Three riders eliminated in Aachen due to blood on horses’ sides

One dressage rider and two showjumpers have been eliminated from classes at Aachen, Germany, this week after blood was found on their horses’ sides.

Danish dressage rider Anders Dahl was eliminated from today’s grand prix special (Saturday, 20 July), the Meggle prize, after blood was found on his ride Fidelio Van Het Bloemenho, who belongs to Anders and his wife, British dressage rider Fiona Bigwood.

“After the test, I came out and the stewards found a little blood on his side from the spurs,” explained Anders. “It’s the first time this has ever happened to me and the worst thing that’s ever happened to me. I just want to bury myself, but I came back [to the press conference] to support the team.”

The Danish team finished second in the Lambertz Nations Cup.

The eliminations in the showjumping classes under the blood rule both occurred on Thursday (18 July).

Oleksandr Onyshchenko and Sea Coast Horses’ Sea Coast Valdelamadre Clooney, the ride of Belgian rider Gudrun Patteet, was eliminated after the second round of the Mercedez-Benz Nations Cup in the evening. The pair had had two fences down in each round of the competition — the first and second parts of the treble at fence eight in round one and the third part of the treble and the final fence in round two.

The Belgian team were eliminated from the Nations Cup because their first rider, Niels Bruynseels, did not come forward to jump the second round with Utamaro D’Ecaussines (unrelated to the blood rule eliminations), so the team did not have three counting scores in the second round.

Earlier in the day, France’s Roger Yves Bost’s ride Sunshine Du Phare, owned by Olivier Brohier, was also eliminated from the Stawag-Prize under the blood rule.

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Other news from Aachen:

Charlotte Dujardin third in Aachen special as Lottie Fry also qualifies for freestyle

Britain’s leading duo in Aachen were delighted with their tests this afternoon, as Charlotte Dujardin takes to the podium again

Piggy French best Brit in Aachen eventing as Team GB suffer mixed fortunes across country

Britain's eventing team had mixed results today in Aachen as a tough cross-country course juggled the team and individual leaderboards

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“Article 241.3.30 of the FEI jumping rules stipulates if blood is found on a horse’s flank it leads to the mandatory elimination of the horse,” said a statement from the president of the jumping ground jury, Stephan Ellenbruch.

Check back for more news from Aachen over the weekend, plus full reports in next week’s Horse & Hound (dated 25 July).

Pippa Roome

H&H magazine editor and eventing editor

Pippa is a true eventing geek and has been H&H’s eventing editor since 2005. She has first-hand experience of competing up to British Eventing intermediate and international CCI2*-L level, and has worked in the industry on a top event yard. Pippa enjoys nothing more than immersing herself in the sport at the highest level, reporting from the five-stars and international championships, including the Olympics.