Western European League 2016/2017 (dressage riding)

The Western European League of the FEI World Cup Dressage 2016/2017 (Reem Acra FEI World Cup ™ Dressage 2015-2016, Western European League) was the 32nd season of the Western and Central European League of the FEI World Cup Dressage . The World Cup is the most important tournament series in the indoor season in the Western European League.

Course of the tournament series

The World Cup regulations in the 2016/2017 season remained unchanged from the previous season. The number of special stages also remained unchanged, but not the special stages: after Gothenburg was the World Cup final location in the previous season, a normal World Cup stage took place here again. The Sweden Horse Show was no longer there, the Stockholm organizers instead held a CDI 5 *, in which the starting field was deliberately kept small with only nine riders (similar to the other disciplines).

All tournaments of the Western European League were advertised as CDI . They were marked with the suffix -W (i.e. CDI-W) to identify them as World Cup tournaments.

The first special stage took place on October 23, 2016, the final stage was held on March 12, 2017. The best nine riders in the Western European League and any additional participants (“extra competitors”) qualified for the 2017 World Cup finals . The fashion designer Reem Acra was the main sponsor of the Western European League and the World Cup final for the seventh time .

The mode of the stages was identical to the previous year: A Grand Prix de Dressage served as an entry test for the Grand Prix Freestyle , the size of the starting field was not specified upwards by the World Cup regulations. The 15 best-placed participants from the Grand Prix qualified for the Grand Prix Freestyle. Only the Grand Prix Freestyle counted as a special test for the Western European League.

media

The FEI broadcasts the World Cup competitions of the Western European League for a fee via its Internet portal FEI TV. Eurosport 1 showed one-hour summaries of the World Cups in Gothenburg and 's-Hertogenbosch.

The exams

1st test: Odense

The start of the Western European League was the World Cup in Odense, Denmark . The tournament, which ran over two weekends, took place from October 13 to 23, 2016.

In the Grand Prix only 15 riders took part with their horses, so that all participants qualified for the World Cup freestyle. The Spaniard Severo Jurado López, who works for Andreas Helgstrand in Denmark, had already won the Grand Prix with his 10-year-old gelding Lorenzo by over two percent. This continued in the freestyle, where he won with over 82 percent. All other riders got a result of less than 80 percent. While the strong Danish riders (for example Anna Kasprzak and Agnete Kirk Thinggaard, who placed second and third here last year) did not compete, the second, third and fifth place went to dressage riders from Sweden.

	equestrian	horse	percent	scoring points
1	Severo Jesus Jurado López	Lorenzo	82.060%	20th
2	Tinne Vilhelmson Silfvén	Paridon Magi	79.555%	17th
3	Rose Mathisen	Zuidenwind	77.400%	15th

(Places one to three out of a total of 15 participants)

2nd test: Lyon

The French stage of the Western European Dressage League took place as part of the Equitá Lyon. This indoor equestrian tournament was held from October 26th to 30th at Eurexpo .

17 riders competed with their horses in the Grand Prix on the morning of October 27, 2016. In the Grand Prix Freestyle, Karen Tebar achieved the best result for the host country, with the 13-year-old gelding Ricardo she came in seventh place (76.677%). At the top of the ranking, all five judges were in agreement: Carl Hester and Nip Tuck came in second, while the best result went to Isabell Werth and the black mare Weihegold OLD . The result of 90.090 percent represented a new personal best result in the Grand Prix Freestyle for both the rider and the mare.

	equestrian	horse	percent	scoring points
1	Isabell Werth	Weihegold OLD	90.090%	20th
2	Carl Hester	Nip tuck	85.017%	17th
3	Hans Peter Minderhoud	Johnson	80.224%	-

(Places one to three out of a total of 15 participants)

3rd exam: Stuttgart

The third World Cup of the Western European League was the Stuttgart German Masters , which took place from November 16 to 20, 2017 in the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle .

The Grand Prix was held on Friday morning (November 18th), there were 15 pairs at the start. In the World Cup Freestyle held on the following day, the German championship pairs from 2015 and 2016 dominated: The previous year's title holder, Kristina Bröring-Sprehe, came in second with Desperados FRH with over seven percent advantage over the third-placed finishers. As in Lyon, the victory went to the reigning champions, Isabell Werth and Weihegold OLD , who again received a 90 percent rating with another clear lead.

