5 September 2024

World Championships Szilvásvárad: Anna Sandmann leads after first dressage day

The first day of dressage at the World Championships for Four-in-Hand in Szilvásvárad is over. Despite the heat, all the combinations that appeared in the arena of the Szilvásváradi Lovas Stadium looked fresh and energetic. Young German Anna Sandmann convinced the judges the most. She received the best points from the full panel of judges and leads with a score of 40.99 after day one of dressage.

After the horse inspection on Wednesday, the World Championships were officially opened in the evening with a show where all teams passed by with flags.

Photo: Nanda van der Burgt

Several good dressage tests were already driven today. Although Boyd Exell, Chester Weber, Mareike Harm, IJsbrand and Bram Chardon will still be at the start tomorrow, father Christoph and daughter Anna Sandmann can already look back on an excellent day. Although Anna put her father a good five points behind, Christoph also rode a great test.

Home driver József Dobrovitz (sr) drove into the ring last and put in a nice harmonious test. Except for one odd quirk, in a line in a walk section, where it seemed he was mistaken which letter to drive to.

Anna Sandmann
Photo: Martin Dokoupil

Strong start for Koos de Ronde

Two Dutch drivers came to the start today: Dutch Team member Koos de Ronde and individual starter Hans Heus. Koos drove a good solid test, setting a good foundation for the rest of the competition and the Dutch team. He finished just behind József Dobrovitz today with a score of 51.91 penalty points.

Hans Heus was less fortunate: his right hind horse in particular was too enthusiastic and made it very difficult for Hans to show a nice test. While saluting, he was fortunately able to see some humour in it. Visibly relieved and with a smile on his face, he said goodbye to the judges and the arena.

Koos de Ronde
Photo: Martin Dokoupil

Looking ahead to tomorrow

Tomorrow, Friday 6 September, the Australian and Polish team drivers will start for the first time. IJsbrand and Bram Chardon, individual driver Edwin de Graaf, top Belgian drivers Glenn Geerts and Dries Degrieck and top drivers from Germany, America and Hungary, among others, will also be in the arena.

FEI livestream, worth watching!

Home fans could enjoy excellent footage today on, among others, the YouTube – channel FEI Driving (free). The commentary is provided by Sarah Dance who, besides commenting on the tests, also gives a lot of interesting background information about the drivers, the horses, the history and dressage in general.

Click here for the results starting orders and the link to the live stream

Click here for the photo album of the horse inspection

Click here for the photo album of the dressage today

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