Hester lives a dream

CARL HESTER'S dream Olympics continues. After a fantastic performance which helped propel Great Britain into third place in the team competition after day one - a position they later let slip on day two, however - the Sarkee now sits in the top 10 of the individual competition, up from 12th on his first round.

He is the only GB rider to make the cut into the final round, the best-ever Olympic performance by a GB dressage rider. His 72.4% was the highest mark achieved by a GB rider at any Olympics.

'I am absolutely gobsmacked. It's just getting better and better. I'm living a dream,' he told the Guernsey Press yesterday.

He immediately paid tribute to the performance of Escapado, his 11-year-old, 16.2hh, dark bay gelding.

'I am now ready to lay down and die for my horse.

'This was his strong point today and he went just great. It was a personal best and to do that at this level was just phenomenal. And he has another Olympics in him, so I hope that he will get even better.'

Hester now has a day to gather his thoughts before the last round to music, the kur final.

'I have been drawn in the middle; I'm due to go seventh or eighth of the 15 of us who are left. I have just got to try to nail the music round. But the horse is nervous of noise.'

And to make life even harder for himself, Hester has decided to ditch the music routine he had planned for the kur final and adapt the routine which team-mate Richard Davison had intended to ride on Ballaseyr Royale.

Davison was only 22nd after the grand prix special round and failed to make the cut for the kur.

The mare has been troubled by fly bites around her girth during the past couple of days.

Hester was due to ride a simple routine to 'Here Comes The Sun' but he said that instead he would go all out to impress the judges. However, that has meant he has given himself and Escapado just a day-and-a-half to learn from scratch a completely new routine.

'Everyone thinks I'm bonkers, changing things at this late stage. But I have nothing to lose. Wherever I finish, it will still be in the top 15.'

German Ulla Salzgeber on Rusty currently sits in first place in the individual competition, narrowly ahead of Anky van Grunsven of the Netherlands on Salinero.

However, Hester said that the subjective marking of some of the judges might have scored Salzgeber higher than she possibly deserved.

'It was quite political scoring. The judges gave the horse a lot of points for what it did. It is due to retire and I think they wanted it to go out on a high.

'Ulla's very experienced - she won the world cup three times in a row - and the judges know her, so they score her highly.

'With my preparation, I've not been to as many shows as I wanted to make my name with the judges. For the next show it will be perfect. Once you are known, the judges forgive you for some mistakes. But at the moment I have to go flat out with no mistakes just to get 72%.'

Whatever comes of the final round tomorrow, Hester knows he has kept dressage firmly in the spotlight.

Equestrian has already been boosted by the decision to award Leslie Law the eventing individual gold.

It had seemed that Bettina Hoy's error at the start of her final round had cost her and her team-mates dearly. She went through the start gate twice, costing her a 12-point penalty.

That decision was then overturned on appeal by Germany, but Britain, France and the USA then appealed against that reversal and Hoy's penalty points were reinstated.

'It was a horrible thing to have to do, but it wasn't just Britain. The USA got five lawyers onto it, as did the French.

'These countries plough so much money into the Olympics that they can't afford to just let it go.

'The sad thing is that she jumped a clear round, so I feel awful for her, but it was a mistake. A terrible mistake, but still a mistake.'

So, finally, Law was upgraded from silver to gold, Pippa Funnell took bronze and Team GB the silver.

'It is a fantastic result for the whole sport. Equestrian has to come under an umbrella - they can't just say that the funding is only for eventing and ignore dressage. The medals will help secure so much funding for us all.'

This morning Hester and Escapado will practise the new routine, followed by a relaxed afternoon. Then comes the final round tomorrow.

Hester's unexpected success has come at the expense of time with his close supporters.

'I thought I would have all this time to be with my friends and family but I can't. They are all fine with it - they are getting to see me compete on three days when I didn't really expect to.

'But after my Games are over, I think I might change my flight and get back home on Thursday. It's been emotionally wrecking.'