The second day of Grand Prix competition at the Hagen, Germany, 3-star dressage show on Friday kept multi-Olympic veteran Steffen Peters ahead of the other U.S. riders in competition for a place on the team for the Paris Games this summer.
Steffen and Suppenkasper earned 72.869 percent to be third, but could not overtake the previous day’s leaders, Denmark’s Nanna Skodborg Merrald on the consistent Blue Hors Zepter (78.739) and World Cup champion Patrik Kittel of Sweden (Jovian/74.783).
Steffen had been at the head of the U.S. Olympic rankings since last year. On the new FEI global ranking list, Steffen is the highest listed U.S. rider, in thirty-second place. Suppenkasper is thirty-third on the horse ranking list.
Adrienne Lyle, who topped the U.S. placings after Helix finished third in the first part of the class on Thursday with 71.956, moved down to fifth behind Henri Ruoste of Finland (Tiffany’s Diamond/72.239) as the class wrapped up.
Anna Buffini, Steffen’s fellow Californian, was seventh with Fiontini, marked at 71.783 percent. She is behind Endel Ots on Zen’s Bohemian, sixth with 71.891. Anna and Steffen were the only Americans competing on the second day of the class.
Adrienne was pleased with her ride on Helix.
“I was very happy with Helix and how he handled the big stadium environment,” she said.
Adrienne Lyle and Helix. (File photo by Susan J. Stickle)
“My goal for him was a relaxed, confidence-building ride today.”
Adrienne also competed on Lars van der Hoenderheide, but withdrew after a mistake in the two-tempis.
“I chose to retire Lars because something in his body felt uncomfortable today when I went into the ring. The signs he was giving me may have been subtle for the observer, but I could tell something wasn’t right in his body, so I chose to retire,” explained Adrienne, who always puts the welfare of her horses first and is sensitive to how they are reacting.
“Our partnership is still very new and I want to be sure he always trusts me and that I don’t push him if he isn’t feeling right. I am very fortunate to have an owner and trainer who think this same way and were fully supportive of the decision.”
Adrienne, whose mentor is former U.S. dressage star Debbie McDonald, began riding Lars and Helix this year for owner Heidi Humphries of Zen Elite Equestrian Center in Florida. Heidi also owns Zen Elite’s Bohemian. That horse was ridden to fourth place in the Tokyo Olympics by Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour of Denmark.
Others among the eight U.S. riders who made the cut for the European tour and rode in Hagen included Katherine Bateson Chandler, who ended up eleventh on Haute Couture (70.764), Marcus Orlob, fifteenth with Jane (69.957) and Pan American Games medalist Anna Marek (Fire Fly, seventeenth, 69.848). Ashley Holzer did not make the cut for the top eight named for the tour after being tenth in the rankings, but came to Europe anyway and rode Hansel to eighth place (71.456)
click here for final Grand Prix results
