PrintChris Hickey warned competitors yesterday that the gloves were coming off for the individual competition at the Pan American Games, and he delivered on his promise. He and Regent topped the field of 25 competitors from 13 countries who traveled to Rio de Janeiro from across the Americas for a chance to take home the individual dressage gold medal.
Hickey performed his second great test of the Games today, having earned the second highest score of the team competition yesterday. “Today I felt a little bit more secure in the collection--therefore he was little bit more balanced and had a little more self-carriage,” said Hickey. “So I was able to ride boldly, but he was also able to stay a little more underneath himself today, which allowed me to be a little bit more expressive in the extensions.”
The improvement was evident in Regent´s floating extended trot and his flawless transitions. The judges rewarded the pair´s consistent ride with the highest score of the day (69.35%).
Standing in second after today's competition was Yvonne Losos de Muñiz aboard Bernstein Las Marismas. Berstein and Losos de Muñiz performed a fluid, seamless test, with flowing canter work and expressive canter pirouettes. She finished the day with a score of 69.30 percent. Losos de Muñiz is the sole dressage competitor from the Dominican Republic. She is looking for her second Pan American medal, having won individual bronze at the 2003 Pan American Games.
When U.S. rider Lauren Sammis entered the ring aboard Sagacious, conversation stopped at the National Equestrian Center as all eyes turned to watch the high scorer from the team competition perform. Even the staff manning the food service in the VIP area stopped serving as the elegant pair entered the ring. Most of their test was beautiful, with flowing canter half-passes and an extended trot with suspension to spare. But unfortunately the pair had a few mistakes that cost them precious points in a close competition. They only executed five of the required seven two-tempi changes and suffered a small bobble in the extended canter-collected canter transition.
“Sagacious was pretty fresh today,” said Sammis. “You never quite know when you get on exactly how long the warm-up should be, if you need 40 minutes or half an hour before you get on, and you don’t really know that until it’s too late. He’s getting fresher as the time goes on instead of more tired, the horse hasn’t had a day off since we’ve been here.”
These few errors dropped the score down to a 68.54 percent, good enough for third place halfway through the individual competition.
The final U.S. rider, Katherine Poulin-Neff, battled nerves during her Prix St. Georges test yesterday, but today she marched into the ring appearing cool and collected. Unfortunately, her mount Brilliant Too didn't feel quite as relaxed.