The best foreign rider in the Grand Prix Freestyle was Madeleine Witte-Vrees , the Dutch rider came fourth with the 9-year-old Cennin . The loser in the freestyle was Spencer Wilton : In the Grand Prix he even finished third with his gelding Super Nova II , although it was already under tension here. This increased again in the Grand Prix Freestyle, the horse pulled his tongue over the bit several times, so that he only came in last place with a result of 67.933 percent.

	equestrian	horse	percent	scoring points
1	Isabell Werth	Weihegold OLD	89.418%	20th
2	Kristina Bröring-Sprehe	Desperados FRH	86.306%	17th
3	Fabienne Lütkemeier	D'Agostino FRH	78.886%	15th

(Places one to three out of a total of 15 participants)

4th exam: Salzburg

Three weeks after Stuttgart, the fourth stage was on the program, and for the second time a special stage of the Western European League was held in Salzburg . The Amadeus Horse Indoors , during which the dressage tests took place, was held from December 7th to 11th, 2016 in the Salzburgarena .

The Grand Prix was held on Saturday morning (December 10th), the field of starters was unusually small with only 13 pairs of participants. The basic tendency of the result of the Grand Prix was also confirmed in the World Cup Freestyle: Three pairs of roughly equal strength came in fourth to second place (less than one percent difference in the Grand Prix, around two percent between second and fourth place in the Grand Prix Freestyle) . While Austria only came to the bottom in the absence of their front runner Victoria Max-Theurer, the victory went to Germany again: Dorothee Schneider won with her 10-year-old gelding Showtime FRH , as a couple of starters with a result of over 80 percent.

	equestrian	horse	percent	scoring points
1	Dorothee Schneider	Showtime FRH	80.560%	20th
2	Severo Jesus Jurado López	Lorenzo	75.780%	17th
3	Jessica von Bredow-Werndl	Unee BB	75.320%	15th

(Places one to three out of a total of 13 participants)

5th exam: London

At the end of the year, just before Christmas, the Western European League stopped in London . The world cup tournament, the Olympia London International Horse Show , was held from December 13th to 19th, 2016: As always at this tournament, the dressage tests took place on the first two days of the tournament.

In the Grand Prix on December 13th, 15 riders were at the start. The day of the Grand Prix Freestyle was all about the winners of this test from 2012 to 2014, Charlotte Dujardin said goodbye to her successful horse Valegro from the competition after the test . In the World Cup Freestyle, however, as in the previous year, her teacher Carl Hester won with the bay KWPN gelding Nip Tuck . Two other riders achieved a result of over 80 percent, Hans Peter Minderhoud and Edward Gal secured second and third places.

	equestrian	horse	percent	scoring points
1	Carl Hester	Nip tuck	84.669%	20th
2	Hans Peter Minderhoud	flirt	81.880%	-
3	Edward Gal	Voice	80.975%	17th

(Places one to three out of a total of 15 participants)

6. Exam: Amsterdam

The first stage of the Western European League in 2017 was the indoor equestrian tournament in Amsterdam , called Jumping Amsterdam. The tournament took place from January 27th to 29th, 2017.

Already in the Grand Prix, whose entry list included 19 riders with their horses , it became clear that Isabell Werth and Weihegold OLD would also be the dominant pair in Amsterdam, with a lead of over four percent to 82.120 percent. In the Grand Prix Freestyle, which was held on Saturday afternoon (January 28), this lead increased to over seven percent. For the second time, the mare, who had competed in a Grand Prix Freestyle for the first time a year earlier, broke the 90 percent mark.

Carl Hester also came in well over 80 percent in his third appearance with Nip Tuck in this World Cup season and secured second place. While the Swede Patrik Kittel came third, the next five places were followed by Dutch riders, led by the couples who were already successful in London ( Hans Peter Minderhoud / Flirt and Edward Gal / Voice ).

	equestrian	horse	percent	scoring points
1	Isabell Werth	Weihegold OLD	90.720%	20th
2	Carl Hester	Nip tuck	83.325%	17th
3	Patrik Kittel	Deja	80.269%	15th

(Places one to three out of a total of 15 participants)

7. Exam: Neumünster

The second German stage of the Western European League took place as part of the VR Classics in Neumünster . The event will take place in the Holstenhallen from February 16-19, 2017 .

