Wellington, FL (March 15, 2011) – United States Dressage rider Steffen Peters turned in the ride of his life aboard his equine partner, Ravel, in front of a sold-out crowd at the World Dressage Masters Palm Beach CDI5* at the Jim Brandon Equestrian Center in Wellington. In addition to earning a “personal best” score on Ravel, Peters also rode away as the winner of the Premier Equestrian Sportsmanship Award.

Heidi Zorn, President of Premier Equestrian, attended the World Dressage Masters and said Peters and Ravel’s Grand Prix was breathtaking. “Steffen is our top American Dressage rider and he really proved why he is during the Masters,” Zorn said. “Ravel is a truly talented horse and the pair rode to their trademark Coldplay and Rolling Stones music during the freestyle.  It is a ride I will remember forever.”

Zorn said she was thrilled to award the Premier Equestrian Sportsmanship Award to Peters. “Steffen was extremely gracious to his fans, and his benevolence towards perfect strangers convinced me that good sportsmanship includes being courteous with other competitors as well as the public. This super star proved his greatness with his chivalrous disposition towards devoted fans. Steffen exemplifies a good sport when he is showing and I am so proud of what he just did for American dressage,” she said, adding that Premier was also responsible for adding the GGT-Footing to the arenas prior to the Masters. “Steffen gave our arena footing rave reviews and said he believes the footing helped Ravel’s overall performance. That is an amazing testimonial for our dressage arena footing and Premier thanks Steffen for his kind words.”

Steffen, a double Individual Bronze medalist from the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, praised the equine footing as well as Ravel, a 13-year-old KWPN gelding owned by Akiko Yamazaki. “I’m appreciative of what a great horse I have,” Peters said. “It was great show and a fantastic atmosphere. The indoor arena footing was fantastic.  Ravel has never been better and that says a lot about the footing and the facility. I also set a record score for myself in the Grand Prix and it really was a fantastic weekend.”

Sponsored by Premier Equestrian, a leading supplier of dressage arenas, horse jumps, arena footing, stable accessories and producers of Zettl’s “Matter of Trust” DVD series, the Premier Sportsmanship Award is awarded to a rider who displays a high level of sportsmanship during a show. As the Sportsmanship Award winner, Peters rode away with an ALS-216 Comtek Wireless System.

The Comtek Wireless System is a one-way communication system offering perfect speech clarity over distances as far as 300 feet. It overcomes the hearing challenge of distance between instructor and student. Its rugged construction ensures durability in even the most demanding environments. The Comtek System has 60 channels. Multiple channel operation has five High Fidelity frequencies together without interference.

“It was wonderful to stand there with Steffen after the Masters and listen to him talk about his love for Ravel and dressage. I am in awe when I think about what a mark Steffen has made on the sport of dressage in America,” Zorn said. “He not only won two bronze medals at WEG, but he also placed fourth individually at the 2008 Olympic Games, won the FEI World Cup and won at Aachen in 2009.”

Premier Equestrian is considered America’s leading manufacturer of dressage arenas. Chosen as an official supplier to the World Equestrian Games, Premier Equestrian supplied the dressage arenas as well as the dressage warm-up arena, driving arena, driving warm-up arena and the flower boxes and dressage letters at the Games. “Our products are world-class and they were very well received by the international dressage community at the World Equestrian Games,” Zorn said.

For more information on all Premier Equestrian products, including footing, dressage arenas, jumps and stable accessories, visit their website at www.PremierEquestrian.com or call 800-611-6109.