Yesterday’s London dressage victors Becky Moody and Jagerbomb slip down order in freestyle: ‘I feel like I let everybody down, but we’ll regroup and come back better’

Becky Moody and Jagerbomb couldn’t match their performance or victory in yesterday’s London Horse Show dressage grand prix in today’s freestyle, scoring 80.16% to drop down the order.

Jagerbomb, who belongs to his breeder and rider Becky and Jo Cooper, has had a breakout year with his contribution to Britain’s Olympic team bronze medal after a last minute call-up to Paris, but he is still only 10 and in some ways green at this level. With new music also in the mix, that came out a little in tonight’s FEI Dressage World Cup presented by Bret Willson Dressage International Ltd and supported by Horse & Hound.

Becky Moody and Jagerbomb’s London Horse Show dressage freestyle test started in canter and there was a small miscommunication after the one-time changes into the pirouette. Becky put things back on track, but the horse then dropped into trot and she had to re-set. Becky continued to ride boldly, producing some lovely relaxed work and a bold extended canter, but there were also moments which felt a little lacking in energy.

The pair’s new music included crowd pleasers such as The Beatles’ With a Little Help from My Friends and Here Comes the Sun. Becky praised Jagerbomb at the end and pointed to him as the crowd applauded, before throwing up her arms for a cheer.

Afterwards, an emotional Becky said: “I’m not feeling great, I’m not going to lie. I’m just so frustrated with myself because at the minute, I feel like I really let him and everybody down, but we just have to go away and regroup and get better, come back again.

“It just would have been really good to end the year on a high instead of this. But he was amazing, and he did come back and we regrouped as much as we could – it was just about thinking how can I try and pick it back up and give him a good ride and a good experience. And he was so cool yesterday, so we’ll try and focus on that.

“It’ll take me a while to see the good bits of the test instead of the bit that went wrong. But we’ll get there. It’s a technical floor plan, but he can do it. He can do it really well. And that’s what’s frustrating, because I know that we can really do it. But we’ll just go away and we’ll get better.

“The crowd are just amazing and that’s what I’m struggling with a little bit, because I feel like I let them down at the minute.”

Becky’s Paris team-mates Lottie Fry and Glamourdale lead at this stage on 86.645%, with Dinja van Liere – the leader at the break – in second for the Netherlands on 80.225% and Becky third.

Norway’s Isabel Freese was second yesterday and is the final rider in tonight on Total Hope OLD, so Lottie must wait until after her performance to see if she has repeated her 2022 win in this class.

End of class update: Becky finished fourth, with Lottie taking the win, Isabel second and Dinja third. 

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