2012 Summer Paralympics / Riding

At the Summer Paralympics 2012 in London , medals were awarded in a total of eleven decisions in dressage riding .

Grade

There are four grades in equestrian sports for the disabled:

• I, for riders whose limbs have only limited functionality or who have limited ability to balance. In this class, riders with good arm functions but lacking trunk balance are allowed to start.
• II, for riders with mobility impairments, but with partially good arm functions.
• III, for riders with disabilities of two limbs, blind riders and riders with a high leg amputation on one side.
• IV, for riders with visual impairments or restrictions in one or two limbs.

→ Main article : Equestrian sports for the disabled

Competitions and schedule

Sophie Wells, two-time Grade IV silver medalist, signs autographs at the 2012 Paralympics

The dressage competitions took place between August 30th and September 4th 2012, the decisions were held from September 1st. The venue was the makeshift equestrian stadium in Greenwich Park . The Olympic equestrian competitions also took place there.

A total of 78 athletes took part in the Paralympic equestrian competitions. As usual in equestrian sports , men and women compete together here . The starting field was eight athletes (including their horses) larger than in Hong Kong four years earlier.

The athletes competed for 26 nations. All qualified nations were allowed to send a team of four riders with their horses. Three nations - the team medal winners of the 2010 World Equestrian Games (Great Britain, Germany and Denmark) - were also able to send a single starter and horse.

With eleven decisions, the program was identical to that of the 2008 Summer Paralympics .

Equestrian competitions and schedule
	August September
Competitions	30th	31.	1.	2.	3.	4th
team
Grade Ia
Grade Ib
Grade II
Grade III
Grade IV

Decisions and results

Team ranking

Each team was made up of up to four riders from each nation, with the three best results being included in the rating. At least one rider per team had to be assigned to grades Ia , Ib or II . In addition, the rule was that no more than three riders per team were allowed to belong to one grade.

The team ranking was decided in the tests from August 30th to September 2nd. The evaluation included the team test and the championship test of all grades.

Bottom line

space	country	Riders and horses	percent
			Team test	Championship test	total
1	Great Britain				468.817
		Lee Pearson (Grade Ib) gentleman	74.682	75.391	150.073
		Sophie Wells (Grade IV) Pinocchio	75.906	76,323	152.229
		Deborah Criddle (Grade III) LJT Akilles	72.926	71.267	(144,193)
		Sophie Christiansen (Grade Ia) Janeiro	83.765	82.750	166.515
2	Germany				440.970
		Angelika Trabert (Grade II) Ariva-Avanti	67.143	76,000	143.143
		Britta Näpel (Grade II) Aquilina	72,571	76.048	148.619
		Steffen Zeibig (Grade III) Waldemar	67.667	66.233	(133,900)
		Hannelore Brenner (Grade III) Women of the World	75.741	73.467	149.208
3	Ireland				428,313
		Eilish Byrne (Grade II) Youri	67.714	73.429	141.143
		James Dwyer (Grade IV) Orlando	69.719	68.516	138.235
		Geraldine Savage (Grade Ia) Blues Tip Top Too	68,000	68,800	(136,800)
		Helen Kearney (Grade Ia) Mister Cool	72.235	76,700	148.935
4th	Netherlands				428.253
		Gert Bolmer (Grade II) Vorman	66.143	70.143	(136,286)
		Petra van de Sande (Grade II) Valencia Z	68.095	74.476	142.571
		Frank Hosmar (Grade IV) Alphaville	71.781	73.097	144.878
		Sanne Voets (Grade III) Vedet PB	72.037	68.767	140.804

Individual ratings: championship test

The individual evaluation was carried out separately from the team evaluation. Two sets of medals are awarded per grade, the first of which in the championship tests. These will take place on September 1st and 2nd, 2012.

Grade Ia

The championship test of the Grade Ia riders took place on September 2, 2012 from 4:15 p.m. local time. The 2008 gold medalist, Anne Dunham , now 63 , was no longer at the start. The new Paralympic gold medalist is the Briton Sophie Christiansen, who won silver in 2008 and was already the individual winner of the 2010 World Equestrian Games with her horse Rivaldo of Berkeley .

