‘Don't risk the universality of dressage'

Carl Hester questions a rule change and pays tribute to a great character

- Carl Hester

UNDER the current lockdown, thinking about shows seems unworldly to say the least, but this year’s FEI World Cup Dressage Final, scheduled for early April in Gothenburg, risks becoming less of a world and more of a European cup, based on the FEI’s late changes to the rules.

The FEI dressage committee chair Frank Kemperman insists the decision to reallocate the places for a non-league rider, a home athlete and one extra pair based on world rankings to riders of the Western European League is down to Covid.

For Charlotte Dujardin and I, the Brexit uncertainty and the number of border crossings required means it’s debatable whether a trip to Gothenburg would be in the best interests of the horses, but there are other riders who have had this final in their sights and for whom this rule change is devastating.

Some 20 years ago on the Sunshine Tour, I shared a house with a complete stranger. Yvonne Losos de Muñiz became a great friend and, over the years, I have watched her work hard and become a consummate professional.