Dressage-News

MUNICH, Germany, May 16, 2015–German Olympians Isabell Werth and Kristina Sprehe and Steffen Peters, the top American rider, on Saturday were awarded specially designed brow bands for membership in the 80 per cent Club.

The award to the three riders was made in the main dressage competition arena at the Pferd International show. The award was created by dressage-news.com to honor riders who achieve the 80 per cent mark at international Grand Prix.

Only 11 riders have achieved this in the history of the sport, beginning with Anky van Grunsven on Salinero in 2006.

Since then, four German riders, three from Great Britain, two others from the Netherlands and Steffen as the single American have become members of what is now known as the 80 per cent Club.

To mark the achievement, dressage-news.com and the Adequan Global Dressage Festival in Wellington, Florida commissioned Robin Brown of Sarasota, Florida to design and hand make the brow bands.

Isabell Werth, one of history’s greatest dressage riders and trainers who has been acclaimed with every possible honor—multiple Olympic, World Games and European Championship medals and World Cup titles, entered the 80 per cent club with Bella Rose in 2014.

Kristina Sprehe first scored 80 per cent on Desperados in 2012 and has posted 80 per cent results on the same horse twice so far this year.

Steffen Peters with Ravel set new standards for dressage in the Western Hemisphere and twice put scores of 80 per cent into the record books before the horse was retired after the 2012 Olympic Games.

Riders to have received the 80 per cent brow bands so far are Great Britain’s Charlotte Dujardin (Valegro), Laura Tomlinson (Mistral Hojris) and Carl Hester (Uthopia) and Holland’s Edward Gal who accomplshed the mark on two horses, Totilas and Glock’s Undercover.

Other members of the 80 per cent club are Adelinde Cornelissen (Jerich Parzival), Helen Langehanenberg (Damon Hill) and Matthias Alexander Rath (Totilas).