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5 things not to miss as dressage kicks off at Paris Olympics – sizzling competition and the fabulous French roar

Martha Terry Martha Terry

    • The eventing (glorious as it was) may be over at Paris 2024, but after a few hours’ lull, anticipation is building again for the start of the Olympic dressage competition tomorrow, Tuesday, 30 July. The action kicks off with the grand prix qualifier, as the teams fight it out for a place in the special. The Olympic dressage format means that this qualifier is for both the special (for team medals) and the freestyle (for individual medals).

    We have the lowdown on the five things you should keep an eye out for as we head into the dressage phase of the equestrian action.

    Olympic dressage day one: key things to watch

    1. Look out for the Brits! We’re hoping for great things from our trio. Just Carl Hester (Fame) and Becky Moody (Jagerbomb) are set to perform tomorrow, with Lottie Fry and Glamourdale on the schedule for Wednesday.

    2. Other stars in action tomorrow include three Scandi riders in the medal hunt. Can Nanna Skodborg Merrald and Zepter add to their two European medals from last summer? Patrik Kittel won the World Cup Finals this year on Touchdown – how will he fare on the biggest stage of all? And Dutch rider Dinja van Liere is another one to note. She missed out on Tokyo due to an administrative error, but has been on scintillating form in recent competition. Don’t miss their debuts in the Versailles arena. All the grand prix times are listed here.

    3. Sit back and feast on the sight of equine dressage stars gracing the stunning stadium. We’ve all enjoyed the pictures from the eventing competition, but this arena – with the palace backdrop – is made for the majesty of the grand prix dressage horse. We are set to watch 60 of the world’s elite horses perform over the next two days.

    4. The temperature. After the eventing dressage took place on a very soggy Saturday, hot sunshine is forecast for the first of the pure dressage days. It should be awesome to see the tests play out under blue skies (we might even be able to see the palace this time without the drizzle!). Watch out for the temperature though, it could climb to 35ºC. Happily, the many leafy avenues on site will provide the horses with abundant shade, plus there are cooling stations.

    5. French enthusiasm. If the eventing competition is anything to go by, the French crowd really adore their horse sport. There are flags waving, sports fans draped in the tricolore, and huge cheers for any horse’s performance, but especially a French one. They clap loudly, shout shrilly and stamp their feet so hard that the 16,000 capacity stands shake.

    Let the show begin.

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    Martha Terry
    Martha Terry

    H&H features editor
    Martha is an experienced journalist who is mad-keen on horses and dogs. Her reporting CV includes the Paris Olympics, European championships, Aachen World Equestrian Festival and World Cup finals. After growing up with assorted liver and white springer spaniels, she enjoyed 14 years with two rescue dogs. Now, her constant companion is Fidget, an extremely energetic and habitually muddy black and white springer. Martha has written on topics as diverse as a top horse’s clone to the best GPS trackers for dogs, as well as equestrian and rural matters for Country Life, The Field, The Times, The Spectator and The Telegraph alongside Horse & Hound.
    Martha Terry

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