Dressage-News

WELLINGTON, Florida, Feb. 24, 2019–U.S. Olympic rider Jan Ebeling debuted Ann Romney’s nine-year-old Bellena at international level to win the Adequan Global Dressage Festival CDI3* Intermediate 1 Freestyle Sunday to become a prospect for the American squad for the European summer circuit.

Jan, based in Moorpark, California but in his fourth winter competing in Wellington, scored 76.500 per cent on the Hanoverian mare that he has been riding for just over a year after Bellena (Belissimo x Welser) was bought by Ann.

Leif Aho of Wellington on Classy Sinclair placed second on 74.458 per cent with Canada’s Ariana Chia on Fiderflame third on 73.417 per cent.

Jan also competes Indeed V at Grand Prix and Sergio Leone at Small Tour, also owned by Ann Romney who was in the syndicate that owned his 2012 Olympic mount Rafalca, that became an international celebrity the same year as Mitt Romney, Ann’s husband, was the Republican candidate for the presidency of the United States. Ben Ebeling, Jan’s son, attends Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh and competes in dressage at Global and jumping at the companion Winter Equestrian Festival.

While the 60-year-old Jan did not rule out riding for the U.S. at the Pan American Games in Lima, Peru in July the main focus is on Europe to prepare horses for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

“We’ve been working piaffe and passage,” he said of Bellena that before this show had not competed Int.I at national or international level. “Right now we’re not focusing so much on one tempis, we’re focusing that she needs to get stronger in the canter. She’s got a big engine but she needs to buid up the muscle, and that’s really the focus, getting her stronger. She can do ones, and she’s done piaffe-passage, but it’s not for a test.”

Results: