Dressage-News

By KENNETH J. BRADDICK

TEMECULA, California, Jan. 3, 2018–Competition in a new lineup of four CDIs for the Golden State kicks off Thursday with focus on the new partnership of Steffen Peters and the Helen Langehanenberg-trained Suppenkasper but disappointment that stablemate Rosamunde is still recovering from an injury after an absence of eight months from the international show arena.

In events under the umbrella name of the Adequan West Coast Dressage Festival that is clearly aimed at creating an alternative to Wellington, Florida’s Adequan Global Dressage Festival, the organizers pulled out all the stops to create an event aimed at winning support of the talented pool of California competitors.

A Wednesday night Champagne party open to all competitors, arena set up with footing that won praise from riders and trainers and a welcoming and smoothly functioning group to take care of VIPs financially critical to support of the sport were among the hallmarks of the new circuit.

Three more CDIs staged over the next couple of months in nearby Del Mar will make up the new circuit. Although Temecula is not in the future of the series, the operating management at the Galway Downs equestrian center that has ridden a rocky financial road in recent years insured the facility would be world class for this dressage CDI.

Steffen, based in San Diego, California, will start Suppenkasper, a 10-year-old KWPN gelding, in the pair’s first CDI, a 3* to qualify for the Grand Prix Special.

He rode Suppenkasper several times before Four Winds Farm, owned by Akiko Yamazaki and Jerry Yang acquired the horse to insure Steffen would have an alternative to Rosamunde that they also own, as an United States team mount for the World Equestrian Games in Tryon, North Carolina this September and the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

Akiko and Jerry also own Legolas that Steffen rode to U.S. Olympic team bronze at the 2016 Olympics at the 2014 World Equestrian Games and gold at the 2015 Pan American Games as well as Ravel that became only the second World Cup champion and two-time individual bronze medalist at the 2010 World Games.

Legolas will be ridden here by Dawn White-O’Connor, a much-admired assistant trainer for Steffen, exactly a year after their first CDI competition. The pair are entered in the Grand Prix Freestyle that has only two starting combinations, a reflection of a criticism of the West Coast circuit that it includes quality but not quantity to give it credibility.

The absence of Rosamunde, 11 years old as of three days ago, was not a concern for Steffen who told dressage-news.com that he hoped to compete the mare at a CDI in the next month, a requirement to qualify for U.S. teams.

Rosamunde has been an American team prospect since first being competed by Steffen at small tour in March 2014, winning seven of eight starts in California and Europe at that level.

“Rosie” made her Grand Prix debut at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival in Wellington in February, 2015 and through the end of 2016 made 24 Big Tour starts on both sides of the Atlantic, posting 17 victories, four second places and three third places.

In 2017, Steffen and Rosamunde competed in Las Vegas, California and Florida in addition to the Omaha World Cup Final then opted to give the mare a break the competition for the remainder of the year while building strength.