After the VIP-class and ParaEquestrians this morning, the sun began to shine. The four-in-hands drove their dressage test in beautiful weather conditions. The sunny weather brought a lot of people to Beekbergen. At the end of the afternoon, when the ‘big names’ drove their test, the stands were filled with driving sport fans, who closely followed the performances.
Tor van den Berge rode a nice test and set the tone for the Australian team with 44.85. For quite some time he stayed in the lead, but Bram Chardon scored a beautiful 43.98 for the Netherlands. After that, the results improved even further. First by Mareike Harm for Germany. She rode a beautiful harmonious test with a lot of relaxation and looseness in the horses. But Boyd Exell passed her with his ‘B-team’. His test was strong, with slightly fewer mistakes than Mareike. With 36.99, he put himself and the Australian team in the lead. With top scores from Anna Sandmann and Mareike Harm, Germany took the second place. The Dutch team with Bram Chardon, Mark Weusthof and Koos de Ronde is now third.
Tomorrow everything can change, because then it is the day of the marathon with 7 selective obstacles. At 9.00 AM the first participant from the VIP class will start in the warm-up. It promises to be a spectacular day, which ends with a show of the Veluwe Hunt.