Dressage-News

By KENNETH J. BRADDICK

WELLINGTON, Florida, Jan. 29, 2022–Susan Pape experienced her most successful time in her career so far with the British rider winning the Global Dressage Festival CDI4* Grand Prix Special on Harmony’s Eclectisch Saturday for double Big Tour victory, the fourth straight Small Tour win this year on Harmony’s Giulilanta and a national Prix St. Georges win on Harmony’s V-Plus.

Susan, in her seventh year on the Florida circuit competing horses for Harmony Amateur Sports Foundation of Kiowa, Colorado, rode the 13-year-old Eclectisch to a personal best score of 72.341% as she did in the Grand Prix Thursday. The pair’s previous best Special result was 71.724% at this same Equestrian Village show grounds a year ago in their second year at CDI Grand Prix.

On Harmony’s Giulilanta, an 11-year-old KWPN mare, Susan won the CDI1* Prix St. Georges on a score of 71.500% and the Intermediate 1 with 72.176%. The duo achieved the same results at Wellington two weeks earlier. On Harmony’s V-Plus, she won the national St. Georges with a score of 74.412%.

Sweden’s seven-time Olympian Tinne Vilhelmson Silfvén and Devanto, a 13-year-old Holsteiner gelding, placed second on 70.660% marking the first anniversary of starting Big Tour here.

Susan Dutta of Wellington and Figeac DC were third on 68.787%. Susan has developed Figeac since the Oldenburg gelding was four years old and now 13-year-old Oldenburg gelding.

Susan Pape, based in Germany, rode Eclectisch on Britain’s bronze medal team at last September’s Nations Cup at the World Equestrian Festival in Aachen, Germany.

She joked that The ride, she said, gave her a the temperature of 57F/13.8C during the Special Saturday compared with 83F/28.3 during the Grand Prix Thursday made no difference as the cooler weather made Eclectisch “feel quite at home.”

The ride, she said, gave her a “very, very good feeling, in front of me and focused.”

“This has been such an incredible weekend for me,” she said, “five starts and five wins. It’s quite amazing.”

Has she had such success before?

“Not that I can think of,” she laughed. “It’s been really, really wonderful. And being able to ride with people in the grand stand, that’s really nice.”

Susan plans to show Eclectisch in the CDI5* that will be staged at the jumping grounds at Palm Beach International Equestrian Center Feb. 23-25.

Results:

CDI4* Grand Prix Special