Dressage World Cup

The lineup for the FEI World Cup Dressage Final has been completed, and no U.S. or Canadian representatives will attend.

A total of 15 riders from 10 nations will compete at the 25th anniversary final of the FEI World Cup™ Dressage series at 's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands later this month.
 
The 2008/2009 series champion, Steffen Peters of the USA, will not be defending his title but two spots still remain open for riders from the North American league which has just one last qualifier remaining.  
 

Steffen Peters and Ravel will not defend the Rolex FEI World Cup title they won this year in Las Vegas, Nev., according to Dressage-News.com.

After discussions with Akiko Yamazaki and Jerry Yang, owners of the 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding, Peters told Dressage-News he won’t attend the FEI World Cup Final in ’s-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands next year.

Instead, Peters will focus on the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Lexington, Ky., Sept. 25-Oct. 10.

• Steffen Peters has been riding in the same shadbelly for 26 years. “This coat has brought me a lot of luck,” he said. “I was 18 years old when I showed in it the first time. It’s been patched up a bunch of times, but it’s still the same coat.

He proves Ravel can compete and win against the best horses in the world.

Sometimes it’s hard to remember dressage is a sport, and the results aren’t predetermined. We’ve grown bored as Anky van Grunsven and Isabell Werth have dominated every international championship in recent memory.

For many people, the most emotional moment of the Rolex FEI World Cup Dressage Final didn’t occur during the competition. When Debbie McDonald rode the legendary Brentina into the arena one last time, you could’ve heard a pin drop.

Drama and dressage may often go hand-in-hand, but this year’s Rolex FEI World Cup Dressage Final was unpredictable from the get-go. First, there was the judge who didn’t arrive. Dr. Valentino Truppa’s plane had to make an emergency landing in Ireland after the pilot had a heart attack.

Then poor Adelinde Cornelissen, the Netherlands’ heir apparent to van Grunsven, had to withdraw when Parzival injured himself in the warm-up.

The week before the Rolex FEI World Cup Finals in Las Vegas, Nev., the Fédération Equestre International announced the locations for the next four show jumping World Cup Finals, and Las Vegas wasn’t on the schedule.

Then the question was, why? The 2000, ’03, ’05, and ’07 World Cup Finals in Las Vegas had been big hits with spectators and riders. For the first two years, just the show jumping Final was held, but dressage joined the schedule in 2005 and ’07, and the crowds sold out the Thomas & Mack Arena.

Steffen Peters made history tonight. No one could have predicted he would beat out the world’s reigning dressage queens, Isabell Werth and Anky van Grunsven, to become the first U.S. rider to win the Rolex FEI World Cup Champion on U.S. soil.

Only Brentina and Debbie McDonald have matched his feat, winning the 2003 World Cup Final (Sweden). It’s fitting that just one day after U.S. darling Brentina retired, we have a new hero in Ravel.

Well, it’s Day 4 and I’ve not yet tripped on anything and fallen head over high heels with $8,000 worth of camera equipment (as I was certain I would have done many times over by now). Knock on wood! Actually there isn’t much wood to knock on here in the concrete-and-metal monstrosity that is the Thomas & Mack Center, but lucky for us, our hotel room at Hooters is almost entirely paneled in it.