By KENNETH J. BRADDICK
Indian Rock that rider Christian Simonson was seeking to claim a second straight U.S. Championship title has been pulled out of the deciding Grand Prix Freestyle at the World Equestrian Center in Ocala, Florida after the performance in the Special Thursday.
Christian and the 13-year-old stallion received an uncharacteristically low score of 68.532% and 6th place in the Special. Two days earlier, Christian and Rocky, as the horse is nicknamed, scored 75.196% to win the Grand Prix.
The duo were entered in the Freestyle scheduled for Saturday night and was widely thought to give the the 23-year-old rider and the horse their second straight title and coming a month after claiming reserve World Cup champion at the Final in Fort Worth, Texas.
Christian’s response to a question from DRESSAGE-NEWS.com about the withdrawal: “Unfortunately, it just wasn’t Rocky and I’s day and I certainly didn’t help him out with an error of course.
“Despite leading the championships, we’ve made the decision. to focus on Felix for tomorrow night’s Freestyle and give Rocky the night off given he’s done so many great freestyles already this season, including his stellar performance in Texas just as few weeks ago.”
There was no response from the U.S. Federation that is staging these championships.
A major factor in this championship described as an “observation” event has been to decide on a squad to go to Europe before selection of the four-member team for the World Championships in Aachen, Germany in mid-August.
The change in the horse’s schedule was not expected to impact decisions on the European swing that will focus on a CDIO4* Nations Cup in Hagen, Germany the first week of July. Selection of the World Championship team will follow shortly after.
The depth of a squad has already been diminished by the withdrawal from these championships of the 12-year-old mare Jane ridden by Marcus Orlob after a minor injury. The partnership led the standings of combinations that fulfilled the Grand Prix and Special requirements to qualify for the national championships.
