The run-up to the start of dressage competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics was filled with unpleasant revelations and last-minute substitutions, most notably British superstar Charlotte Dujardin being dropped from Team Great Britain after a video showing her whipping a student’s horse came to light. And just this morning, three dressage horses either withdrew or failed to pass the veterinary horse re-inspection prior to the start of competition.
Most dressage enthusiasts hoped to get off the roller coaster and enjoy the sport in the Château de Versailles’ gardens. But it wasn’t meant to be.
American fans’ hopes for another podium finish after Team USA’s silver-medal-winning performance in Tokyo 2021 were dashed earlier today. During the first of two days of Grand Prix competition, first-time dressage Olympian Marcus Orlob on Jane was eliminated during the test when Susanne Baarup of Denmark, head of the dressage ground jury, spotted a small streak of blood on the inside of the black mare’s bright-white right hind pastern.
Stroke of Bad Luck for Team USA
Per FEI rules, the judge at C must stop the test and check the horse if fresh blood is suspected. The judge then must eliminate the horse if fresh blood is confirmed present. In Orlob’s case, Jane, a 2014 KWPN mare owned by Alice Tarjan, had objected fairly strenuously to the applauding crowd when she entered the stadium. Her spinning and backing—what Orlob termed “an explosive entry” afterward, with a rueful chuckle—led to what the rider said he thought was the mare nicking herself with a hoof.
When the bell tolled for the native of Wellington, Florida, it came as a complete surprise. “She felt amazing in the ring,” Orlob, a native of Germany, said. “I was super happy with her. Once we went down centerline, she settled nicely.” He described Jane’s tiny wound as “almost like a mosquito bite. Once we showered her, there was nothing to see. She’s healthy; she’s happy. It’s all good; it’s just bad luck.”
Bad luck indeed. With a three-member team format here in Versailles, there is no drop score. Orlob’s elimination means no score, which means no team.
All Eyes on Adrienne Lyle and Steffen Peters
That wasn’t the only tough break. In the Paris 2024 dressage format, only teams advance to the Grand Prix Special this Saturday, August 3. The results of which will determine the team medals. Therefore, no U.S. riders will contest the Special, according to US Equestrian senior director of sport communications and Paris 2024 US equestrian team press attaché Carly Weilminster.
That leaves only the hope that either Adrienne Lyle on Helix or Steffen Peters on Suppenkasper will score well enough to qualify to advance as individuals to the individual medal final, the Grand Prix Freestyle taking place this Sunday, August 4. But again, it’s complicated: For the Grand Prix, which spans today and tomorrow, the athletes were divided into six groups of 10 horse-and-rider combinations each. Per the rules for these Games, the top two riders from each group, plus the six riders with the next best scores, including ties, will qualify for the Freestyle.
Lyle Finishes Third in Her Group
So where does that leave Lyle, who earned a Grand Prix score of 72.593 today aboard Zen Elite Equestrian Center’s 2014 KWPN gelding, Helix, biting her nails. Lyle, of Wellington, Florida, finished third in her group, behind Great Britain’s Becky Moody on Jagerbomb (74.938) and 2024 FEI Dressage World Cup Final gold medalists Patrik Kittel of Sweden on Touchdown (74.317). Lyle can only hope that she’ll make the cut for the Freestyle as one of the six with “next best scores.”
Whatever happens, Lyle was beaming—and not just with sweat in today’s unusual-for-France 95-degree heat—at her mount’s performance. The electric stadium atmosphere initially overwhelmed Helix. He did his best to hide “turtling” his elegant neck. “Our focus in training is always to get him longer in the frame. And making like a high-stepping park horse,” Lyle said. But Lyle is six feet of “Chill Mama” and she told him it would be OK. (For real—she tells her mounts how wonderful they are and that they’ll be OK as they go around the outside of the ring.) Helix evidently started to believe her, and they had quite a nice test.
“My goal was reproduce what we’ve been doing in the qualifying competitions,” Lyle said. They did, and with similar scores. The three-time Olympian was “really happy,” acknowledging that it’s still a new partnership. She’s only been riding Helix since January and said “it’s still a work in progress.”
Denmark Takes Lead after Dressage Day 1
The day’s top scores went to Denmark’s Nanna Skodborg Merrald on Zepter (78.028), Dutch rider Dinja van Liere on Hermes (77.764) and Great Britain’s Carl Hester on Fame (77.345).
The three horses that didn’t start today had been held for re-inspection at the first dressage inspection on July 28. Amplemento, the Austrian team reserve horse, withdrew prior to re-inspection, as did Spanish team horse Malagueno LXXXIII. Polish team horse Love Me was re-inspected but not accepted.
Tomorrow, July 31, brings the second half of the Grand Prix competition with the final three groups of horses and riders. The lone U.S. horse-and-rider pair will be Steffen Peters on Suppenkasper. They will be entering at A at 3:01 p.m Paris time (9:01 a.m. EST).
Many much-anticipated combinations also go tomorrow. The second day of dressage competition begins at 10:00 a.m. with 2022 FEI World Dressage Championships gold medalists Charlotte Fry and Glamourdale. We’ll also see Germany’s Isabell Werth on Wendy and Jessica von Bredow-Werndl aboard TSF Dalera BB, and 2023 Pan American Games individual gold medalists Julio Mendoza Loor and Jewel’s Goldstrike, among others. Stay tuned: This is shaping up to be a fasten-your-seatbelt dressage competition!
