Julien Epaillard: "Today I followed my horse in the forward movement..."

Julien Epaillard: "Today I followed my horse in the forward movement..."

The French rider Julien Epaillard is riding his first World Championship in Herning, and he is making his debut with style. After riding fast and clear yesterday, he placed himself in the best position, leading the individual ranking. Today, he followed up and delivered a perfect clear round, and is still topping the ranking with 0 faults. Julien is riding the mare Caracole de la Roque by Zandor Z, and he was kind of nervous about his horse’s energy level this morning.

β€œMy horse was so fresh this morning, so I was not in 100 percent control despite a small jog and some flatwork this morning. I was unsure if I should go for 7 or 8 strides down to the triple combination, but she was forward going so I decided to go for the 7, and it worked out really well."

Second after today is British Scott Brash, who also delivered a beautiful clear round. He was the last rider in the arena today and he was really delighted with his horse Hello Jefferson by Cooper van de Heffinck.

β€œI am delighted with Jefferson today, he felt very good, but it was a difficult course today, and it of course must be in a championship. I need to stay focused on me and my horse, because there is a lot of jumping to be done tomorrow before we have the final team result.”

Third in the individual ranking is Swedish Peder Fredricson with H&M All In by Kashmir van Schuttershof, and he is followed by his teammate Henrik von Eckermann with King Edward by Edward. The rankings are so close individually – in the top-10 it is only 3 faults separating the riders.