USA GOLD, CANADA SILVER, COLOMBIA BRONZE IN PAN AMERICAN GAMES DRESSAGE
13 years ago StraightArrow Comments Off on USA GOLD, CANADA SILVER, COLOMBIA BRONZE IN PAN AMERICAN GAMES DRESSAGE
By KENNETH J. BRADDICK
GUADALAJARA, Mexico, Oct. 16–The United States “Dream Team” won an historic fourth straight dressage team gold medal at the Pan American Games Sunday, with Canada taking silver and Colombia the bronze to also qualify those two nations to send a team to London for next year’s Olympic Games. The U.S. qualified for the 2012 Olympics at the World Equestrian Games last year.
Canada and Colombia will join join host Great Britain, Germany, The Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Spain and the United States at the Olympics in London next year. Two nations from Asia, Africa and Oceania will qualify in competitions in Sydney, Australia Oct. 28 and Ermelo, The Netherlands on Nov. 2.
The United States surpassed expectations with an unrecedented all three scores that counted for the team result all above 70 per cent–Marisa Festerling on Big Tyme with 71.921 per cent, Heather Blitz and Paragon on 75.105 per cent and Steffen Peters and Weltino’s Magic on a personal best and Pan Am Games record of 80.132 per cent–to post a record for the Games held once every four years and celebrating the 60th birthday.
Constanza Jaramilo of Colombia became one of the new stars of Latin American when she rode the mare Wakana to a score of 72.158 per cent to squeeze into third place individually and break up a sweep of the top three placings by the U.S. Contanza bought the from Ulla Salzgeber during the summer, dropped it back to small tour and has been working with the German Olympian.
For Steffen Peters, 46, of San Diego, California, this was adding his first a Pan American Games medal to a collection that already includes an Olymic team medal, world championship team and individual medals and a World Cup title.
Weltino’s Magic, a nine-year-old Westfalen gelding (Weltino x Viva), The pair swept the small tour at the World Equestrian Festival small tour in Aachen, Germany, this year and finished at the top of the U.S. qualifying competition. Steffen has been ranked as high as No. 3 in the world with Rave, but this was his first Pan Ams.
“I was extremely happy, it was one of the best tests he’s done,” Steffen said of his ride.
“I have to say a big thank you first of all to my teammates because they gave me a very relaxed position to start in today. The past few years I have always had to carry a lot of weight on my shoulders as the very last rider but the team did an awesome job, every single horse, every single rider.”
The strength of the team was such that the gold medal was secured after the first three riders.
“Magic topped it today with really, really good pirouettes, very good trot work – even the trot extensions felt good which sometimes can be a little bit his weak point,” he said. “On top of that he walked really, really relaxed. I was so happy about it I actually got a little close to where I had to pick up the canter and I almost ran out of space because I was so excited about that super walk.
“There wasn’t a single flaw in the test and for that to happen when it matters the most that shows how reliable and how exciting Magic is so I’m super happy. I am very, very thankful to Bruce and Jen Hlavacek who let me ride such a wonderful horse.”
Heather Blitz, 42, of Wellington, Florida, said the warmup with her eight-year-old American-bred Danish Warmblood gelding (Don Schufro x Pari Lord) “was super, super relaxed.”
Since arriving in Mexico, Paragon has been a little excited but “today he had a super combination of obedience, which is pretty normal for him to be so obedient for me, and energy and relaxation. It was really the best I’ve ever had him and to say that in a championship like this – I’m really patting him and myself on the back too.
“So now its hindsight, I guess my leadup to this championship has been really good. I guessed well, because it’s always kind of a guess, how much to train and how to make them peak at the right moment. But I really feel like that this was the peak of his career.
“When I go in the ring, I always just completely erase my external environment. I know it exists but I don’t let it get in my head. It’s just the 20 by 60 arena like it always is and I tried to ride with precision, letter by letter and kept in mind all the things Anne (Gribbons) has been helping me with over the last week, her little tweaks. Her judges’ perspective is invaluable.”
This was the first U.S team experience for Marisa, 34, of Moorpark, California and the mother of a baby girl.
