Ravel Receives US Dressage Federation Horse of Year Award
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AUSTIN, Texas, Dec. 4–Ravel, the 11-year-old gelding ridden by Steffen Peters to the 2009 World Cup title and an historic sweep of the CDIO events at Aachen, Germany, received the U.S. Dressage Federation Horse of the Year award Friday night.
The award for the horse owned by Akiko Yamazaki and Jerry Yang was made at the USDF annual awards banquet.
Ravel and Peters of San Diego, California, was the first American combination in the 23 years of the World Cup to win the title outright, and the first American since 1960 to claim the Aachen championship. Debbie McDonald of Hailey, Idaho, won the World Cup on Brentina in 2003 after the first placegetter that year was disqualified over illegal drug use.
“Ravel’s achievements in 2009, which is his second year of Grand Prix is beyond our wildest dreams,” Akiko told dressage-news.com.
“When we set out to find a horse that could represent the US in the Beijing Olympics, we did not expect that he would then go on to be World Cup Champion and then pull a hat trick in Aachen.
“It is a true privilege and pleasure to own a horse like this. To say that he is a once in a lifetime horse is almost an understatement. Of course, all of this cannot be done without team work and we thank everyone on Team Ravel.”
The Dutch warmblood, named TC Ravel by Contango x Democraat and a stallion at the time, was sold to Akiko Yamazaki after the 2006 World Equestrian Games in Aachen, Germany, as Peters’ ride for the 2008 Olympics. Edward Gal competed Ravel at small tour.
Ravel and Peters succeeded in qualifying for the U.S. team for the 2008 Olympics and finished third in the Grand Prix Freestyle. But their score combined with that of the Grand Prix Special put them just 0.305 per cent away from an individual medal.
In 2008, Peters was awarded the Whitney Stone Cup by the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation as an active competitor who displays “consistent excellence in international competition, high standards of sportsmanlike conduct, while also serving as an ambassdor for the United States and equestrian sport.”
The Top 10 USDF Horses of the Year
| Rank | Horse | Median | Rider |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ravel | 75.574 | Steffen Peters |
| 2 | Pop Art | 72.000 | Ashley Holzer |
| 3 | Que Ba HM | 69.043 | Lisa Wilcox |
| 4 | Tip Top | 69.000 | Leslie Morse |
| 5 | Felix | 68.128 | Adrienne Lyle |
| 6 | Succes | 67.979 | Lars Petersen |
| 7 | Naomi | 67.834 | Lars Petersen |
| 8 | Come On III | 67.589 | Shawna Harding |
| 9 | Sagacious HF | 67.297 | Lauren Sammis |
| 10 | Leonberg | 67.083 | Mikala Gundersen |
