Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and her “real dancer” of a mare, TSF Dalera, capped a trio of +80% German performances to secure Tokyo Olympic dressage team victory for the side.
The pair’s captivating performance in the grand prix special was rewarded with a sea of 10s, giving them a final score of 84.68% and tightening defending champions Germany’s grip on team gold.
Expectations were high for the combination, who also helped the German side to victory at the 2018 World Equestrian Games and 2019 Europeans, and they came into the special off the back of an 84.4% grand prix performance.
Jessica and the 14-year-old mare looked in perfect harmony, with their soft and elegant test to a rousing soundtrack, interspersed with the gentle lilt of Grieg’s Morning Mood.
They scored 10s for their piaffe, transitions and halt. The only fractional dip in marks came in the one-time changes, where the mare did two- instead of one-time changes to start.
“It was super, except for the pooing in the beginning of the one-tempis,” laughed Jessica.
“I should have waited until she’d done before I started, but I didn’t realise that she was doing it, and that’s already a step forward because she didn’t stop cantering to do it!
“But all in all it was beautiful to ride her. She’s amazing. She’s always giving her very best for me; she was so focused and she’s a real dancer.”
On the pressure of riding for gold, she added: “I didn’t think about it. Luckily, I was just very grateful when these two ladies [Isabell Werth and Dorothee Schneider] came back with their high scores that the pressure was a little bit lower for me. So that I didn’t need a personal best or something like that for us to win gold.
“But I always want to give my very best, and we did it again and Dalera also gives her very best, so it’s good to have such a strong partnership with your horse.”
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