Bottom line:

rank	equestrian	horse	percent
1	Sophie Christiansen	Janeiro	82.750%
2	Helen Kearney	Mister Cool	76.700%
3	Laurentia Tan	Ruben James	73.650%
4th	Rihards Snikus	Chardonnay	70.400%
5	Liselotte Rosenhart	Prior Lady Rawage	70,000%

Grade Ib

Gold medal winners: Joann Formosa and Worldwide PB in the championship test

The decision of the Grade Ib riders took place on September 1st, 2012 at 2:45 p.m. local time. The defending champion and long-term winner of the last few years, Lee Pearson, narrowly missed the victory in front of a home crowd. This went to Joann Formosa from Australia. The bronze medal went to Paralympics newcomer Pepo Puch, who was less than one percent behind the winner.

Bottom line:

rank	equestrian	horse	percent
1	Joann Formosa	Worldwide PB	75.826%
2	Lee Pearson	gentleman	75.391%
3	Pepo Puch	Fine feeling	75.043%
4th	Jonathan Wentz	Richter Scale	70.348%
5	Katja Karjalainen	Rosie	69.739%

Grade II

On September 1, 2012 from 9:00 a.m. local time, the Grade II rider championship test was carried out. The victory went to the British Natasha Baker with Cabral . The winner of 2008, Britta Näpel, who rode Aquilina this time, just missed the win . The winner of the 2010 World Equestrian Games, Petra van de Sande, came fourth with another horse.

Bottom line:

rank	equestrian	horse	percent
1	Natasha Baker	Cabral	76.857%
2	Britta Näpel	Aquilina	76.048%
3	Angelika Trabert	Ariva-Avanti	76,000%
4th	Petra van de Sande	Valencia Z	74.476%
5	Eilish Byrne	Youri	73.429%
	...
16	Thomas Haller	Haller's design	65.143%

Grade III

The start time of the championship test for Grade III riders was 1:45 p.m. local time, this test was carried out on September 2, 2012. The winner of the Summer Paralympics 2008 and the World Equestrian Games 2010, Hannelore Brenner, also won the championship test of the Summer Paralympics 2012 with her mare Women of the World . Victory was not always certain: In the meantime, Brenner forgot the further course of the dressage task and had to ask the arbitral tribunal what sequence of lessons to ride next.

The 2008 and 2010 silver medalist Annika Lykke Dalskov came in third this time. Steffen Zeibig, who changed from Grade II to Grade III in 2011, achieved eighth place.

Bottom line:

rank	equestrian	horse	percent
1	Hannelore Brenner	Women of the World	73.467%
2	Deborah Criddle	LJT Akilles	71.267%
3	Annika Lykke Dalskov	Aros A 'Fenris	71.233%
4th	Susanne Sunesen	Thy's Que Faire	69.700%
5	Sanne Voets	Vedet PB	68.767%
	...
8th	Steffen Zeibig	Waldemar	66.233%

Grade IV

The championship test of the Grade IV riders took place on September 2nd from 9:00 a.m. local time. The winner of 2008, Philippa Johnson , only reached 11th place with another horse. Sophie Wells, who won gold with Pinocchio at the 2010 World Equestrian Games , came second this time.

Bottom line:

rank	equestrian	horse	percent
1	Michèle George	Rainman	77.065%
2	Sophie Wells	Pinocchio	76.323%
3	Frank Hosmar	Alphaville	73.097%
4th	Ciska Vermeulen	Whooney Tunes	71.613%
5	Line Thorning Jørgensen	Di Caprio	70.258%
	...
9	Lena Weifen	Don Turner	67.581%

Individual ratings: Freestyle

The second set of medals per grade is awarded in the freestyle of the respective grade. In these freestyle riders can put together the prescribed lessons of their degree individually for an examination. Even more difficult lessons that are not prescribed in the regular tasks of the athletes' competition classes can be incorporated.

Grade Ia

The final of the dressage riders at the Summer Paralympics 2012 was the freestyle of the Grade Ia riders. This took place on September 4, 2012 at 4:15 p.m. local time. As in the championship test, the British Sophie Christiansen also won the gold medal here.

Bottom line:

rank	equestrian	horse	percent
1	Sophie Christiansen	Janeiro	84.750%
2	Laurentia Tan	Ruben James	79,000%
3	Helen Kearney	Mister Cool	78.450%
4th	Sara Morganti	Royal Delight	73.900%
5	Geraldine Savage	Blues Tip Top Too	72.300%

Grade Ib

The freestyle for the Grade Ib riders was held on September 3, 2012 from 2:45 p.m. local time. The gold medal for this decision went to the world record holder of the Grade Ib freestyle, Pepo Puch with Fine Feeling . The winner of the 2008 freestyle and 2010 World Equestrian Games, Lee Pearson, won bronze. The Finn Katja Karjalainen secured the silver rank.

