Things didn’t quite go according to plan for many of the riders in the Exquis World Dressage Masters Grand Prix Special, but when all was said and done, Leslie Morse and Tip Top 962 came out on top (65.70%) in the International Ring at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center in Wellington, Fla., on Feb. 6.

Morse won the class of eight over Canada’s Belinda Trussell on Anton (65.16%) and Elisabeth Austin on Olivier (64.87%).

Morse started her test off well with the 16-year-old Swedish Warmblood stallion (by Master), but when the bell rang during her extended walk, she had to go back to F and begin again.

“I was veering toward S but sort of towards the half marker by E. I was trying to remember, ‘Is it E like it used to be? Is it is S?’ Then I got rung,” said Morse. (S is the correct answer.)

The piaffe-passage tour all went well, and the canter work started strong, but in the extended canter Tip Top anticipated the lead change.

“The movements come very close together after that,” said Morse. “By the time I corrected that mistake, we had to go right to the canter pirouette, and I saved that pretty darn well. But I needed a little more breath to get organized, and then Tip Top started the ones, which was very generous of him. We had one mistake because I had to catch up to him. Those were big errors for me. It’s not normal for me to make those. This just happened, and it broke our concentration.”

Fortunately for Morse, Tip Top’s eagerness worked for her during the rest of the test, and he showed off elastic half-passes and powerful extended gaits.

The audience quickly forgot Morse’s mistakes anyway when Ulla Salzgeber entered the ring. The German gold medalist had placed fifth on Thursday aboard Wakana in the Grand Prix and was favored to win the Special, but the 10-year-old Hanoverian mare appeared frightened and began spinning and refusing to go around the arena as soon as she entered. The signal sounded, and Salzgeber tried to head down centerline, but Wakana wanted nothing to do with it, so Salzgeber elected to retire.

“Ulla asked me if I could help her get in the ring, because I think her horse was a little nervous about the whole thing,” said Trussell, who rode just before Salzgeber. “I stood, and I thought she was in, and then I started walking out and realized she was having trouble. It was awful to see that from a fellow competitor. That’s a tough situation.”

Trussell was very pleased with own mount Anton. The 10-year-old Saxony gelding is in his second year of Grand Prix, and he was fairly impressed with the venue.

“This is like a WEG or an Olympics with the setup. We don’t have these kinds of venues in Canada. It’s been a wonderful experience to be here,” said Trussell. “Today was really windy, and there were a lot of noises out there, but he stayed with me. I was really pleased. He’s definitely not a finished product, but I feel like we’re on the road.”

The Grand Prix freestyle begins at 7 p.m.

Final Results

1. Tip Top 962, Leslie Morse, 65.70
2. Anton, Belinda Trussell, 65.16
3. Olivier, Elisabeth Austin, 64.87
4. Lucky Tiger, Pierre St. Jacques, 64.41
5. Olympus, Michael Barisone, 64.00
6. Premier, Aat van Essen, 62.70
7. Devon L, Diane Creech, 56.54

Full results can be found at Fox Village.