Steffen Peters just can’t seem to put a foot wrong, and he laid down yet another superb performance with Ravel in the Grand Prix at the Exquis World Dressage Masters in Wellington, Fla., on Feb. 4.

The U.S. pair went third-to-last in the international 16-horse field, and it was obvious from the moment they headed down centerline that Ravel was on top form. The 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding (Contango—Hautain) has showed very sparingly since his historic triple victory in the CDIO in Aachen, Germany, last summer, but he looked, if anything, better than before.

“The ride today was one of his best ones,” said Peters. “I haven’t seen it yet [on videotape], but it felt really good. He felt extremely supple and a little bit more energetic than in Aachen.”

Peters did have two surprising things happen though as he was leaving the arena. First Ravel stepped through his reins after exiting at A at the end of his test, and Peters hopped off in a hurry to unbuckle the offending leather before Ravel noticed. Then, in the awards ceremony, Peters’ sash slipped down off his shoulders at the same moment that Ravel noticed he was alone in the arena, and the pair beat a hasty retreat for the exit.

In a much heralded match-up, Peters came out on top of the scoreboard (76.85%) over the Netherlands’ Anky van Grunsven on Salinero (74.63%) and Germany’s Isabell Werth on Satchmo (72.55%).

Peters won the Grand Prix here last year over van Grunsven on IPS Painted Black, but she came back to win the freestyle, so the results certainly aren’t set in stone for the $82,800 freestyle on Saturday night.

“I was very pleased with Salinero,” said van Grunsven. “He was really standing still easily. In the first two days he was really hot and tense. The last two days he settled down. I had some little things that could have been better.”

Van Grunsven said Salinero always halts well in the warm-up arena, but he gets excited when the crowd is very close to the ring. The enormous International Arena and generous warm-up time in the ring before the signal worked in his favor.

The competition was Werth’s first major outing since the birth of her son, Frederik, at the end of October. It was also her first time showing in Florida.

Satchmo appeared very forward and hot, and the pair ended up with several costly errors—a mistake in the two-tempis and two errors in the passage. Werth didn’t blame her fitness or the new baby for the issues though.

“Frederik is really easy. What I miss is the routine in the arena. I have been in so many competitions, but after eight months without competition, you miss the fine-tuning. That’s a point we have to work for to make the little mistakes go away,” explained Werth.

“I was really pleased with Satchmo. After eight months with no competition, the long trip, and the different weather, it’s really impressive here. I was really happy that he was quite concentrated.”

Canadian Ashley Holzer and Pop Art (72.46%) followed in fourth place ahead of Germany’s Ulla Salzgeber on Wakana (69.35%). The Netherlands’ Christa Laarakkers on Ovation tied for sixth place (68.17%) with Germany’s Anja Ploenzke on Le Mond d’Or.

Salzgeber led off the competition, and her 10-year-old Hanoverian mare looked extremely promising, although the piaffe was still a bit green.

The top seven riders will compete in the freestyle plus Mikala Münter Gundersen on Leonberg. Pierre St. Jacques and the riders placed ninth through 16th will compete for $41,400 in the Grand Prix Special on Saturday afternoon. Riders could nominate on their entry which test they would prefer to ride, but the highest-placed riders got their first pick.

Results:

1. Ravel, Steffen Peters, 76.85%
2. Salinero, Anky van Grunsven, 74.63
3. Satchmo, Isabell Werth, 72.55
4. Pop Art, Ashley Holzer, 72.46
5. Wakana, Ulla Salzgeber, 69.36
6T. Ovation, Christa Laarakkers, 68.17
6T. Le Mont d’Or, Anja Ploenzke, 68.17
8. Lucky Tiger, Pierre St. Jacques, 66.21
9T. Olivier, Elisabeth Austin, 65.70
9T. Calecto V, Tina Konyot, 65.70
11. Leonberg, Mikala Münter Gundersen, 65.53
12. Anton, Belinda Trussell, 65.40
13. Tip Top 962, Leslie Morse, 64.85
14. Premier, Aat van Essen, 64.17
15. Devon L, Diane Creech, 64.08
16. Olympus, Michael Barisone, 63.48

 For full results, visit www.foxvillage.com.