Dressage-News

By KENNETH J. BRADDICK

TEMECULA, California, Jan. 4, 2017–Suppenkasper was ridden by Steffen Peters to victory in the pair’s American CDI debut at the inaugural West Coast Dressage Festival CDI3* Grand Prix Thursday.

Despite some expensive mistakes that Steffen attributed to the KWPN gelding trying too hard, the pair scored 71.152 per cent in the first dressage show in the world for 2018.

Charlotte Jorst of Reno, Nevada on Kastel’s Nintendo was second on 68.609 per cent and Mette Rosencrantz of Pacific Palisades, California on Marron third on 66.109 per cent.

“At my age and at this stage in my career I don’t think I’ll ever get another horse like this again,” said the 53-year-old rider of San Diego, California who has competed in four Olympics for the United States.

Although suffering from influenza that has spread widely throughout Southern California, the 10-year-old with the barn name “Mopsie,” a German expression applied to overweight creatures, “made me feel a whole lot better today.

“For the first time it was a good go. Certainly not the score I hoped for but a good start.”

Suppenkasper, who turned 10 years old officially four days ago was bought from German Olympian Helen Langehanenberg last July by Four Winds Farm of Akiko Yamazaki and Jerry Yang, the owner of Ravel and Legolas that Steffen competed at the Olympics.

“The first big one,” Steffen said after his ride as the sun set. “I’m certainly happy with him. You don;t know in an atmosphere like this what his energy level will be. But he stayed quite nice.”

His analysis of the ride:

The right half pass was a little better than the last national show. The left half pass got a bit hurried. The piaffe and passage felt quite good. The extended walk and collected walk were the high points, worth eights. “I don’t think there are too many horses in the world with a walk like Mopsie.”

The mistake at the end of the line of two-tempi changes, he said, was probably caused by him getting too excited too soon. The horse was a “bit nervous” in the zig zag and there was “definitely some tension in the half pass. Breaking into trot right before the one-tempis was on the spot where usually Suppenkasper needs to go to trot after canter pirouettes. Two beautiful pirouettes.

There are, he said, “not too many movements I have to say a prayer for. He wants to go. I have to tell him to do a little less. There are lots of movements where we have to tone things down.

“He’s an extremely generous horse with an incredible heart.

“I have to learn to ride him as well as Helen did.

“We’re on the right track. Thanks to Helen for doing an incredible job. I’ll always give her credit for bringing the horse to this level.

“You can ride him in a snaffle without spurs. He never thinks about quitting. He’s an over-achiever. It’s  just a real honor to ride this horse.”

–Photo Gallery to be posted later–

Three-time Olympian Günter Seidel debuted Crush On You in the national Grand Prix, scoring 65.435 per cent, to place second to Dawn White O’Connor on Bailirino on 65.978 per cent.

Günter competed the KWPN mare that he bought a year ago and is now 11 years old at CDI small tour last year.

The German-born rider, 57 years old who lives in Cardiff, California has also made a change in stabling, leaving Albert Court in Del Mar where he had been based for 20 years. He and Christine Traurig made the move following changes in the operation of the facility.

Results:

CDI3* Grand Prix