After the starting field of the Grand Prix was extremely large with 28 riders in the previous year, it comprised 19 riders in 2017. In order to reach the circle of the best 15 riders for participation in the World Cup Freestyle, a result of at least 66 percent was required. In the Grand Prix Freestyle on Sunday morning, Isabell Werth secured her fourth victory at the fourth start of this Western European League season. In Neumünster she competed with the now 15-year-old gelding Don Johnson FRH . Second place came in her only World Cup start this season, the 2013 World Cup final winner , Helen Langehanenberg, who competed with the 15-year-old stallion Damsey FRH , whom she has been riding for exactly one year. The 10-year-old KWPN stallion Cennin and Madeleine Witte-Vrees again proved their consistency in this indoor season with a result in the high 70 percent range ; third place ensured their qualification for the World Cup final.

	equestrian	horse	percent	scoring points
1	Isabell Werth	Don Johnson FRH	82.455%	20th
2	Helen Langehanenberg	Damsey FRH	79.150%	17th
3	Madeleine Witte-Vrees	Cennin	77.765%	15th

(Places one to three out of a total of 15 participants)

8th test: Gothenburg

After the World Cup final was held here in the previous year, another World Cup tournament of the Western European League took place in Gothenburg in the Scandinavium in 2017 . The eighth special stage was part of the Göteborg Horse Show , which was held from February 22nd to February 26th 2017 in the Scandinavium.

With only 11 starters, the smallest field of participants of the season started in Gothenburg; with five riders, Sweden made up almost half of the participants. The best Swedish rider in the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Freestyle was Patrik Kittel. Since his current top horse Deja was at the start at the highly endowed CDI 5 * tournament in Doha one weekend later, he rode Delaunay in Gothenburg . The 11-year-old gelding achieved his best result so far in international tournaments with Patrik Kittel (80.910%).

The three German riders secured the other top 4 places in this World Cup freestyle: Fabienne Lütkemeier came fourth (77.270%) with her now 17-year-old gelding D'Agostino FRH , and Jessica von Bredow secured third place despite individual mistakes -Werndl and Unee BB . Isabell Werth secured her fifth victory in this World Cup season. In Gothenburg with the 11-year-old Emilio at the start, she was able to convince the judges (84.200%) despite unsuccessful single changes . The ratings of the individual judges differed significantly: in the A grade between 73.500% and 81.750%, in the B grade between 85.600% and 97.200%.

	equestrian	horse	percent	scoring points
1	Isabell Werth	Emilio	84.200%	20th
2	Patrik Kittel	Delaunay	80.910%	17th
3	Jessica von Bredow-Werndl	Unee BB	80.845%	15th

(Places one to three out of a total of 11 participants)

9th test: 's-Hertogenbosch

At the end of the season, another stage of the Western European League took place in the Netherlands. The Indoor Brabant tournament was held in 's-Hertogenbosch from March 9th to 12th, 2017 .

16 riders and their horses competed in the Grand Prix. Due to a disqualification in the Grand Prix, 15 riders competed in the last World Cup freestyle of this season.

Edward Gal secured qualification for the World Cup final with his fourth place with Voice (78.520 percent). While Jessica von Bredow-Werndl, who rode Zaire this time , came third again, the decision was made between Isabell Werth and Hans Peter Minderhoud. Werth, who rode Emilio for the second time in this World Cup season , had won the Grand Prix by almost three percent. In the Grand Prix Freestyle, mistakes in the two-man substitutions reduced the result, the final result was 83.300 percent. As the last starter of the test, Minderhoud presented a new freestyle in this last test before his start as defending champion at the World Cup finals. With Flirt he almost consistently got good and very good grades in this freestyle, which was rated by the judges with a degree of difficulty of 9.7 to 9.9. This brought him a final result of 84.890 percent and thus victory in this test.

	equestrian	horse	percent	scoring points
1	Hans Peter Minderhoud	flirt	84.890%	20th
2	Isabell Werth	Emilio	83.300%	17th
3	Jessica von Bredow-Werndl	Zaire-E	80.265%	15th

(Places one to three out of a total of 15 participants)

Overall rating

The overall ranking was used to determine which nine riders from the states in the Western European League qualify for the final. Only the best four placements per rider count for the overall ranking. In addition, other riders from other countries could qualify for the World Cup finals via the Western European League, provided they live in the Western European League.

