Michael Barisone had a tough decision to make yesterday. His fifth-placed finish in the Grand Prix was good enough to give him a choice of whether to ride in the freestyle or the Grand Prix Special at the Exquis World Dressage Masters in Wellington, Fla. The glory was in the big evening class, but Barisone knew that if he chose the freestyle, then Anky van Grunsven would have to ride in the Special.
“It was such an effort to get here for the Europeans,” said Barisone. “There were thousand of people coming to see Anky tonight. I thought the right thing to do was to let Anky ride in the freestyle.”
Fortunately for Barisone, his decision worked out, and he and Neruda topped the Grand Prix special for $9,500 with 69.29 percent.
“There have been other days where I had some things sharper,” said Barisone. “I’m trying really hard not to make mistakes. I had a train wreck last week because I was a little rusty. I got some redemption points this week.”
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Barisone rode a clean test, but Denmark’s Anne van Olst was right on his tail until the end of her ride with Exquis Clearwater. She fell into trot out of her last pirouette and had a blip on her last centerline that meant she had to settle for second place (69.12%).
“I’m still angry with myself for the pirouette,” said van Olst. “Today is the first day he’s really feeling fit after the trip. He was very fresh, and the pirouette was a rider mistake. I’m really happy with him.”
Van Olst praised the facilities and the footing. “I didn’t know that before I came,” she said. She plans to use this experience as a warm-up for the outdoor season in Europe, and commented that she might come back for a few more CDIs in Florida next year.
Arlene “Tuny” Page placed third with Wild One (66.79%) over Tara Stegan on New Tango (65.29%) and Jan Ebeling on Rafalca (64.29%). Rocher didn’t compete with George Williams because she sustained a mild injury to her left hind leg.
