Steffen Peters Sweeps Grand Prix and Inter I Championship, Endreson Takes National Junior Title

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2011 U.S. Dressage Championships

Steffen Peters went six-for-six at the 2011 U.S. Dressage Championships at the USET Foundation Headquarters. First, he swept the Intermediaire I on Weltino's Magic and then dominated the Grand Prix National Dressage Championship on Ravel - scoring 77.660% in the Grand Prix, 80.083% in the Grand Prix Special, and 81.100% in the Freestyle to average 79.247% to win by more than six percentage points.

On a day when the nation remembered September 11, 2001, the national anthem played proudly in Gladstone, NJ.

Akiko Yamazaki and Four Winds Farm's 13-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding cruised to a title that they last won in 2008. Ravel was tired after putting in a tremendous effort in the Grand Prix Special on Friday but America's dressage superstar hung in there and, despite some mistakes, what he did well - he did very well.

"Interesting, obviously a little tough on the finish line," said Peters. "There was the one piaffe that didn't happen and that makes me not think about the other movements that were good... the changes and pirouettes were better than Aachen."

Ravel always tries, but Peters knew based on how well behaved his superstar was in the prize giving, that the horse is ready for a vacation. He has had a busy few years, competing and winning at the biggest shows across the globe.

"He gave everything he had in in the Grand Prix Special," said Peters. "This clearly shows us he needs a break which he will get next month."

Ravel's music is from the original score from "Avatar" but it is composed by the Slovakian orchestra specifically for him. Peters indicated that getting the music right was an arduous process but now the music and the choreography are set.

"I think we have the choreography down where everyone thinks it's difficult enough," said Peters.

This was Ravel's first trip to Gladstone to compete, and for Peters, coming to Gladstone is something that he never takes for granted.

Steffen Peters on Ravel "It's always special - this is where it all started," said Peters. "My first championship here was in 1992, I won first here in 1995, I have special memories here and it is always a step above other venues."

The 2010 National Dressage Champion had to settle for second in 2011, but Tina Konyot put in a convincing effort on her beloved 13-year-old Swedish Warmblood stallion Calecto V. Their freestyle, performed to K.T. Tunstall's "Black Horse and a Cherry Tree," is always a crowd favorite.

"My horse felt fabulous today," said Konyot. "I was very happy; it is a constant improvement... Overall I was very, very pleased with it... It's a fun freestyle."

She finished on a three-day percentage of 72.829% and her freestyle score of 77.600% was her third second-place score of the weekend.

She talked about the difficulty in some of the transitions: "It's not so easy for him in the extended canter to hit the piaffe to have a smooth piaffe, it's a combination of the collection that blends and molds into the piaffe."

Konyot celebrates her 50th birthday tomorrow.

Shawna Harding was third in the Grand Prix on Thursday, sixth in the Grand Prix Special with Come On III, but rebounded in the Freestyle to finish on a three-day percentage of 68.542%. She credits her trip to Europe last summer with helping improve Come On III at the highest level.

"I would like to really thank Carol Lavell and the Dressage Foundation for making the opportunity for me to go to Europe a possibility," said Harding. "I had a huge experience competing Come One and Rigo in Europe. "

At only 12, the Danish Warmblood gelding is maturing into a top horse for Harding.

"He is really coming onto his game," she said. "The piaffe is getting really good. It was really good in the ring today. My big horse is scared to death and has a huge heart; I'm a proud of him."

Weltino's Magic Sweeps Intermediaire I Dressage Championships

Steffen Peters on Weltino's Magic The top three placings in the Intermediaire I National Dressage Championship never changed throughout the week at the 2011 Festival of Championship and Steffen Peters dominated with Weltino's Magic finishing on a three day average of 78.661%.

Riding for Jen Hlavacek, Peters owned the Dick and Jane Brown Arena this morning, and to music by Seven and Five, he showed off the 9-year-old Westphalian gelding's strengths and was rewarded with a freestyle score of 81.250%. This was the only score over 80 in this division all weekend.

"It is fairly new," said Peters about his Freestyle. "I've only done three freestyles with Magic. The music is by a group called Seven and Five, it's not too dramatic but it's not too much like elevator music. It was fun, there are some days where it is a little more work with Magic, but today it was fun."

Weltino's Magic was started by Peters' wife Shannon, who rode him to reserve championship honors in the 2008 Markel/USEF National Young Horse Championships as a 6-year-old. He is a strong horse and Peters knows that managing that strength is a major part of his job.

"He's a powerful horse and he can be once and a while a little strong," said Peters. "I have to be careful that I break things up a little bit (in the freestyle)... The changes have become straighter that is why I did them down the center line and the trot work is stronger than the canter work which is why I put it at the end."

Chasing Weltino's Magic all weekend is a giant chestnut gelding named Paragon. Owned, raised, and ridden by Heather Blitz (Wellington, FL), the elegant 8-year-old Danish Warmblood put on his third impressive performance and scored 77.300% for his freestyle to the music from Cirque de Soliel's Ka.

"It's from a performance called Ka - when I saw that performance I thought of my horse," said Blitz. "I think my horse evokes emotion in people. I thought I couldn't find a more perfect thing. It had to flow but not be too in your face. I think it makes a lot of teary eyes in the crowd and mine too, its really fun to ride."

