Steffen Peters is no stranger to the Grand Prix dressage ring and he knew that to win the Grand Prix at the Collecting Gaits Farm U.S. Equestrian Federation National Grand Prix Championship in Gladstone, N.J., he’d have to pull out all the stops.
   
“I took a lot of risks today,” he said on Thursday, June 15, after his ride.  Those risks paid off as he won the class aboard Floriano with a 74.50 percent, almost 3 percentage points higher than his next-closest competitors.
   
Peters traveled all the way from San Diego, Calif. for this event, but there’s more than a Grand Prix title at stake.  These four days will determine who goes to Germany to compete on the World Equestrian Games team this August in Aachen as well.
   
“If Floriano stays at 74, I’d be very happy,” said Peters.  “Overall he was so in front of my aids.  It was as good as it gets.”
   
But two other Californians might have something to say about letting Peters make a clean sweep of the competition.  Guenter Seidel, riding Aragon, and Leslie Morse, on Tip Top 962, tied for second place with 71.58 percent, and they both believe they can do better.
   
“My ride was a little on the conservative side,” said Seidel.  “In the first test you have to feel him out.”
   
The 14-year-old Bavarian Warmblood gelding represented the United States at the last Olympics, and Seidel thinks he’s only gotten better and more grown up since then.
   
Morse’s Swedish Warmblood stallion, Tip Top, may be the greenest of the top three, but she only saw that as an advantage. 
   
“He’s constantly evolving,” she said.  “I’m trying to get my horse as strong and as fit as he can be.  By August we’ll take it to another level.”
   
Morse rode Tip Top at the FEI World Cup final in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, this spring.  So did the fourth-placed finisher, Arlene (Tuny) Page and Wild One.
   
Wild One looked confident in the ring after his travels, scoring 70.79 percent.  Heather Blitz grabbed fifth place with Arabella (67.00%) and Melissa Taylor rode into sixth place on Succes (65.95%).
   
The Intermediaire I championship got under way in the morning with the Prix St. Georges class.  Michelle Gibson grabbed the lead with Lex Barker (71.55%) over Melissa Jackson on Wellington (69.55%) and Katherine Poulin-Neff on Brilliant Too (69.10%).
   
The ParaEquestrian National Championship also started in the morning, and Rebecca Hart and Nordkap led the group in the team test (71.66%).  Robin Brueckmann and Richmond placed second (68.92%) over Erin Alberda and Ryan O’Riley (65.89%).

Grand Prix Results
1. Floriano, Steffen Peters  74.50%
2T. Aragon, Guenter Seidel  71.58%
2T. Tip Top 962, Leslie Morse  71.58%
4. Wild One, Arlene Page  70.79%
5. Arabella, Heather Blitz  67.00%
6. Succes, Melissa Talor  65.95%
7. BeSe, Catherine Morelli  65.87%
8. Cooper, Susanne Dansby Phelps  65.66%
9. Eminence, Lisette Milner  63.83%
10. Jazzman, Donna Richardson  63.62%
11. Basquewille, Mette Rosencrantz  63.08%
12. Marnix, George Williams  62.95%

Prix St. Georges Results
1. Lex Barker, Michell Gibson  71.55%
2. Wellington, Melissa Jackson  69.55%
3. Brilliant Too, Katherine Poulin-Neff  69.10%
4. Fandango, Marie Meyers  68.80%
5. Rafalca, Jan Ebeling  68.75%
6. Regent, Christopher Hickey  67.45%
7. Princeton, Guenter Seidel  67.15%
8. Schumacker Solyst, Melissa Taylor  65.45%
9. Avant-Garde, Nicole Bellah  63.40%
10. Lyra, Christine Rivlin-Henke  63.20%
11. Fountainebleau, Teri Hallman  62.95%
12. Millenium, Silke Rembacz  62.15%