Jose Antonio Garcia Mena thanks the crowds for their enthusiasm
Photo © Astrid Appels

After two days of cold and rainy weather, the sky finally cleared and it was bright and sunny for the Grand Prix Special at the 2010 World Equestrian Games in Lexington, KY, on Wednesday 29 September 2010. It was nice in the sun, cold in the shadow but for some reason the light was absolutely perfect and I took some of my best photos that day.

Here is a selection of pictures I shot of the Grand Prix Special rides. 15 of 31 riders moved on to the Kur to Music Finals on Friday, for the others the World Equestrian Games were over after their GPS ride. 

Text and Photos © Astrid Appels

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Carl Hester and Liebling were not able to repeat their brilliant performances from the 2009 European Championships. Now owned by John Risley, Liebling II only recently returned to Hester to be a team horse.

Always a great pair to watch: Hiroshi Hoketsu on Whisper. The sensitive mare has a stunning piaffe and passage but in the Special there were quite a few mistakes in the test and finished 31st (61.625%)

Always good for a smile: Ashley Holzer on her Dutch warmblood gelding Pop Art (by Amsterdam)

Finnish Emma Kanerva on the chestnut Sini Spirt. They put in a very energetic ride, but the horse needs much more sit in the piaffe. He tends to pull his hocks high instead of moving the hind legs towards the gravity point

Tina Konyot on the Danish warmblood stallion Calecto V (by Come Back II). The V does not stand for the Roman number 5 but for Viegaard, the stallion station he came from.

Polish Katarzyna Milczarek on poster boy Ekwador (by Heraldik xx)

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