Dressage Horse Of The Year: Ravel

Ravel ended the year the way he began it—by sweeping his Grand Prix classes at a CDI. In fact, he and Steffen Peters won every Grand Prix class they entered in 2008 except for their three tests at the Olympic Games, where they finished just out of the individual medals in fourth place by .3 points.

Not bad for a 10-year-old who spent most of the previous year recovering from an injury.

In 2006, Akiko Yamazaki sent Peters on a mission to buy his next Olympic mount. He found Ravel in the Netherlands in Edward Gal’s stable and thought he showed great potential, but everyone knew it was uncertain whether the young Dutch Warmblood (Contango—Hautain) would be ready for the international stage two years later.

Ravel’s introduction to the United States got off to a rocky start. He came over as a stallion but had to be gelded in quarantine. A positive test result from one of his live cover breedings would’ve meant eight more weeks in quarantine, and Peters feared for Ravel’s safety since he was losing weight and growing more aggressive.

Ravel finally arrived at Peters’ farm in November of 2006, but five months later he injured a front leg, an injury one veterinarian called “career-ending,” and Peters gave him eight months off.

That break meant that if Ravel was even going to qualify for the Olympic selection trials, he’d need to come out swinging. Their very first show together was the Grand Prix CDI at the Mid Winter Dressage Fair in Burbank, Calif., at the beginning of March. Ravel won both his classes and never looked back.