last updated on July 09, 2009 16:50

British Dressage today selected three of the four Dressage riders who will represent Equestrian Team GBR at the Alltech FEI European Dressage and Jumping Championships, to take place at Windsor Castle from the 25th – 30th August.

They are:

· Laura Bechtolsheimer
riding her own and Dr Wilfried Bechtolsheimer’s Mistral Hojris

· Carl Hester
riding Donald McTaggart’s Liebling II

· Emma Hindle
riding her own Lancet 2

Commenting on their selection the athletes said:

Laura Bechtolsheimer

“This year will be especially exciting as the championships are on home turf,” said Laura. “It’s a strong team and we work very well together, each bringing something different to the table. Mistral Hojris has been on fantastic form and his consistency this season has given me great confidence.”

Carl Hester

“I am very excited about riding at this year’s Europeans,” said Carl. “It will be the first time I’ve ridden at a major championship in the UK and I’m really looking forward to being a part of it. I was ruled out of selection during 2007 and 2008 because of horse injuries so it’ll be great to be on a team again. Riding at Aachen last week was inspirational and there’s a real feeling that Great Britain is a strong contender. I’ll be training hard over the next five weeks and hoping for a smooth preparation in the run up to Windsor.”

Emma Hindle

“It’s an honour to be selected and I really believe in our team,” said Emma. “It’s always great to have a championship in England and to ride in front of the home crowd will be amazing. My preparation will include time at Kyra Kyrklund and Richard White’s which will be a great environment in which to prepare for Windsor.”

The fourth team member and reserves will be announced at the end of July.

Richard Davison, British Team Captain comments:

“Laura, Carl and Emma have nothing more to prove, they have all achieved high scores at very high level International competitions in Europe. We will have an incredibly strong team and now the job for these riders will be to plan the optimum preparation for each horse in order to ensure their horse’s peak at the end of August.”