Their Freestyle pushed their three-day average to 75.100%.

Rounding out the top three in the championship is local rider Cesar Parra who rode Michael & Sarah Davis' Grandioso to another consistent effort, scoring 72.700% in the freestyle which gave them a three day average of 73.368%.

The 10-year-old Westphalian wasn't at his very best today, but he was still impressive enough to finish fifth in the freestyle but third in the overall standings.

"It started to develop at the end of the winter," said Parra of his freestyle which combines Latin music, Santana and 80's disco. "I always want to do a freestyle that tells a story, this tells a story of my background... I had a tough time trying to put it all together today for sure... I was having a very hard time in the canter work... I think it's like anything some good days and some not very good days."

Three intense days of competition meant that some of these horses were not as strong on the third day as they were when the competition started, but the quality of the horses at this level in the U.S. is exceptional.

Marisa Festerling pats Big Tyme This was further demonstrated by the third place finish in the Freestyle by Marisa Festerling on Big Tyme. The 10-year-old Belgian Warmblood is also a graduate of the USEF Young Horse Championships and proved a model of consistency all week at his second Collecting Gaits Farm/ USEF Festival of Champions.

They scored 73.300% on Sunday with their Beatles themed ride to push their three day total to 71.258%.

"It's exciting of course," said Festerling. "It's been a long time, starting as a young horse. At the end of the freestyle it didn't seem real at first - I don't think it has sunk in yet. It's a culmination of all the years. We've been working a long, long time, so it's been great."

Festerling was referring of course, not only to the Championship, but also to the fact that the this year this competition served as the USEF Selection Trial for the U.S. Dressage Team for the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico in October. According to the USEF Selection Procedures, the top four ranked horse/rider combinations form these Trials are named to the U.S. Dressage Team.

As Technical Advisor Anne Gribbons said:

"This is a dream team, it just couldn't get better. We have never been better off looking at a big competition than we are right now. They are ready and they will do well."

A stalwart on the U.S. Team since 1996, Peters has won Olympic and World Championship medals, but this is his first Pan American Games appearance.

"My priority in 90% of this whole adventure is the team medal and that is what I am so excited about," said Peters.

For Blitz, this is her very first chance to represent her country and she is happy to share that opportunity with a horse that she has known since the day he was born.

"I'm very excited... I'm going down there with a very positive attitude but not over-confident."
Parra rode for his native Colombia at the Pan American Games in 2003, finishing fourth in Santo Domingo. A newly minted American citizen, Parra is looking forward to riding under a different flag.

"For me I think it's exciting," said Parra. "I feel very good... I ride a very strong test I believe I am a very strong competitor. When I took the pledge to represent America , I put pressure on myself to represent my country."

These four horses and the first two substitutes will return to New Jersey on October second to begin their Pre-Games training.

Endreson Sweeps Junior Dressage Championship

The results of the 2011 National Junior Dressage Championship remained unchanged as Pik L and Kya Endreson swept both the Team and Individual Tests to win Endreson's very first National Championship title.

Pik L is a very experienced 18-year-old Hanoverian stallion, who has been an incredible small-tour horse for nearly a decade. Endreson rode him to Team Gold at the 2011 Adequan FEI North American Junior/Young Rider Championships presented by Gotham North this summer, but took her first national title at Gladstone today.

"It was awesome," said the 16-year-old from the Outer Banks of North Carolina. "I feel so lucky to be able to ride such a great horse... he's just so awesome and he's helped me so much."

Pik L's son Pikko del Cerro HU contested the Intermediaire I National Dressage Championship this weekend, finishing eighth. Pik L's career includes two Pan American Games and scores of wins at the Intermediaire level. He is now happily showing Endreson the ropes and their two-day score of 70.612% rewarded the only combination to go over 70% in either test.

"I feel like it went pretty well," said Endreson. "He was a little strong at some points and he was a little tired from yesterday but he stayed with me."

Kya Endreson on Pik L Endreson is a full-time working student at Hassler Dressage.

Rachel Chowanec (Columbia, CT) rebounded from a less-than-ideal performance at the 2011 NAJYRC to claim Reserve National Championship honors five weeks later. She credits some back-to-basic lessons with Lendon Gray for restoring the confidence of both horse and rider. Chowanec rides Embrujado XI, a 13-year-old PRE gelding owned by Gray.

"I've spent the last week working with Lendon," said Chowanec. "We've been working to get everything as good as we possibly can. We just went back to basics to make sure he was confident in the work and so was I...I'm very happy with him."

The pair overcame some lack of collection coming into the ring, but Chowanec said that seeing the 50% on the board made her fight harder to get her score back to where it belonged. She scored 68.05% for a two-day combined score of 67.621%.

Rounding out the top three, Julia Burtt held her ground on Aaron VI to maintain her third-place position in her final competition of the season.

"I'm feeling pretty good," said Burtt. "We've had a pretty good season so far...to end the season with unbelievable atmosphere and such a cool show. It felt like it was a good ride."

Burtt lives 'around the corner' in Bedminster, NJ, and for the high school senior, riding at Gladstone was a dream fulfilled with her 15-year-old Hanoverian.

"We've been coming here honestly since I can remember," said Burtt. "It hasn't sunk in yet that I've actually shown here."

-- USEF Press release