The riders also had the opportunity to collect points in the Central European League and in the North American League of the Dressage World Cup (see “Others” in the table below). As the previous season's World Cup winner, Hans Peter Minderhoud was pre-qualified for the final, so he was unable to collect any points this season.

Isabell Werth collected the most points this season, she achieved the maximum score of 80. The limitation that only three riders per nation can qualify for the World Cup finals did not matter this year. Three female riders from Germany qualified, but Fabienne Lütkemeier did without a World Cup final. For them, Patrik Kittel moved up, who had missed the direct qualification by one point. This means that Germany will provide two and the Netherlands three riders for the World Cup finals.

	equestrian	Odense	Lyon	Stuttgart	Salzburg	London	Amsterdam	Neumunster	Gothenburg	's-Hertogen- Bosch	Further	scoring points
1	Isabell Werth	-	(20)	(20)	-	-	20th	20th	20th	20th	-	80
2	Jessica von Bredow-Werndl	-	15th	-	15th	-	(8th)	-	15th	17th	-	62
3	Judy Reynolds	-	-	10	-	15th	-	(7)	-	12	20th	57
4th	Kristy Oatley	13	-	-	11	-	-	11	-	-	20th	55
5	Carl Hester	-	17th	-	-	20th	17th	-	-	-	-	54
	Marcela Krinke Susmelj	-	10	11	-	-	-	13	-	-	20th	54
	Fabienne Lütkemeier	-	13	15th	13	-	-	-	13	(11)	-	54
8th	Madeleine Witte-Vrees	-	-	13	12	-	11	15th	-	(10)	-	51
9	Edward Gal	-	-	-	-	17th	13	-	-	15th	-	45
10	Patrik Kittel	-	12	-	-	-	15th	-	17th	-	-	44
11	Tinne Vilhelmson Silfvén	17th	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	24	41
12	Inna Logutenkova	-	-	-	7th	-	5	-	-	-	28	40
	May Tofte Olesen	9	-	-	-	8th	(6)	-	10	-	13	40
14th	Severo Jesus Jurado López	20th	-	-	17th	-	0	-	-	-	-	37

(Places one to 14)

World Cup Finals

After 2015, the World Cup finals for dressage riders again took place in the United States of America. For the first time, Omaha in Nebraska was chosen as the venue. The final tournament was held together with the show jumpers, it took place from March 27th to April 2nd, 2017.

Web links

• Internet presence of the Dressage World Cup (English)
• FEI tournament calendar
• Tournament calendar Western European League

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Rules for the FEI World Cup Dressage Season 2016-17 ( Memento of the original from February 19, 2017 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ↑ Result lists Sweden Horse Show 2016
3. ^ Result of the World Cup Freestyle Odense 2016
4. ↑ Result of the World Cup Freestyle Lyon 2016
5. ↑ Lyon: Over 90 percent for Isabell Werth and Weihegold in the World Cup Freestyle , St. Georg, October 29, 2016
6. ↑ Results of the World Cup in Stuttgart 2016
7. ^ Stuttgart: Two more yellow ribbons for Isabell Werth , St. Georg, November 19, 2016
8. ^ Result of the World Cup in Salzburg 2016
9. ↑ Results of the 2015 World Cup in London
10. ↑ No tears at Valegros farewell, almost ... , Jan Tönjes / St. Georg, December 15, 2016
11. ↑ Result of the World Cup Freestyle Amsterdam 2017
12. ↑ Grand Prix stallion Damsey to Helen Langehanenberg , St. George, February 6, 2016
13. ^ Result of the World Cup in Neumünster 2017
14. ^ Result of the Gothenburg World Cup 2017
15. ↑ Gothenburg: Isabell Werth despite failures to the fifth World Cup win of the season , St. Georg, February 24, 2017, accessed on March 17, 2017
16. ↑ Patrick van der Meer in the World Cup Grand Prix of `s-Hertogenbosch , eqwo.net, March 10, 2017
17. ↑ Results of the World Cup 's-Hertogenbosch 2017
18. ↑ ‚s-Hertogenbosch: Minderhoud und Flirt vor Werth and Emilio , St. Georg, March 11, 2017, accessed on March 17, 2017
19. ↑ Final result of the overall ranking (pdf)