Dressage-News

By KENNETH J. BRADDICK

WELLINGTON, Florida, Apri 5–Steffen Peters rode Legolas to victory in the Global Dressage Festival Wellington CDI5* Grand Prix Friday n the first competition of an outdoor season that will take them to Germany to show off the successor to Ravel as America’s top horse. Florida-based Lars Petersen of Denmark rode Mariett to second place.

Unseasonably heavy rain did not appear to affect the competition in which 12 combinations started in the $120,000 CDI5* that Steffen and Legolas won with a score of 75.085 per cent.

Lars Petersen and Mariett was second on 73.787 per cent and Canada’s Ashey Holzer on Breaking Dawn, the horse she rode at last summer’s Olympic Games, was third on 73.362 per cent.

In the 15 months since Akiko Yamazaki brought Legolas, a Westfalen gelding (Laomedon x Furstin x Florestan II) now 11 years old, to the United States this was only the horse’s second competition outside California.

“I was very happy,” he said of the ride that was the first time Legolas had shown in the rain that put him a little on edge. “I’m still waiting for the day I can go in there and get a little bit on the throttle, but it’s not happening yet.

“I want nice rideability. I’m really happy with the feeling I’ve had a couple of times this year and will be thrilled if I can duplicate that in Europe.”

It was, he said, the second competition in a row where they had performed the one-tempi changes correctly. But he wants suppleness and relaxation to be the norm for the horse that was shown as a four and five-year old but then went to UllrichKasselmann of Performance Sales International who taught him the Grand Prix movements.

Steffen said that he was on a plane from his San Diego, California, base within 10 minutes after seeing a video of the horse.

“I think it could have helped had he seen a bit more in his earlier life,” said Steffen who will leave with Legolas for Horses & Dreams at Hagen, Germany after this competition in which the Grand Prix had prize money of $12,000 while the Freestyle Saturday night has a purse of $84,000.

Lars Petersen, an Olympic, world championships and World Cup rider for Denmark but who has spent most of his adult life in the United States, has enjoyed a string of successes this winter circuit in Florida with Mariett, a horse that was out of commission when he tore off a hoof but recovered enough to resume competition  year ago.

Now, he said, the improvements in their performances have firmed up plans to go to Europe to compete in the Danish championships and seek a place on the Danish team for the European Championships to be held in Herning, Denmark.

Ashley explained how she came to compete Breaking Dawn in this competition after their Olympic partnership when owner P.J. Rizvi was to take over the ride.

P.J., a lifelong friend, had .another horse that had been injured and not expected to recover but was rehabilitated to the point she could ride the horse again.

Ashley, “emotionally attached” to Breaking Dawn, plucked up enough courage to ask P.J. if she could compete the horse and the owner agreed.

“I’m very lucky,” Ashley said, “Every ride is a high.”

RESULTS