Netherland take dressage gold at FEI European Championships in Aachen

Netherlands won team gold in the Dressage in the Lambertz-Prize at the FEI European Championships Aachen 2015 ahead of  Britain who claimed silver and the bronze medal went to the Germany.
It was a close and exciting contest, with the Dutch gaining 235.629 points was the final score of the new team European Champions, the silver-winning team notched up a total of 234.229 points. The bronze team finished on an overall score of 230.914 points.
For the Oranje team the victory in Aachen was their third European Championships title. The winning team comprised of Edward Gal with Glock’s Undercover, Hans Peter Minderhoud with Glock’s Johnson, Diederik van Silfhout with Arlando and Patrick van der Meer with Uzzo.
The British team was made up of Carl Hester with Nip Tuck, the new team member Fiona Bigwood with Atterupgaards Orthilia, who achieved the second highest result in the team. Hester is also the trainer of the British Olympic gold medallist and World Champion, Charlotte Dujardin. Indeed, Dujardin actually topped the ranking in the Lambertz-Prize with Valegro as expected, but she didn’t quite achieve the score everyone was expecting.
Germany’s most experienced and most successful dressage rider, Isabell Werth, took the bronze medal. he strongest pair of the bronze-winning team was Kristina Bröring-Sprehe and Desperados, who finished on a total score of 79.743 percent.
Spain, Sweden and France were also celebrating. The three teams who finished fourth, fifth and sixth respectively, secured themselves as such a ticket for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro next year. Italy finished 18th.
Full ranking: http://results.aachen2015.de/show/7/event/34/competition/1/result/
Team ranking:
GOLD – HOLLAND – 235.629
SILVER – GREAT BRITAIN – 234.229
BRONZE – GERMANY – 230.914
4° Spain – 222.486
5° Sweden – 221.557
6° France – 212.757
7° Russia – 212.543
8° Denmark – 212.072
9° Austria – 211.529
10°Belgium – 211.101
11°Portugal – 207.728
12°Switzerland – 206.286
13°Finland – 203.114
14°Luxembourg – 201.600
15°Norway – 199.985
16°Ukraine – 199.171
17°Poland – 197.200
18°ITALY – 195.657
The individual dressage takes place on Saturday with 30 riders while the reining contest is today where Germany and Italy have a good chance of a medal. Stefano Brecciaroli (Apollo van de Wendi Kurt Hoeve) is eighth in the ranking while the German Ingrid Klimke (FRH Escada JS) is top.www.aachen2015.de
photo: Aachen 2015/ Photographer