USA’s Steffen Peters Reported to Take Over Ride on Suppenkasper, 9-Year-Old Gelding Competed by German Olympian Helen Langehanenberg
7 years ago StraightArrow Comments Off on USA’s Steffen Peters Reported to Take Over Ride on Suppenkasper, 9-Year-Old Gelding Competed by German Olympian Helen Langehanenberg
CDI4*. © 2017 Karl-Heinz Frieler
AACHEN, Germany, July 24, 2017–Steffen Peters was reported Monday to become the new rider of Suppenkasper, a nine-year-old Dutch-bred gelding that German Olympian Helen Langehanenberg has been undefeated in four CDI Grand Prix starts this year.
The Dutch Internet site Horses.nl and Germany’s LL-Foto.de separately reported the change, but gave no attribution for the information. Neither site identified the owner.
Steffen, 52 years old and based in San Diego, California was not immediately available to confirm or deny the reports.
Suppenkasper (Spielberg x Krack C), a bay, was bred in the Netherlands by F.van de Poel, originally named Danny Boy and has been owned by Dr. David Lichtenberg, a veterinarian who is Helen’s husband.
European media have reported rumors for several months that Suppenkasper is for sale.
He made his Big Tour debut ridden by Helen in Compiègne, France in May, winning both the CDI3* Grand Prix with a score of 72.520 per cent and the Special on 74.294 per cent.
At the CDI4* in Cappeln, Germany 10 days ago, Helen and Suppenkasper won the Grand Prix on 70.580 per cent and the Grand Prix Freestyle with 75.975 per cent.
Steffen has been America’s top rider for much of the past two decades since competing on his first U.S. Olympic team with Udon in 1996, rode Ravel in the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Games and Legolas in the 2016 Rio Olympics, winning team bronze in 1996 and 2016. He has also won team bronze at the 2006 World Games, two individual bronze medals at the 2010 Lexington WEG and competed at the 2014 championships. In 2009, he became only the second American to win the World Cup title and is one of only two Americans to capture the prestigious Deutsche Bank Prize at Aachen in its 52-year history.
He has been the U.S. Grand Prix champion a record eight times.
Since 2006, his top horses have been owned by Akiko Yamazaki and her husband, Jerry Yang.
Legolas, the 2016 Olympic and 2014 World Games mount for Steffen, is now competed by his long-time assistant Dawn White-O’Connor whose last competition was at Cappeln.
Rosamunde, the Rhinelander mare now 10 years old that he began competing at CDI Grand Prix in early 2015 and was in this year’s World Cup Final in Omaha, is in a break from competition in preparation for the World Games in Tryon in 2018.
