Programme : Dressage Competition

With so much at stake for the competitors, what exactly does it take to win a medal? The Championship rounds are explained below.

There are three sets of medals available; the team Championship and the two individual competitions.

The Dressage first competition is for individuals and teams and runs on Tuesday (25^th) and Wednesday (26^th). All riders will perform the same test and the winning team is the one having the highest total percentages of their best three riders (the fourth and lowest score is discarded for the team result.) Team medals will be presented at the end of Wednesday afternoon’s performance.

The second Dressage competition is the Grand Prix Special which is an individual competition only. Only the top 30 best placed pairings from the first competition will compete. Each horse and rider will perform the same set of predetermined movements, different to the first competition.  The winner is the individual competitor obtaining the highest percentage score. There is no adding of percentages from the first competition, all competitors start on zero. Individual medals for the Grand Prix Special will then be issued at the end of the performance.

The third Dressage competition, the Grand Prix Freestyle to Music (The Kür) then takes place as the final Individual competition on Saturday evening (29^th). The top 15 placed individuals from the Grand Prix Special will compete in the Freestyle. Riders design their own set of movements set to a musical accompaniment, with certain movements that must be incorporated. As before, there is no adding of percentages from previous rounds. The gold medal goes to the pairing obtaining the highest percentage score. Individual medals are awarded at the end of the performance.