Hartpury Welcomes Team GB 2012 Dressage

Team GB Dressage has spoken about their preparations for the London 2012 at Hartpury College at a press conference today which was attended by approximately 30 journalists, photographers and TV crews.

The College welcomed Carl Hester, Charlotte Dujardin, Laura Bechtolsheimer and Richard Davison as part of the Hartpury Festival of Dressage. It’s first since the team have spoken about their plans for London 2012 since the announcement of the selection two weeks ago. Top of the agenda for Team GB is the changes to the format. The Dressage competition consists of a Team event which is made up of the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Special rounds and Individual event, the Grand Prix Freestyle.

The Team will consist of three members - Carl, Charlotte and Laura, each performing the Grand Prix and the Grand Prix Special and these marks make up the overall score. Richard will compete in the Individual Grand Prix Freestyle.

Carl Hester, who will ride Uthopia at the Olympics, spoke about the new format: “It will add extra pressure for the horse and rider.  With only one practice, it will take a very special horse to perform at their best.”

Speaking at the time of his selection Carl Hester, who is also an Academy coach at Hartpury, said: “Obviously it’s something that is a dream come true and it is a real ‘dream team’. I think the fact that we went to the Championships last year with such a strong team meant that we got to work together to deliver that result, and we will try and go for a repeat success at London 2012.”

People will also have a chance to see the Olympic riders up close at Hartpury this weekend.   Charlotte Dujardin with Valegro, is entered for the CDI ***