Judy Reynolds aiming high at this week’s World Cup Dressage Final

“That’s where I intend to stay!”, Reynolds said upon hearing of her place in the riding order during an official draw at Gothenbury’s Lorensberg Theatre on Wednesday, FEI News reported. And the 21st-ranked rider in the world in the sport has a strong partner to help her towards that goal in Sweden: the 17-year-old gelding Vancouver K, known as JP. “JP’s in the best form he’s ever been in!,” Reynolds told the FEI in February in Neumünster, Germany – the country the now-38-year-old moved to 17 years ago to pursue her career. “It was never our plan to do so many shows so close together but it seems to suit us better and he’s loving it…”

The World Cup Dressage Final – part of the 2019 Gothenburg Horse Show – starts Friday with the Grand Prix, followed by Saturday’s Grand Prix Freestyle. In total, 18 riders from 12 nations are entered in the event after months of qualifying around the world, with half coming from Western Europe. Among that group are three Germans, including defending champion and favourite Isabell Werth with her horses Weihegold OLD and Emilio 107. Another frontrunner is the United States’ Laura Graves, second last year in Paris with Verdades, while Denmark’s Daniel Bachmann Andersen (Blue Hors Zack), the Netherlands’ Hans Peter Minderhoud (Glock’s Dream Boy N.O.P.), Sweden’s Patrik Kittel (Delaunay OLD) and France’s Morgan Barbançon (Sir Donnerhall II OLD) are also set to compete at the Scandinavium arena. The full entries list is here, with the United States the only other country besides Germany to have the maximum number of riders (three), with Adrienne Lyle and Kasey Perry-Glass joining Graves in Scandinavia. 

As the FEI has explained regarding the two parts of the Final, “The dressage Grand Prix is a mandatory dressage test. Riders perform a sequence of movements that require total technical mastery in the three different gaits. They need to perform each movement as closely as possible to perfection to be awarded a maximum of points by the judges. The Freestyle to Music is an artistic dressage test set to music. The rider has to perform mandatory figures to the music of his choice. Scores for dressage classes are awarded by a panel [of] judges who assess the ease and fluidity of the movements…. The jury also awards overall points for precision, submission of the horse, the quality of gait, impulsion, position of the rider and so on. There is also an artistic score that takes the harmony of the test, choreography and the music into account.”

Beyond those technical aspects, dressage, which comes from the French ‘dresser’ (to train) and ‘dressage’ (training) is at its core primarily about the human–equine connection, Reynolds says: “What I loved about it from the very beginning was how much you could teach a horse; the relationship between the horse and the rider. You can train a horse to dance on the spot – it’s incredible.”