Feb. 8—Wellington, Fla.   

When Steffen Peters canters down centerline with Rosamunde, he can’t help but be reminded of his famous former partner Ravel.

And “Rosie” is well on her way to filling Ravel’s well-traveled shoes as she showed off what Peters’ feels by winning the CDI*** Grand Prix Special at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival with a 73.74%.

“The best way I can describe it is that it reminds me an awful lot of Ravel,” said Peters. “She has that same amount of power and this beautiful self-connection with a huge canter. The way she sits in the piaffe and the canter pirouettes, that feeling is very similar. When we retired Ravel, I didn’t think I would ever get that feeling again in the show arena. It’s a true honor to ride a horse like that every single day, not just in the show arena.”

Rosie shows serious talent for the collected work, even at age 8. Peters thought her performance in the Special was more solid than her Grand Prix on Thursday, which she also won.

“The beautiful thing about today was that I could really trust her in the piaffe,” he said. “I didn’t trust her enough in the Grand Prix in the first piaffe, that’s why she got a little bit quick. Today, I was able to ride the piaffe just like I did in the training, which is quite unusual for horses who go in the show arena. They all get a little smart and sometimes you have to create a little extra energy before the piaffe, but with her I didn’t.”

While Rosie lost a little bit of balance in the second piaffe, Peters was quick to point out that for the first Special test of her career, you really couldn’t fault her.

“For the first Grand Prix Special at 8 years old, I would be silly to criticize her,” he said. “Since I’ve had her, she’s never taken a wrong step, never said ‘No.’ It’s just that type of attitude.”

Peters is planning on heading home to San Diego, Calif., and will contest another CDI there this spring with hopes of being chosen for the Pan American Games (Toronto) team this summer.

Amateur rider Charlotte Jorst couldn’t stop smiling as she improved her performance and placing from the Grand Prix to finish second in the Special (69.60%) with Kastels Nintendo.

“He was little bit slower today than he usually he, so I was just trying to push him forward and get that piaffe and passage and get it all done,” she said. “I just had to ride a little bit harder, but he always feels great. He’s just so soft. I’m still learning how long to warm him up and today I think I warmed him up a bit too long.”

Jorst bought the 12-year-old stallion about a year ago from Andreas Helgstrand as a schoolmaster and he’s given her plenty of experience ever since.

“Because he had such a great piaffe and passage and I didn’t know how to ride the piaffe and passage at that time,” she said. “I just needed something that did that. There are lots of things I didn’t know, but that was definitely completely new territory to me. The fact that he had that was amazing for me because I figured I could figure the rest out.”

Around The World And Back

California-based Kathleen Raine spent most of her 2014 training in Europe with Breanna and was only back in the U.S. for two weeks before contesting the CDI*** with the 15-year-old Hanoverian mare. In fact, she only got out of quarantine in Florida two days prior to the start of the show.

“I was really happy with how well she settled in,” said Raine. “She was very relaxed here and I was really happy with how smooth it went. It was a cleaner test [than the Grand Prix]. I think she was a little bit more go-ey.”

“Her overall suppleness and her way of going and her reaction and consistency,” she added. “I think that staying there for that long with those kind of atmospheres, because we don’t have that, was really beneficial and I think it really boosted her up.”

Raine has partnered with Breanna since she bought her as a 4-year-old.

“She’s really steady now,” she said with a laugh. “I think some of the shows in Europe she was a little bit more reactive and I think now she’s outgrown that and is much more comfortable. It’s fun to have her so long and know her so well. She knows me and I really enjoy starting them from the beginning and training them up.”

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