2002 World Equestrian Games

Grand Prix Dressage: Team Gold Medallists - The Germans Do It Again!

The German team of Nadine Capellmann, Ulla Salzgeber, Klaus Husenbeth and Ann-Kathrin Linsenhoff won the Team Gold Medal at the World Equestrian Games, earning 5,642 points combined over two days of competition, September 11 and 12, in Jerez de la Fontera, Spain. The United States earned the Silver with 5,527 points, and Spain took the Bronze with 5,403 points.

Ann-Kathrin Linsenhoff

Linsenhoff on Renoir-Unicef, an 11-year-old Oldenberg gelding, was the first German team member to come down centerline as the 13th rider in the competition.

Linsenhoff's ride on her own big brown horse by Rubenstein had a few surprises. Though the first extended trot exhibited beautiful bending of the hocks, in the second extension, Renoir broke into canter to the audible gasp of the crowd. In the piaffe, Renoir showed a wide-legged, slightly swaying movement. Though the reinback demonstrated the rider's ability to show that she knew exactly where her horse's legs were and that she could control each one, the movement was not fluid. Though the two's seemed to lack the 'fun' and buoyancy this movement can show, the ones were near perfect. The pair's pirouettes demonstrated precise rhythm from beginning to end. While mistakes are always costly, Linsenhoff did not suffer too much at the hands of the judges who gave her 1,758 points for a 70.320% and 12th place overall in the Grand Prix.

"After 12 years, I am back on the team," said Linsenhoff. "This is the first year my horse has competed at Grand Prix and a World Championship."