The top 30 riders from the Grand Prix qualified for the Special and there was drama all the way as reigning European Champion Adelinde Cornelissen (NED) and Jerich Parzival retained their title despite going wrong with the eighth movement and hearing the dreaded judge’s bell. However, she recovered her composure brilliantly and racked up the marks in the second half of her test to edge out the find of these Championships Carl Hester (GBR) and the 10 yr old Uthopia who probably lost this title when it all went wrong in the two Tempi changes.

Britain’s Laura Bechtolsheimer and the 16 yr old Mistral Hojris produced a much better performance than in the Grand Prix to claim the Bronze.

Last to go Matthias Rath (GER) and Totilas never threatened to alter the medal situation as this new partnership looked far from the finished article.

“I tried to mess it up!” laughed Cornelissen afterwards “I love it that he won and I’m so proud of him.”

The top 12 tests are shown in full in the FEI European Dressage Championships Rotterdam 2011 – Grand Prix Special DVD.

Results:
Gold       Jerich Parzival     Adelinde Cornelissen (NED)         
Silver     Uthopia             Carl Hester (GBR)    
Bronze     Mistral Hojris      Laura Bechtolsheimer (GBR) 
                  
Commentators: Philip Ghazala and Dane Rawlins 
Narrator:  Rupert Bell

Added to Collection: 11/30/2011
Run time: 100 mins

Genres: FEI Competitions, Dressage