and Verdades, the only pair to have beaten Werth and Weihegold in recent times, are expected for the Paris Final however.

Among the 23 riders and 27 horses from eight nations on the entries list in Holland, the biggest group is from the host country, including Adelinde Cornelissen (with Zephyr) and Hans Peter Minderhoud (Zanardi) in its group of 12. The Paris Final will consist of a compulsory FEI Grand Prix test and the FEI Grand Prix Freestyle to Music test. All participants who finish the GP with at least 60 percent will continue on to the Grand Prix Freestyle. 

As previously noted on Eurosport, the history of Dressage is said to go back to ancient Greece, where military officers trained their horses how to manoeuvre in battle. In Dressage, different ‘tests’, or series of movements are judged using criteria corresponding to the difficulty of the techniques, as in figure skating. The movements, with names like the ‘Passage’ (a rhythmic trotting motion), the ‘Pirouette’, ‘Flying Change of Leg’ and ‘Half-pass’ are rooted in the centuries-old training system of the Imperial Spanish Riding School of Vienna, established in the 16th century.

Also on tap at the huge horse show this weekend is the CSI5* Dutch Masters, part of the international Grand Slam of Show Jumping alongside the CHI Geneva, CSIO Spruce Meadows Masters and CHIO Aachen. The Dutch Masters features four days of Jumping classes with the Rolex Grand Prix finale on Sunday. Many of the world’s best are in town among the 46 riders and 125 horses from 13 countries. Local favourite Harrie Smolders, World No.2, will be among those looking to pick up points as he chases down the top-ranked rider in the sport, Kent Farrington of the United States, who is currently out of action with a leg injury. Scott Brash (Hello Shelby and Ursula XII) and Michael Whitaker (Cassionato, Flawless and JB’s Hot Stuff) will be there from Great Britain and Bertram Allen is representing Ireland with Gin Chin van het Lindenhof, Izzy By Picobello and Molly Malone V. For the full star-studded list of riders and horses in the CSI5*, see here.