Trending: Upward Scores
In day 1 of the team Grand Prix competition at the Ecco FEI World Dressage Championships Herning 2022, the scores are going up as the day goes on
US rookie pair Katie Duerrhammer and Quartett throw down a score of better than 70% for Team USA
Text and photos by Jennifer O. Bryant
Katie Duerrhammer has accomplished her goal at the Ecco FEI World Dressage Championships Herning 2022.
“I really wanted to break 70 [percent],” she said after her Grand Prix test aboard Kylee Lourie’s 14-year-old German Sport Horse gelding Quartett (Quaterback x Dream of Glory), which earned a score of 70.839%.
“Last year, I broke 70 once, and then we kind of stayed at 69. This year we’ve broken 70 more and more, and we had a personal-best score at Aachen in the Grand Prix.
“I knew that I probably wouldn’t be as on my game here [in Herning] as in Aachen because it’s a whole lot of pressure,” Duerrhammer said, “so I figured, if I go in there and put in a ride that represents the US well and shows that we’re a confident team and a harmonious team and we break a 70, that would be a success to me.”
Team Quartett really is a team: Duerrhammer, 33, of Greenwood Village, Colorado, is his primary trainer and his high-performance rider, but the “opinionated,” “funny,” and “very honest competitor” was originally purchased for amateur-rider owner Kylee Lourie, also of Greenwood Village, to ride and compete at the small-tour level. Lourie continues to ride her horse regularly, and when Duerrhammer gets on she works on the big-tour material. Quartett himself is a rookie in the Big Ring, having moved up to Grand Prix only a year ago.
“He just ended up being a lot better than we gave him credit for!” Duerhammer said with a laugh after her Grand Prix ride in Herning. She praised Quartett’s heart and level of “try.”
Duerrhammer was the first US rider to canter down center line in Herning, on the first of two days of Grand Prix competition that will decide the dressage team medals. Second to go for Team USA will be the final day 1 rider, Ashley Holzer on her 12-year-old Hanoverian mare, Valentine.
Thus far, the scores have been as variable as the weather, with many competitors not breaking out of the sixties. Unpredictable sudden downpours have soaked a few unlucky horses and riders, while others have enjoyed sunshine.
A group of expensively dressed Danes streamed out of their private viewing lounge in Stutteri Ask Stadium to line the railing to get a better view of their countrywoman Nanna Merrald Rasmussen, who was first to ride for Team Denmark. Rasmussen did not disappoint: Aboard the stunning 18-year-old KWPN stallion Blue Hors Zack (Rousseau x Jazz), Rasmussen rode a stunning test that earned a score of 76.724%, which at the halfway point of day 1 was the score to beat.
The other half of Team USA—Adrienne Lyle on Salvino and Steffen Peters on Suppenkasper—ride their Grand Prix tests tomorrow.
Looking for other Herning 2022 dressage scores? Go to https://herning2022.com/en/dressage.
[…] Day 2 World Championshps – First day of Grand Prix […]