How Many Times Do You See A Tongue? Is It Blue? Inessa Merkulova & Mister X Grand Prix Freestyle
How Many Times Do You See A Tongue?
Mister X, the top Russian dressage horse this century, returned to competition after a two-year break with Inessa Merkulova riding the Russian-bred Trakehner to victory in the World Cup Grand Prix Freestyle in October 2020. Inessa and Mister X, now 16 years old, scored 78.200% in the freestyle, a day after scoring 75.370% in the Grand Prix at the sixth qualifier in the Central European League to seek a start at the World Cup Final in Gothenburg, Sweden next April.
After our candid discussion about illegal equipment and a blue tongue this we on Dressage Hub I decided to feature Inessa Merkulov for Freestyle Friday. This video is interesting because it allows you to see both the tongue issues and that the tongue is in fact blue at various points throughout the test. https://youtu.be/NVuOKRFChdA
Inessa Merkulova & Mister X Grand Prix Freestyle
Inessa Merkulova (née Poturaeva) (born 9 November 1964 in Rostov on Don) is a Russian Olympic dressage rider.[1] She competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where she finished 23rd in the individual competition. She has also represented Russia at five World Equestrian Games (in 1998, 2002, 2006, 2014 and 2018), three European Dressage Championships (1999, 2001 and 2015) and five Dressage World Cup Finals (in 2002, 2006, 2014, 2015 and 2016). She has qualified for the 2014 Dressage World Cup Finals in Lyon after finishing 3rd in the Central European League rankings. At the final held in Lyon’s expo center, Inessa finished 10th in the field of 17 competitors.
The following year, Merkulova received a FEI wildcard for Finals in Las Vegas where she finished 7th. She also competed at the World Equestrian Games held later that year in Normandy, France. She finished 26th in Normandy and was the best placed Eastern European competitor in the field of 100 riders. Her best World Equestrian Games results were achieved during the 2018 edition held in Tryon, NC, when she placed 19th individually and 10th in the team event. At the 2015 European Dressage Championships, Inessa finished 7th in team dressage and 28th in individual dressage competition.