The achievement means GB have qualified for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and if Sark’s own dressage star makes that team, it would be his eighth appearance at the Games. He and Nick Skelton are currently joint top of the GB appearances list with seven each.
Hester emphasised both his skill and experience with a masterclass in Germany this week when he kicked off the second day of Britain’s medal campaign after Fiona Bigwood on Donna Bella and Becky Moody on Jagerbomb had registered scores of 69.348% and 73.820% on the opening day.
Aboard 16-year-old stallion Fame, Hester delivered a commanding display to score 77.314% for his team in an imposing atmosphere.
‘I had to [produce a good test], Becky is so solid normally and a lot of horses, as we have seen, are being lit up by the atmosphere as he [Jagerbomb] did,’ he told British Dressage.
‘I was more likely thinking that Fame would do that more than Bomb, so we just needed a good score.’
Hester also revealed that his success was largely down to his morning spent reviewing his previous best test which gave him confidence going into the arena.
‘I was so able to direct my inside thoughts on the horse and the horse reacted absolutely beautifully,’ he said.
‘We’ve watched him over the years get calmer and calmer, and possibly today was one of his calmest tests. It’s very often the beginning of our tests that I don’t get the points that I try to get, generally be it the halts, rein back or the walk – all the fiddly things that are so important and as far as I can feel, this was absolutely one of the best tests I’ve done by far.
‘He really didn’t bat an eyelid, but it gave me a lift going in there, suddenly I felt more confident because he didn’t react negatively at all to any of the noise, I went and thoroughly enjoyed my test.’
Last to go was Lottie Fry, who rounded off the British campaign with a stellar score of 80.311% on Glamourdale to give the team an overall score of 231.445.
Germany took gold with a final score of 235.063 which Denmark completed the podium with a combined score of 229.426 for bronze.
Hester’s score was seventh best overall, comfortably seeing him and Fame through to today’s Grand Prix Special where they will compete for individual medals alongside the other combinations who were in the top 30.
Describing the atmosphere at the World Championships, Hester added: ‘With equestrian sports, you can feel the love from people that are here and it’s that get together of dressage riders, eventing riders, the vaulters, all the disciples that come here, it just makes it unique that we can share it.
‘We wish it could be like Aachen every year – the buzz it gives you. This is a big-time feeling as a competitor.’
You need to be logged in to comment.