California's Jan Ebeling and Rafalca displayed not only their difficult Grand Prix freestyle routine during the final day of the Festival of the Horse CDI-W in Burbank, CA, but also their readiness for the 2011 World Cup Dressage Final in Leipzig later this month. Earning a solid 73.025% and a ticket to the World Cup as one of two North American League representatives
, Ebeling and the 14-year-old Oldenburg mare (Argentinius x Ratine by Rubinstein I, owned by Amy Ebeling) seem very confident.
"She's gotten so much stronger and better this year, and she's taken it to a whole new level," said Ebeling. "She felt awesome! She's finally come into her own now."
Debuting their Intermediaire I freestyle, Steffen Peters completed his sweep of the small tour with Jen Hlavacek's Weltino's Magic (by Weltino out of Diva by Diamond Boy) by scoring a huge score of 79.417%.
"The first word that comes to mind is 'fun'," said Peters. " I rode the freestyle a bit conservatively today since it was the first time, but he was right on."
Meanwhile, Jamie Pestana rode her own Hanoverian gelding Winzalot (by Wokenstein II x Frazisco) to a freestyle victory with a score of 67.250% to close out the Young Rider division.
Related Links
Peters Continues String of Success at 2011 CDI-W Festival of the Horse
Ebeling and Rafalca Win Grand Prix at 2011 CDI-W Burbank
Scores 2011 CDI-W Burbank