After winning the Grand Prix, Isabell Werth also notched up the victory in the Grand Prix Spéciale, the MEGGLE-Prize at the CHIO Aachen 2024 – and also prove that she does a good job as a mental coach.

Isabell Werth and Wendy de Fontaine clearly dominated the Grand Prix Spéciale, the MEGGLE-Prize after being awarded a score of 78.085 percent. That is a new personal best score for the ten-year-old, Danish-bred Sezuan daughter, who contested her fourth Spéciale with Werth. Only half a point separated the riders in second and third place. The head-to-head race in the ring went in favour of the Dutch rider, Dinja van Liere with her newcomer, Vita de Lusso, who with a score of 76.872 percent pipped Frederic Wandres with Bluetooth at the post (76.851). In points: the results were 1806.50 compared to 1806.0. It couldn’t have been closer.

Isabell Werth said about her ride today: “I must really say Wendy was fantastic today. We are growing together more and more. You can see it, you can feel it. It is a pleasure riding this horse. She always wants to give her best. It felt very harmonious today and I have the impression we are gradually becoming one unit.”

Dinja van Lieren’s Vita de Lusso is even younger than Wendy, just nine years old. Dinja van Liere has been riding him for three years. It is his first Grand Prix season and she was actually thinking about withdrawing from the Spéciale after coming fourth with him in the Grand Prix, the Prize of Family Tesch, because she didn’t think it could get much better. But: “My horse knocked me out today. He makes such quick progress. He was much better today than on Thursday. He gave me goosebumps today.” She reported that he too excels through his will to work and his go and that she is able to assert both to her advantage: “He relaxes more and more in the arena so that I actually get to ride rather than holding him back all the time. I am simply incredibly proud that I was able to fight my way up to the top between these strong German riders.”

Frederic Wandres was also highly satisfied with his and Bluetooth’s performance. For him this show was above all a challenge mentally. And the pressure was extremely high today. “It is not just about convincing the judges here, but also the dressage committee, that is selecting the team for the Olympic Games,” he explained. The CHIO Aachen is namely the final trial before the nominations for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. Wandres added: “At some shows one is in the flow and one rides on the wave from the beginning to the end. But at this show I made mistakes with Duke (of Britain, his second Grand Prix horse) and then I took them with me when I rode Bluetooth. That threw me off course a little. Normally, my strength is being able to deliver immaculate tests constantly. And I lost my self-confidence a bit.” Three words from Isabell Werth got him back on course: “Pull yourself together!”