Peters And Floriano Pocket Grand Prix Victory

Steffen Peters always insists that if Floriano shows any sign of decline in his performance, then he will be retired.  But the 17-year-old gelding clearly isn’t ready to quit yet. 

The pair put in another patented Peters performance to win the Grand Prix for the U.S. League Final in Burbank, Calif., on March 31 with 73.41 percent.  Peters admitted he was a bit cautious in places, but overall was quite happy with his ride.

“Floriano is still going strong,” he said.  “I still had to hold him back in places, and he still really, really wants to do it.”  Peters was especially pleased with his canter pirouettes and piaffe on the spot.

Peters was quick to mention his disappointment that fellow competitor Guenter Seidel had to withdraw Aragon after he took a misstep in a warm-up ride.

“Aragon was looking really good in his last few shows,” said Peters.  “The competition wasn’t the same without Guenter.”

Leslie Morse took second place with her Swedish Warmblood stallion Tip Top 962 (68.45%).  “I was really happy with the canter pirouettes,” said Morse.  “I also liked his overall frame and balance.  The harmony is starting to come back.”

Morse said this was only her second show with Tip Top after a long rest following the World Equestrian Games (Germany) last August.  She showed Tip Top in a warm-up Grand Prix in the open show at Burbank to give them both a bit more time in the ring before the League Final. 

Their test showed many brilliant moments, but a momentary loss of concentration caused major mistakes in the one-tempi changes.

Courtney King was right behind Morse in the Grand Prix with Idocus (68.37%).  And Idocus, who’s led the victory round at his last few shows, didn’t take kindly to following the pack this time.  The 17-year-old Dutch Warmblood leaped up and down during the honor round.  “That he can still act like a 3-year-old makes me happy,” said King with a laugh.

She was happy with her test but disappointed in missing one change in the one-tempis.  “I was surprised,” said King.  “I don’t really know what happened.”

She also learned from the judges that Idocus had his mouth open during a good portion of her test, which caused her scores to drop.  “I’ll play around with the bridle tomorrow,” she said.

Michael Barisone grabbed fourth place with Neruda (67.79%) ahead of Arlene Page on Wild One (67.54%).

The placings from the Grand Prix only determine the order of go for the freestyle tomorrow.  They don’t have any bearing on the final result.   Gil Merrick, the U.S. Equestrian Federation Managing Director of Dressage, confirmed that the top three from the freestyle will go on to the Rolex FEI World Cup Final in Las Vegas, Nev., along with Catherine Haddad, who qualified in Europe.  Other competitors in the League Final may go to the invitational Grand Prix in Las Vegas.

In the small tour, King emerged the winner once again on Mythilus (73.00%).  She rode a solid test with clear transitions to finish ahead of Shannon Peters on Luxor (70.83%) and Adrienne Lyle on Wizard (69.08%).