Caledon, Ontario—July 14

When Steffen Peters finished his Pan American Games freestyle, he pumped his fist in the air. He put his arms around Legolas 92’s neck and gave the gelding a big hug. Once dismounted, he raced around a turn, through part of the VIP area, and he landed squarely into the arms of his wife, Shannon Peters, before turning to hug his horse’s owner, Akiko Yamazaki. Once he heard he’d won the individual gold medal, he jumped in the air and cheered. 

For all of his excitement, you could have mistaken Steffen, a veteran of many U.S. teams and a medal winner several times over, for a rider feeling the taste of victory for the first time. 

“That’s who I am. I’m very focused before and during the test but…” Steffen trailed off, looking down and choking back tears before continuing, “when it’s over, I still just get as excited as I was 20 years ago with my first medal. The bottom line is: It just doesn’t get any easier. You know how to handle your nerves better, but the pressure is there every time. When it’s done, and you feel that huge weight lifted off your shoulders, and you know your horse and your teammates delivered for you, that’s ultimate goal of any athlete. I was quite emotional today, and I was extremely thankful to Legolas.”

Legolas 92 and Steffen scored an 80.75 percent to earn gold over U.S. teammate Laura Graves on Verdades (79.82%). Canada’s Chris von Martel’s picked up bronze with Zilverstar on 79.50 percent. Steffen’s test on Sunday, for the second day of team competition, was marred by mistakes in piaffe, extended trot and both sets of tempis. He was pleased to put that ride behind him today.

“He was fantastic,” said Steffen. “But I have to tell you, Legolas and I gave every ounce of our energy today. After that last centerline, the first thing I said was, ‘Thank God for my personal trainer. He’s been working with me so hard. Let’s face it, I’m one of the older and veteran guys in this group. I knew with my teammate Laura coming after me—I knew it was going to be close. The Canadians did put on the pressure too; a 79 percent from Chris is fantastic. I really had to fight, and Legolas delivered 100 percent. It’s an awesome feeling, and I can’t even tell you how proud I am of my horse.”

(Steffen Peters was thrilled with Legolas 92. Photo by Lindsay Berreth.)

For Graves part, she found her horse lacking a little energy after exerting himself in the heat for the team. He was the highest-scoring horse on the second day of team competition, helping boost the U.S. to their much-needed team gold. 

“He had so much gas in the warm-up, and I thought, ‘This is good.’ I like that feeling in a Grand Prix, especially after such a long, long week,” Graves said. “But it was quiet when we entered the arena, and he didn’t get excited like he can sometimes, and I took that for granted a little bit. If that happens again, we’ll try something else.”

Von Martels’ test, set to U2 music, earned him and Zilverstar their third personal best score of the week. 

“I’m over the moon,” he said. “Zilverstar has been absolutely phenomenal since he stepped foot on the grounds of the venue here. He could go again for three more days in a row. He loves his job, and he’s a real show horse. That’s one of his strongest features—that he has such a level of energy. It’s never a spooky horse, but he has a lot of energy and that’s always a blessing, especially at the end of three big days like this.”

(Chris von Martels and Zilverstar at the end of their ride. Photo by Lisa Slade.)

The third U.S. rider in today’s freestyle was Kimberly Herslow with Rosmarin. She was placed second individually after the Intermediaire I, but “Reno” was another horse who ran out of energy for this final dressage day. She had mistakes in her tempis and a break in her first canter pirouette. 

“I think we did a super warm-up, and I should have only done 10 minutes warm up instead of 20, because 20 was more than enough,” she said. “I wound up walking too much after I was ready to go. That kind of caught me a few times in Florida this year too, and when he walks for that long, he’s like, ‘Oh, that’s good, I’m done!’ then I have to muster it back up. But hey, he still tried for me. I think he got flustered from the first mistake, and then it kind of compounded after that because he usually doesn’t make mistakes, and then I was like, ‘Ahh!’ But I’m thrilled with him still. He’s a super horse.” 

The small tour and large tour competed on equal footing in this championship, without the added Grand Prix coefficients of previous team days, and the top five ended up with a mixture of three Grand Prix pairs (Steffen, Graves and Belinda Trussell, who was fourth with Anton) and two small tour teams (von Martels and fifth-placed Brittany Fraser on All In). 

“I think it worked well. I think everyone was wondering how it would work with this format when it came to individuals,” said Graves. “But it seems like the judges really nailed it, and it kept the playing field really level even though the tests were so different.” 

The beginning of the day’s freestyle festivities were somewhat overshadowed by the events of yesterday’s rules confusion and subsequent redraw. It meant that two riders—Sabine Schut-Kery of the U.S. and Canada’s Megan Lane with Caravella—did not compete today, though they did both do demonstration rides during different breaks. 

“It’s disappointing, but I’m really happy I still got to go and ride today,” said Schut-Kery. “I’m really happy to have my owners be on the same page as I am. It’s been great to have a big support team with them and the team.” 

Two riders were added for the second draw after the removal of four riders for the U.S. and Canada: Mexico’s Bernadette Pujals and Venezuela’s Irina Moleiro de Muro. 

“[The clarification] is already drafted in the guidelines for the next four years,” said FEI dressage and para-dressage director Trond Asmyr. “It’s a situation we don’t want to happen again. It’s unpleasant for everyone. It’s negative for the sport that discussions like that take more attention than the good rides we saw here.”

See all of the Chronicle’s Pan Ams coverage, the results from the day, a gallery of photos and our live play-by-play.