Bottom line:

rank	equestrian	horse	percent
1	Pepo Puch	Fine feeling	79.150%
2	Katja Karjalainen	Rosie	74.250%
3	Lee Pearson	gentleman	74.200%
4th	Joann Formosa	Worldwide PB	73.700%
5	Jonathan Wentz	Richter Scale	73,000%

Grade II

On September 3, 2012 from 9:00 a.m. local time, the grade II rider's freestyle was held. As in the championship test, the victory went to Natasha Baker, who won this time by a clear margin. The two other medals went to German riders.

Bottom line:

rank	equestrian	horse	percent
1	Natasha Baker	Cabral	82.800%
2	Britta Näpel	Aquilina	77.400%
3	Angelika Trabert	Ariva-Avanti	76.150%
4th	Eilish Byrne	Youri	75.250%
5	Rebecca Hart	Lord Ludger	73.250%
6th	Barbara Minneci	Barilla	73,100%
	...
-	Thomas Haller	Haller's design	given up

Grade III

From 1:45 p.m. local time on September 4, 2012, the grade III rider's freestyle was carried out. In the freestyle, too, Hannelore Brenner was able to defend her title with a lead of over three percent. The two other medal ranks are also occupied by the riders who had already won them in the championship test.

Bottom line:

rank	equestrian	horse	percent
1	Hannelore Brenner	Women of the World	81.700%
2	Deborah Criddle	LJT Akilles	78.550%
3	Annika Lykke Dalskov	Aros A 'Fenris	76.950%
4th	Sanne Voets	Vedet PB	75,400%
5	Susanne Sunesen	Thy's Que Faire	73.550%
	...
8th	Steffen Zeibig	Waldemar	67.150%

Grade IV

On September 4th from 9:00 a.m. local time, the grade IV rider's freestyle was held. This test confirmed the result of the championship test in the top places, Michèle George from Belgium won again. Sophie Wells, who also won gold with Pinocchio in the Freestyle at the 2010 World Equestrian Games , came second again.

Bottom line:

rank	equestrian	horse	percent
1	Michèle George	Rainman	82.100%
2	Sophie Wells	Pinocchio	81.150%
3	Frank Hosmar	Alphaville	78.600%
4th	Line Thorning Jørgensen	Di Caprio	76.800%
5	Ciska Vermeulen	Whooney Tunes	75,000%
	...
8th	Lena Weifen	Don Turner	72.100%

Medal table

Medal table
space	country	G	S.	B.	total
1	Great Britain	5	5	1	11
2	Germany	2	3	2	7th
3	Belgium	2	-	-	2
4th	Austria	1	-	1	2
5	Australia	1	-	-	1
6th	Ireland	-	1	2	3
7th	Singapore	-	1	1	2
8th	Finland	-	1	-	1
9	Netherlands	-	-	2	2
	Denmark	-	-	2	2
Total after all decisions		11	11	11	33

Web links

• Schedule and results
• Paralympic Movement website (paralympic.org) (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Paralympics in London on the website of the German Equestrian Association
2. ↑ Paralympics London 2012: Equestrian - Schedule & Results ( Memento of the original from August 24, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ Result of the team evaluation ( Memento of the original from September 3, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
4. ↑ Result of the Championshiptest Grade Ib ( memento of the original from September 2, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
5. ↑ Result of the Championshiptest Grade Ib ( memento of the original from September 2, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
6. ↑ Result of Championshiptest Grade II  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
7. ↑ Brenner rides to gold despite blackout , Der Spiegel , September 2, 2012
8. ^ German riders at the Paralympics 2012: Steffen Zeibig
9. ↑ Result of the Championshiptest Grade III ( memento of the original from September 3, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
10. ↑ Result of the Championshiptest Grade IV ( memento of the original from September 2, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
11. ↑ Result of the Championshiptest Grade Ib ( memento of the original from September 2, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
12. ↑ Result freestyle grade Ib ( Memento of the original from September 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
13. ↑ Result of freestyle grade II
14. ↑ Result freestyle grade III ( Memento of the original from September 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
15. ↑ Result freestyle grade IV ( Memento of the original from September 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.