2004 Olympic Games - Dressage

Two Bronze Medals Announced Today
Dressage Wins By Points – Events Win By Overturned Ruling

Spain Does What We Said Could Never Be Done

To say the least, it was a bit of a surprise to see that the Spanish team took the Silver Medal, their first Team Medal ever for the country. Well, maybe four years ago it would have been a surprise but those in the dressage world have seen them doing better and better and knew that they were a potential contender. And although Germany still took the Gold the pool of riders and countries with enough good riders coming up that ladder is increasing. This time around Denmark , Spain , Holland , the U.S. and even Great Britain had some really good riders.

There are more horses (other than the Germans) getting in the 70s these days, it was remarked at the press conference. In a chat with Robert Dover even he commented, “we’ve seen Spain getting stronger and stronger over the years.”

During the press conference they jointly agreed that the focus of dressage lies in Germany . Beatriz Ferrer Salat commented, “ Germany is where the horses are, the better competitions and the best trainers.” So, because of that the Spanish riders and their horses spend four or five months a year training in Germany with their Andalusian Spanish horses.

Near the end of the press conference Rafael Soto said, “who knows, one day we will beat Germany . It will take time, but that day will come.”

Well, if they could go from nothing to a Silver medal in 12 years – it might take another 12 years but they just might be standing on the Gold Medal podium … but let’s hope it’s the U.S. Team that does that first.

Well, tomorrow we move to show jumping, but feel free to email me with your thoughts or comments. I can be reached at dderosa1@optonline.net.