She said the 10-year-old Belgian Warmblood (Saros van ‘t Gestelhof x Elvira x Wendekreis) went great.
“He felt incredible. Just the feeling from up top was super. He was relaxed but alert in the arena but he was listening to me which is the best you could hope for.
“It was amazing to ride in there, I just thought, ‘We’re here, we did it.’ This is such a joyful occasion. I was just so happy. I just thought that we were going to go and do our job and he gave me a great feeling and a great confident feeling because he was relaxed and happy.”
Marisa has ridden Big Tyme since he was four years old, including at the World Breedinh Championships in Verden, Germany.
“I thought my ride was pretty flawless there was one little bobble coming in to the pirouette he almost collected too much but I caught him really quick and I think we got it back on track as quick as we could. Everything else I thought was really super. I couldn’t be happier and I couldn’t ask for more.”
The score of 69.526 per cent for Cesar Parra, 48, of Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, and Grandioso, 10, a Westfalen gelding (Grosso Z x Hauptstutbuch Popocatepal), was the lowest for the U.S. and thus was dropped. Cesar became an American citizen last year. He competed in two Pan Am Games for his native Colombia, winning a team silvr medal, as well as the Olympics, WEG and World Cup Final.
Complete scores:
| E |  CLARKE Stephen |
| H |  WHITHAM Cara |
| C |  FORE Lilo |
| M |  SALEH Raphael |
| B |  ARMANDO Gabriel |
| Rk | Horse no. | Rider | Horse | Percentages & (Rank) | %Score | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E | (Rk) | H | (Rk) | C | (Rk) | M | (Rk) | B | (Rk) | ||||||
| 1 | 101 | T | PETERS Steffen | WELTINO’S MAGIC | 78.158 | (1) | 78.816 | (1) | 85.132 | (1) | 80.263 | (1) | 78.290 | (1) | 80.132 |
| 2 | 102 | T | BLITZ Heather Anderson | PARAGON | 76.579 | (2) | 74.737 | (2) | 74.869 | (2) | 73.421 | (2) | 75.921 | (2) | 75.105 |
| 3 | 60 | T |  JARAMILLO Constanza | WAKANA | 69.869 | (11) | 71.842 | (4) | 73.290 | (4) | 71.974 | (5) | 73.816 | (3) | 72.158 |
| 4 | 103 | T | FESTERLING Marisa | BIG TYME | 71.316 | (8) | 72.237 | (3) | 74.079 | (3) | 73.290 | (3) | 69.211 | (10) | 72.026 |
| 5 | 40 | T | DVORAK Thomas | VIVA’S SALIERI W | 72.632 | (5) | 71.447 | (5) | 70.395 | (8) | 70.526 | (7) | 73.553 | (4) | 71.711 |
| 6 | 80 | T |  LOSOS DE MUÑIZ Ivonne | DONDOLO MARISMAS | 73.290 | (3) | 69.079 | (7) | 70.000 | (11) | 72.763 | (4) | 71.711 | (5) | 71.369 |
| 7 | 42 | T | IRWIN Tina | WINSTON | 70.263 | (9) | 70.526 | (6) | 70.526 | (7) | 70.658 | (6) | 71.711 | (5) | 70.737 |
| 8 | 300 | T |  PUJALS Bernadette | IUSA ROLEX | 73.026 | (4) | 67.763 | (12) | 70.790 | (6) | 68.947 | (10) | 71.316 | (7) | 70.369 |
