USA Overcomes Issues in World Championship Team Competition to Earn 2024 Paris Olympic Start
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By KENNETH J. BRADDICK
HERNING, Denmark, Aug. 9, 2022–The United States dressage team overcame some unexpected issues Sunday to qualify at the world championships a team start at the Olympics in Paris in 2024.
Steffen Peters on Suppenkasper and Adrienne Lyle on Salvino both scored high enough for the U.S. to place sixth and join five other nations–Denmark, Great Britain, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands–to cement a place at Paris.
Katie Duerrhammer and Quartett, based in the Denver area, in their first international championship scored 70.839%.
Then came the turn of Ashley Holzer, based in Wellington, Florida, and the 14-year-old KWPN mare Valentine for the rider’s first international team championship since becoming an American five years ago. As a Canadian before switching citizenship, she competed at four Olympics including a team bronze medal performance in 1988.
Valentine decided he didn’t want to play in the 10,000-seat soccer stadium, too big and too intimidating. Please, can we go back to the stables?
With a stadium full of spectators holding their breaths, Ashley was able to calm Valentine enough in a very professional way through several what can politely be called efforts to stay where they were in the 60 by 20 meter dressage arena in the middle of the stadium.
So at the end of the first of two days of the Grand Prix, the U.S. hopes of qualifying a team for Paris was not looking assured as it was before the ride. The results of both partnerships put the U.S. in eighth place.
“She’s never seen a venue like this, came in nervous,” Ashley explained. “Settled in to it. And then it totally caught me off guard. She’s never done any antics like this. As disappointed as I am, horses are not machines. She got scared and confused.”
Steffen Peters whose most recent championships on the 14-year-old Suppenkasper, came into these championships with team silver medals at the 2016 World Equestrian Games in Tryon and then at the Tokyo Olympics a year ago.
Talking of Mopsie, Suppenkasper’s nickname, the San Diego, California-based rider said: “Mopsie was very excited today in extended canter, the arena was getting really small. He lowered his neck, and I couldn’t get him up as much as I wanted to. Well, it’s pretty amazing when you have so much power underneath you. Pressure? You get there, you’ll always be nervous, I’ve learned to accept it.”
The pair scored 74.767% to bring the team total to 220.000 and the critical sixth place.
Adrienne Lyle and Salvino, a 15-year-old Hanoverian stallion that was on the same two silver medal teams, was into the arena about four hours later and with it pressure that had built to the last of 93 competitors.
“Our main goal was to qualify our country for the Olympics…” Adrienne said.
“”We did that, so I am super excited. My horse got his leg tangled in the zig-zags, so I just walked and the carried on; that stuff happens, they are horses.”
