Germany’s Ingrid Klimke and SAP Hale Bob OLD help take the team to a record-breaking total at the top of the leaderboard after the first stage of the Mars eventing dressage at the FEI World Equestrian Games Tryon 2018. | Photo: FEI/Christophe Taniere

Ingrid Klimke underlined Germany’s dominance in dressage as she and mount SAP Hale Bob OLD lept to within touching distance of compatriot Julia Krajewski at the top of the leaderboard as the first stage of the Mars eventing dressage came to an end at the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) World Equestrian Games (WEG) Tryon 2018 , underway in Mill Spring, North Carolina.

A beautifully controlled ride in front of a packed house secured the 2017 European individual and reigning Olympic team champion a score of 23.30. It places her second and gives Germany vice-like control of the battle for team gold.

“He was so relaxed, so calm, so concentrated that I could really ride him and was not sitting on a bomb or anything,” Klimke said of 14-year-old SAP Hale Bob OLD, before she attempted to explain just how Germany has mastered the art of dressage. “You have to be really very precise in your training and do everything very accurately and repeat and repeat