AACHEN – With the second and third round the dressage took center stage at the 10th WUC Equestrian in Aachen on Thursday, August 23rd. In the morning the number of participants was cut down from 39 to 18 riders. So in the afternoon the teams from Ireland, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Norway, New Zealand, Great Britain, the Czech Republic and Germany wanted to gain one of the six spots in the semi-final.
Fortunately all three German athletes made it to the third round, actually Nadine Kraft and Lisette Ahrens won their groups. Charlotte Rehborn was qualified as one of the five Riders with the lowest difference. The grade of difficulty rose again in the third round. While Lisette Ahrens as the second rider in her group had the chance to see her horse beforehand, Charlotte Rehborn and Nadine Kraft both had to ride first. With Kaitika Kraft drew a pretty spirited horse. “With such a horse you basically have two possibilities – taking the lead as a rider or be patient towards the animal. I prefer a patient way but if this was the deciding point in the end, well that´s sport”, said Kraft after her tight bow out. She just missed the semi-final with about one percentage point.
Both other German riders Lisette Ahrens and Charlotte Rehborn advanced to the semi-final and because of this, the host is the only nation with two participants in the competition on Saturday. But they shouldn’t underestimate their opponents. Especially Caroline van der Heyden from Belgium had a convincing ride in the afternoon. In the end she was in front with about four percentage points compared to the other two riders in her group. “It really went well but I didn’t expected such a good judging because the other two in my group already rode good”, said van der Heyden after her performance in the dressage square. She is not feeling that much pressure for the semi-final now. “I came with no expectations to Aachen so I can’t get disappointed. And now I am already sixth.”
Also Katie Nolan from Ireland, Charlotte Dobretsberger from Austria and Milou Anthonisse from the Netherlands made it to the semi-final.
Today, August 24th, the third day of competition, show jumping is on the agenda.
(Source: OC)
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