Written By Bryn Palmer
Great Britain’s unbeaten Paralympic Games streak in the Para Dressage Team event will come under threat on Friday on the third day of competition at Château de Versailles.
GBR have taken the team gold in all seven previous Games since Para Equestrian joined the Paralympic programme at Atlanta in 1996. But their winning margin at Tokyo 2020 was only 0.656, scoring 229.905 overall with the Netherlands on 229.249.
The Dutch have enjoyed a strong opening two days in the Individual events at Paris 2024, with Rixt van der Horst taking silver on Royal Fonq in Grade III on Tuesday, while Wednesday had a distinctly oranje glow as Demi Haerkens – on her Paralympic debut – won Grade IV gold with Daula and Sanne Voets took silver on Demantur.
The United States have done even better with golds for Rebecca Hart on Floratina in Grade III and Fiona Howard on Diamond Dunes in Grade II, plus silver for Roxanne Trunnell on Fan Tastico H in Grade I.
Great Britain, who have topped the Para Dressage medal count at all seven previous editions, have had to settle for three Individual bronzes so far in Versailles – Natasha Baker on Dawn Chorus in Grade III, Georgia Wilson with Sakura in Grade II and Sophie Wells on LJT Egebjerggards Samoa in Grade V.
“In Tokyo it was very close with GB and now, USA is going to be a tough cookie as well,” said Netherlands team coach Joyce van Rooijen-Heuitink.
“The good thing about the team competition is that we don’t have a scratch result, which I like. It’s like the 4x100m relay in athletics – you can’t make a mistake. Everyone has to perform in the best possible way. If one has an off-day, we cannot compensate.”
Joyce van Rooijen-Heuitink, Team Coach (NED)
“That’s what makes it so exciting, because we don’t know. Maybe France is going to win gold. Or Singapore. Or Italy – they have a few riders who can get over 75 or 76 as well. So if one of my riders has an off-day, or USA or GB, anything can happen.”
Nevertheless, Van Rooijen-Heuitink has been heartened by the performance of her four “girls” – as she calls them – including 65-year-old Annemarieke Nobel, in her first Paralympic Games, finishing fourth on Doo Schufro in Grade I.
“I’ve seen very harmonious rides from all my riders,” she said. “I’m very proud of the quality of the riding. I know we have good horses and good riders, but under pressure, to still perform in the most harmonious way, that is what touches me and what I’m so proud of.”
Three athlete/horse combinations from 16 nations will compete for team honours, with the Para Grand Prix B tests starting with Grade IV (at 09:30) and V (11:10), followed by Grades I (12:52), II (14:50) and III (16:03).
The Netherlands, with Voets and Haerkens both in Grade IV and going off at 10:15 and 10:51respectively, have the opportunity to set a challenging target. Wells is the first Briton to go in Grade V at 12:13, while USA’s first athlete Trunnell starts at 13:10 in Grade I.
All three of the medal favourites have a contender in the concluding Grade III, with Baker going for GBR at 16:03, Van der Horst for the Dutch at 16:39 and Hart for the USA at 16:48. The final combination to go will be Singapore’s Hui’en Hilary Su with Gambler, at 17:33.
Van Rooijen-Heuitink believes her athletes will embrace the particular pressure of the team event with the right mindset.
“I have riders who can keep their focus,” she added. “You can send them out in the field and say, ‘go out and play’. Of course, everyone feels the pressure of having to perform, whether it is for the nation, or not being able to make a mistake.
“No-one rides in there thinking it is just another day at the office. That wouldn’t be good, because then you don’t ride to win. If you want to win, you’ve got to perform and you’ve got to take some risks.”
Nations competing in team event: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, USA.
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Suzanne Ashton, Founder of Everything Horse (Est, 2012), has a BA Hons in Marketing Management and a Diploma in Equine Science. Suzanne has ridden and owned horses all her life and has twelve years of experience in marketing, writing, design, SEO, and website creation.
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