Spectators at the World Dressage Masters at Hickstead today were treated to two fabulous five star classes in which the breathtaking standards set expectations high for the Europeans next month. Watch our interviews with the winners of the Special and the Freestyle below.

A win for the golden girl

The first of the two classes, the CDI5* Grand Prix Special, belonged to the new golden girl of dressage, Charlotte Dujardin. Riding Carl Hester’s Valegro, she left the rest of the class for dust with a score of 76.604%, beating Holland’s Leida Collins-Strijk into second on 70.470%. Watch our interview with Charlotte to find out why she thought “Blueberry’s” test wasn’t quite as good as yesterday’s. Watch our interview with Charlotte below.

Standing ovations

In a spectacular CDI5* Grand Prix Freestyle, Adelinde Cornelissen claimed first place with the incredible Jerich Parzival on a total of 84.925%. Her test could be described as nothing less than stunning and the crowd rose to their feet to applaud this legendary partnership as they left the arena beaming. Watch our interview below with Adelinde to hear what she thought of it.

Another combination who received a standing ovation for their test was Carl Hester and Uthopia. The gorgeous black stallion by Metall was, according to Carl, “a little bit flat today”, but it was barely noticeable as they clocked up a score of 81.8% to take second. Find out how Carl plans to alter his Kür for the Europeans in our interview below.

An emotional ending

A very apt third place went to Emma Hindle and Lancet with 77.35% on the day that she announced the retirement of the Hanoverian stallion by Wenzel I. As the audience rose to their feet and cheered the pair out of the arena, Lancet made it clear he’s still full of beans, leaving Emma in floods of tears. Watch our interview with Emma below.

“He’s 18 and I think he’s still at a good level,” said Emma. “I want people to remember him for being a great competition horse.” H&C shared the emotional goodbye with Emma with our interview with her after the prize giving.

Interviews with Adelinde, Emma, Carl and Charlotte