WEG culminates with Brits on top

Sophie Wells and Pinocchio add another gold to the tally

As the WEG draws to a close, the last day of competition saw the British Para Dressage team pick up a further gold medal when Sophie Wells took the Grade IV Freestyle with Pinocchio – her second individual title of the. She scored 78.500% which gave her the gold by just 0.450% over Belgium’s Michele George.

Quick thinking

Immediately after her test, Sophie said; “He was more energetic than normal so I decided not to use a whip – and that’s abnormal! So, I took a risk from the beginning. I was happy with the trot work but then in canter, I started a compulsory move, a simple change of leg, and he stopped! I needed to think quickly how to fit it in somewhere else and eventually I added it in down the centre line to finish.”

Sophie received her medal today along with the other British freestyle medallists; Lee Pearson (Gold – Ib), Emma Sheardown (Gold – Ib), Sophie Christiansen (Silver – Ib), Anne Dunham (Bronze – 1b) and Jo Pitt (Bronze – II).

Vaulting

The British Vaulting team have finished eighth at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games and for the first time completed a championship on a mark over seven – 7.035 to be exact. The ‘Girl Power’ team has been in great form all week and have exceeded all expectations.

End of an era

Their lunger Julie Newell commented; “I’m so proud of them all and thrilled to bits. We’ve had a whale of a time and although it took two years of hard work and fundraising to get here, it was worth every second. The support team from the British Equestrian Federation have been fantastic. It’s the last time this team will compete at this level together as some of the older vaulters are moving on but we have some good young talent coming up and we’re aiming for a medal in 2014!”

The home nation USA took team gold much to the delight of the crowd in the Alltech Arena.

Topping the table

Britain has topped the final medal table at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. British athletes have won 19 medals in total at WEG, making Britain the most medalled nation at WEG

The Brits won an extraordinary nine gold medals, seven silvers and three bronzes — 19 in total. Germany finishes second with 14 medals, five of them gold.

Australia made a late climb up the table today with Boyd Exell's driving success, while the Netherlands strengthened its position with team gold and the USA added a team vaulting top spot to its two reining golds from the start of the Games.

Making it possible

A variety of fundraising initiatives have been launched to help support the trip to Kentucky for all the British teams, which include an online auction, Team GBR merchandise, which ranges from clothing to a Hiho silver Team GBR range, with generous donations are made to the teams for all items sold. Further information about all the fundraising activities can be found on the official Team GBR website at www.equestrianteamgbr.co.uk.