| 9 | 62 | T | BERNAL Marco | FAREWELL | 71.447 | (6) | 68.026 | (10) | 70.000 | (11) | 70.395 | (8) | 71.316 | (7) | 70.237 |
| 10 | 100 | T | PARRA Cesar Alberto | GRANDIOSO | 71.447 | (6) | 68.290 | (9) | 69.474 | (13) | 69.869 | (9) | 68.553 | (11) | 69.526 |
| 11 | 41 | T | KROETCH Crystal | LYMRIX | 70.000 | (10) | 68.421 | (8) | 71.316 | (5) | 67.895 | (14) | 66.316 | (21) | 68.790 |
| 12 | 31 | T |  PEREIRA JUNIOR Mauro | TULUM COMANDO SN | 66.842 | (18) | 67.369 | (14) | 70.263 | (10) | 68.290 | (12) | 70.921 | (9) | 68.737 |
| 13 | 32 | T | ALMEIDA Luiza | PASTOR | 68.421 | (13) | 68.026 | (10) | 70.395 | (8) | 68.684 | (11) | 65.658 | (22) | 68.237 |
| 14 | 303 | T | ZAYRIK Omar | LORD | 67.105 | (17) | 67.500 | (13) | 69.079 | (15) | 68.026 | (13) | 67.369 | (15) | 67.816 |
| 15 | 50 | T |  VARGAS Mario Roberto | TEJAS VERDES TYLOV | 68.553 | (12) | 65.263 | (22) | 66.711 | (24) | 67.763 | (15) | 68.290 | (13) | 67.316 |
| 16 | 82 | T | UEMURA Samira | ROYAL AFFAIR | 68.158 | (14) | 66.447 | (16) | 68.158 | (16) | 67.369 | (16) | 65.263 | (25) | 67.079 |
| 17 | 33 | T | CLEMENTINO Rogerio | SARGENTO DO TOP | 66.316 | (21) | 65.790 | (18) | 67.369 | (19) | 67.105 | (17) | 68.421 | (12) | 67.000 |
| 17 | 302 | T | RIVERA Antonio | NAVAL | 67.895 | (16) | 65.000 | (23) | 67.237 | (20) | 66.711 | (18) | 68.158 | (14) | 67.000 |
| 19 | 400 | T |  DENIZARD Luis | NALANDO | 68.026 | (15) | 66.447 | (16) | 66.711 | (24) | 66.316 | (21) | 66.711 | (18) | 66.842 |
| 20 | 501 | T |  GOMEZ Alejandro | REVENGE | 66.842 | (18) | 66.579 | (15) | 66.447 | (28) | 66.447 | (20) | 66.842 | (16) | 66.632 |
| 21 | 63 | T | GARCIA Maria Ines | BECKAM | 66.447 | (20) | 65.658 | (19) | 66.974 | (22) | 66.711 | (18) | 66.447 | (20) | 66.447 |
| 22 | 202 | T |  DAUBER Christa | SERAFINO | 65.658 | (23) | 65.000 | (23) | 67.105 | (21) | 66.316 | (21) | 65.395 | (24) | 65.895 |
| 23 | 503 | T | TORBAY Beatriz | DON ROYAL | 64.869 | (27) | 64.869 | (25) | 67.895 | (17) | 63.947 | (24) | 66.579 | (19) | 65.632 |
| 24 | 61 | T | SANCHEZ Juan Mauricio | FIRST FISHERMAN | 65.526 | (24) | 63.026 | (31) | 66.711 | (24) | 65.395 | (23) | 66.842 | (16) | 65.500 |
| 25 | 43 | T | BYNG-MORRIS Roberta | REIKI THYNE | 65.000 | (26) | 64.474 | (26) | 69.211 | (14) | 63.947 | (24) | 63.290 | (31) | 65.184 |
| 26 | 71 | T |  EGERSTROM Anne | AMORINO | 64.211 | (29) | 65.395 | (21) | 66.842 | (23) | 63.947 | (24) | 63.553 | (29) | 64.790 |
| 27 | 301 | T | PADILLLA Jose Luis | DONNERSBERG | 61.316 | (38) | 65.658 | (19) | 67.632 | (18) | 63.421 | (27) | 63.421 | (30) | 64.290 |
| 28 | 203 | T | MORTIMER Esther Karen | VIVA´S VEROVERAAR | 63.684 | (30) | 64.342 | (27) | 66.711 | (24) | 62.500 | (31) | 63.158 | (32) | 64.079 |
