This is a subjectively judged sport, and everybody knows that the Germans are the best. In all such sports, judges fight against the constant temptation to mark on reputation rather than performance - and do not, by the nature of things, always succeed. Another reason is that the Germans really are amazingly good, and Werth and Gigolo have been the best of them. It is the accuracy of the horse that impresses you, and it is a thing of perfection to see the pair at work. There are no rough edges, nothing to interrupt the eye - just a long sigh of pleasure.
Bonfire makes a nice antithesis.
Dressage people like to talk about expressive paces , and it s a pleasing phrase. What the horse expresses by the extravagance of his gait is life itself. Bonfire expresses that little bit more. He is more extravagant, more fallible. There is just a tiny touch of the maverick in him.