Isabell Werth and Warum Nicht FRH treated the Neumünster crowds to a personal best performance in the FEI World Cup Qualifier at the weekend. They won the freestyle on a score of 83.60%.
Werth survived a difficult moment when she entered the area and atmosphere almost proved too much for “Hannes”. But they went on to produce a mistake-free test with highlights in the piaffe and passage.
Werth said: “I had some trouble to get Hannes concentrated as he almost immediately left the arena again because of the excitement. But when we started the test Hannes gave a most wonderful feeling. This no doubt has been my best freestyle ever partnering Hannes and it has been rewarded with a record score for the two of us.”
Second on a scorte of 79.55% was Denmark’s Andreas Helgstrand with Blue Hors Don Schufro, while former police horse turned dressage star Balagur finished third with Russian rider Alexandra Korelova. This partnership wowed the judges and crowd alike and received 10s for their piaffe on the way to a final score of 77.50%.
Narrowly behind in fourth place was Britain’s Laura Bechtolsheimer and Douglas Dorsey, with a personal best score of 76.35%.
Laura said: “Although Douglas Dorsey was in good form at our previous World Cup qualifier in Amsterdam, our test was slightly untidy as we had not competed for a while. This time I concentrated on being really focused and everything, including the changes, came off well. It was such a great show to ride at; the place was packed and the crowd was so enthusiastic.”
Laura is now equal 15th on the World Cup leaderboard with fellow Briton Fiona Bigwood. Wayne Channon finished 14th in Neumünster with Lorenzo (63.30%) and is currently in 10th place on the leaderboard.