| 29 | 70 | T | LUTTMANN Gretchen | DUDROVNIK | 65.526 | (24) | 63.290 | (29) | 64.737 | (31) | 62.105 | (33) | 63.947 | (27) | 63.921 |
| 30 | 30 | T | SILVA Leandro | VDL LÁCTEUR | 63.290 | (32) | 61.842 | (33) | 65.263 | (29) | 63.421 | (27) | 65.658 | (22) | 63.895 |
| 31 | 91 | T |  ESPINOZA Carolina | AMADEO | 66.053 | (22) | 64.079 | (28) | 63.553 | (32) | 61.316 | (34) | 64.342 | (26) | 63.869 |
| 32 | 81 | T | FERNANDEZ DIAZ George | BRAVO 19 | 64.342 | (28) | 63.158 | (30) | 65.263 | (29) | 63.158 | (29) | 60.658 | (39) | 63.316 |
| 33 | 201 | T | ROESCH Silvia | CARACOL XXIV | 63.421 | (31) | 62.369 | (32) | 62.763 | (35) | 62.895 | (30) | 60.790 | (38) | 62.447 |
| 34 | 28 |  ATALA Karen | WEISSENFELS | 61.053 | (39) | 60.921 | (35) | 63.421 | (33) | 60.526 | (37) | 60.263 | (40) | 61.237 | |
| 35 | 502 | T | MOLEIRO Irina | SAMBUCA | 60.790 | (40) | 59.737 | (39) | 62.763 | (35) | 60.658 | (36) | 62.105 | (34) | 61.211 |
| 36 | 52 | T | PIRAINO Max | JAGUAR | 62.369 | (34) | 60.263 | (37) | 62.763 | (35) | 60.263 | (39) | 60.132 | (41) | 61.158 |
| 37 | 73 | T | HERRERA ARAUZ Gloriana | RHAPSODY | 60.526 | (41) | 58.816 | (41) | 61.842 | (38) | 60.526 | (37) | 63.816 | (28) | 61.105 |
| 38 | 21 |  MCTAGGART Jessica Mary | RAY OF LIGHT | 62.105 | (36) | 57.632 | (42) | 61.579 | (40) | 62.237 | (32) | 61.053 | (36) | 60.921 | |
| 39 | 53 | T | CODDOU Oscar Hernan | TAMBO MERLIN | 62.105 | (36) | 60.658 | (36) | 61.316 | (41) | 58.290 | (44) | 61.711 | (35) | 60.816 |
| 40 | 90 | T | MONTALVO Maria Elvira | NAVARGO | 58.158 | (43) | 61.711 | (34) | 63.158 | (34) | 59.474 | (40) | 61.053 | (36) | 60.711 |
| 41 | 51 | T | YARUR Virginia | EL DORADO | 62.500 | (33) | 60.132 | (38) | 59.605 | (46) | 61.053 | (35) | 60.000 | (42) | 60.658 |
| 42 | 402 | T | LANGE Ursula | TOFTEGARDENS LOBB | 57.632 | (46) | 55.526 | (46) | 61.316 | (41) | 59.342 | (41) | 62.895 | (33) | 59.342 |
| 43 | 72 | T | BATALLA NAVARRO Michelle | FERRO | 57.369 | (47) | 59.079 | (40) | 61.711 | (39) | 58.026 | (46) | 59.342 | (45) | 59.105 |
| 44 | 500 | T | AROCHA Maria | ARISTOCRATA | 57.763 | (44) | 56.711 | (44) | 59.869 | (45) | 58.553 | (43) | 59.869 | (43) | 58.553 |
| 45 | 92 | T | MENDOZA Julio Cesar | IVAN | 58.158 | (42) | 55.263 | (47) | 60.526 | (43) | 58.947 | (42) | 59.605 | (44) | 58.500 |
| 46 | 401 | T | LIAUW Franchesca | GB MARKO | 62.369 | (34) | 57.369 | (43) | 56.447 | (47) | 56.974 | (47) | 59.079 | (46) | 58.447 |
| 47 | 200 | T | SCHORPP Vivian Andrea | MESSINA | 57.632 | (45) | 56.711 | (44) | 60.395 | (44) | 58.158 | (45) | 59.079 | (46) | 58.395 |
| 34 | T | ALMEIDA Pedro Manuel | VIHESTE | WD | |||||||||||
