Steffen Peters knew he had to impress the judges from the first day if he was going to have a shot at an Olympic berth. So he decided to take some risks today, June 21, with Ravel on the first day of the Olympic Selection Trials and was rewarded with one of the highest Grand Prix scores of his career (75.79%).

And one of Peters’ closest competitors in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., was his other mount, Lombardi 11, who finished in third place (70.62%) behind Olympic veterans Brentina and Debbie McDonald (72.66%).

In fact, there were only three riders in the top five. Courtney King-Dye grabbed fourth and fifth place with Harmony’s Mythilus (70.20%) and Idocus (69.04%) respectively, leaving Michael Barisone to round out the top six with Neruda (67.37%). McDonald also rode Felix to a respectable seventh place (66.54%).

“The first day in any Olympic or World Championship trial is the most important one,” said Peters. “It’s a little bit easier to maintain that which you’ve already accomplished, while it’s hard to pull out of a big hole.”

Peters said he was beside himself with joy over Ravel’s strong test. “We had a good season before, so you expect a lot from yourself, and it adds a lot of pressure,” he said. “Everything came together on the right date, and that makes it special.”

Peters said he took more risks in the Grand Prix than he had before when showing Ravel, making the flying changes and the extensions more forward. The 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood is in his first year of showing Grand Prix.

While Peters confirmed what he thought he had, McDonald found 17-year-old Brentina even hotter than she expected.

“She felt so beautiful in the warm-up. When she walked in the ring, she turned it up a notch, and it was more tension than I normally have,” said McDonald. “We had some mistakes that normally aren’t there, but I loved her energy. I decided I’d rather have her be fresh and have a few mistakes than have no gas at the end of two weeks.”

A Searing Start
The weather in California was unusually hot, and temperatures in San Juan Capistrano climbed into the mid-90s, but all of the riders agreed that it would be far hotter in Hong Kong, so they were pleased that their horses did so well considering the heat.

King-Dye said she was happy with Harmony’s Mythilus, but a bit disappointed with Idocus.

“Idocus has been steady, solid and really awesome. But in the second piaffe, he conked out on me,” said King-Dye. “It wasn’t the ride I was hoping for with Idocus. I came back out and schooled it. He had plenty of energy. Sometimes, I love him too much. I kept the warm-up too short and gave him lots of walk breaks. When I came out of the ring and went into the warm-up, he was as awesome as usual. Tomorrow, I’ll love him the other 23 hours of the day.”

King-Dye also spoke about a shoeing mistake with “Myth” that set him back in his training two months ago.

“I feel good about making what I have in him better,” she said. “I think there will be improvement over the next week and the next month. I hope to bring the score up.”

Other riders and horses were feeling the atmosphere and the heat in the big arena. Kingston looked quite strong with Leslie Morse, and they had an error in their test when Morse turned at H instead of S before her second piaffe. Kristina Harrison-Naness had mistakes in her two-tempis with the magnificent PRE stallion Rociero XV, as did Lisa Wilcox and Naomi. Although Naomi finished last in the competition today, due to some greenness in the piaffe, among other things, the 13-year-old Dutch Warmblood is clearly a horse to watch in the future.

Susan Blinks ran into trouble going into her left pirouette with Mark, although she cleverly got him back on track to complete the movement. George Williams highlighted Rocher’s wonderful extended gaits and appeared thrilled just to be back in the ring with the 17-year-old Westphalian mare.

The Up-And-Comers Step Out
Although the Grand Prix was the highlight of the afternoon, the Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Dressage Festival Of Champions started off bright and early with the junior and young rider team tests.

In the young rider division, Kassandra Barteau, the reigning young rider champion from last year, led the victory gallop once again aboard Gabriella (65.46%). She also rode Raymeister to sixth place (63.20%) and Sheffield to seventh (62.17%).

“ ‘Gaby’ is very consistent, and we had a clean ride,” said Barteau. “I was nervous about going first. We just went nice and steady.”

Laura Noyes took home second place aboard Syncro (65.15%) ahead of Holly Bergay and Soliloquy (64.62%).

“I had too many mistakes,” admitted Noyes, who trains with Williams. “Overall I was happy, but he was pretty fresh, and I blew a line of threes and a couple of changes. He gets really worked up.”

Bergay, 15, is in her first year of young rider competition. She was born without her left hand, but rides with a modified rein in open competition.

“ ‘Lily’ had good energy despite the heat,” said Bergay. “She’s normally a fireball, so her energy worked to our advantage.”

Mackinzie Pooley emerged as the winner in the junior class with Jonkara (68.30%). She was closely followed by Brandi Roenick aboard Pretty Lady (68.00%) and Catherine Chamberlain with Fashion (63.95%).

“My horse paid attention really well, and she was listening the whole time,” said Pooley. “In some places I went for it, like in the mediums and in the canter. Those are things I can do well. In other places I was conservative. Every day is different with my horse. You just have to take it day by day.”

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