Yesterday Isabell Werth won the first Grand Prix Freestyle of the World Cup dressage season in Lyon. With Weihegold OLD she got a total score of 90.09%. Carl Hester and Nip Tuck were second with 85.02% and Hans Peter Minderhoud completed the top three with Glock's Johnson N.O.P. with a score of 80.22%. Afterwards they gave their reactions at the press conference. Isabell Werth: “Since Rio my mare has even more power and more muscle, and I know we can be even better. I need a few more competitions to make it really come together but it’s so exciting!” Carl Hester: “I thought this season might be my opportunity, but now that Isabell is getting so much better it’s going to be a tougher fight!” Isabel Judet (FRA), Ground Jury President: “Lyon is lucky to have some of world’s best riders and when you have them then you have good scores! I’m very happy the French public were able to enjoy dressage at this level - you don’t get to see it every day!” Bettina de Rham, FEI Dressage Director: “Lyon is a magnificent show and using the new judging system was a positive thing. Dressage is continuously developing and moving forward.” Isabell Werth: “My plan is to compete Weihegold in Stuttgart, then she has a break and I will bring out Johnny (Don Johnson) and we will see how it goes. Of course she (Weihegold) should be my first choice for the Final”. Carl Hester: “I’ll compete at Olympia and Amsterdam and I’m hoping that in December/January I will get enough points so I can relas after that, but we’ll have to see how it goes. We’re all competitors and we all want to win, but we all have our limitations, the horses and the riders, so coming second today felt like winning!” Hans Peter Minderhoud: “I had an easier ride today than yesterday, there was a small misunderstanding on last centreline when my horse thought we were finished but we had to do a bit more. Having an audience like this in Lyon is great, my horse counts the spectators and the bigger the crowd the better he is! As I’m already qualified it’s going to be a fairly relaxed season. I plan is to ride Glock’s Flirt in London and then go to Amsterdam and den Bosch. I’ll ride Flirt at one of those shows and Johnson at the other so will have ridden both horses twice in the season so I have two to choose from for the Final.” Karen Tebar: “This was my best score ever! I’m very happy, I have this horse for 18 months and this is our first indoor of the season. This is quite an impressive show for riders and horses but it is nice and well organised.”
Yesterday Isabell Werth won the first Grand Prix Freestyle of the World Cup dressage season in Lyon. With Weihegold OLD she got a total score of 90.09%. Carl Hester and Nip Tuck were second with 85.02% and Hans Peter Minderhoud completed the top three with Glock's Johnson N.O.P. with a score of 80.22%. Afterwards they gave their reactions at the press conference. Isabell Werth: “Since Rio my mare has even more power and more muscle, and I know we can be even better. I need a few more competitions to make it really come together but it’s so exciting!” Carl Hester: “I thought this season might be my opportunity, but now that Isabell is getting so much better it’s going to be a tougher fight!” Isabel Judet (FRA), Ground Jury President: “Lyon is lucky to have some of world’s best riders and when you have them then you have good scores! I’m very happy the French public were able to enjoy dressage at this level - you don’t get to see it every day!” Bettina de Rham, FEI Dressage Director: “Lyon is a magnificent show and using the new judging system was a positive thing. Dressage is continuously developing and moving forward.” Isabell Werth: “My plan is to compete Weihegold in Stuttgart, then she has a break and I will bring out Johnny (Don Johnson) and we will see how it goes. Of course she (Weihegold) should be my first choice for the Final”. Carl Hester: “I’ll compete at Olympia and Amsterdam and I’m hoping that in December/January I will get enough points so I can relas after that, but we’ll have to see how it goes. We’re all competitors and we all want to win, but we all have our limitations, the horses and the riders, so coming second today felt like winning!” Hans Peter Minderhoud: “I had an easier ride today than yesterday, there was a small misunderstanding on last centreline when my horse thought we were finished but we had to do a bit more. Having an audience like this in Lyon is great, my horse counts the spectators and the bigger the crowd the better he is! As I’m already qualified it’s going to be a fairly relaxed season. I plan is to ride Glock’s Flirt in London and then go to Amsterdam and den Bosch. I’ll ride Flirt at one of those shows and Johnson at the other so will have ridden both horses twice in the season so I have two to choose from for the Final.” Karen Tebar: “This was my best score ever! I’m very happy, I have this horse for 18 months and this is our first indoor of the season. This is quite an impressive show for riders and horses but it is nice and well organised.”