loriano produced one of his best tests to win the High Performance Grand Prix at the Del Mar CDI***, April 27-30 in Del Mar, Calif., for Steffen Peters. The pair, from Solana Beach, Calif., won with a score of 72.20 percent.

“It is amazing at his age that he still seems to be getting better,” said Peters of the 16-year-old Westphalian he has ridden since January of 2003. “Sometimes when they turn 16, you have some energy issues, but he is very happy to do it. I had a very energetic horse. Because of that, the passage was quite good. We also had very good piaffe, which can be, sometimes, his weakest part in the test. But he was more active and received 7s and 8s for his piaffe. So I was very proud of him.”

Floriano, owned by Laurelyn Browning, scores especially well on the coefficients–the trot half passes, the canter half passes, canter pirouettes, and the one tempis as well as the extended walk. “Those always add up to more points during the test,” said Peters.

Peters hopes to keep Floriano happy and sound to earn a spot on the team for the World Equestrian Games in Aachen, Germany, this summer.

Peters and Floriano were second in the Grand Prix freestyle (74.32%), just behind Guenter Seidel of Cardiff-by-the-Sea, Calif., on Dick and Jane Brown’s Aragon (74.45%).

Guenter’s wife, Shannon Peters, also earned her share of blue ribbons at the Prix St. Georges and Intermediaire I levels, aboard Luxor. She won both classes with scores of 72.75 percent and 71.50 percent, respectively. Shannon has been riding the 13-year-old Dutch Warmblood by Olympic Ferro, owned by Anne Tessa-Hewitt, for 21�2 years.

“I just wanted to push for a good score. I rode hard and asked for a lot of energy,” said Shannon. “We had two little mistakes, but overall it was a good ride all the way around. The half passes, the four tempis and the pirouettes were all really good.”

For a sensitive horse like Luxor, the Del Mar Arena can be challenging. “He did a really good job,” said judge Linda Zang. “Luxor was very powerful and very light, and that’s the way it should be.”

Shannon has been working on better collection in the trot with Luxor since placing second in the Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF National Intermediaire I Dressage Championships at Gladstone (N.J.) last year. “I am pleased that we are starting to be able to produce it in the show ring,” she said. “I was happy with him this weekend that he was able to stay fairly relaxed and allow me to ride for a bit more expression.”

Shannon’s goal is to try out for the Pan American Games next year and then head toward Grand Prix.

Perfect Opportunity
Ashley Schempp, of Pleasanton, Calif., started and ended the Young Rider competition with wins in both the Young Rider Team test (63.33%) and the Young Rider freestyle (68.25%) on her 12-year-old, Dutch Warmblood, Mowgli.

Schempp has owned Mowgli for three years. “I never thought about competing in the Young Rider competitions. But when a girl in my barn, who owned him at the time, went off to college, the opportunity came up, and we jumped on it,” stated Schempp, who moved to the San Diego area last August to train with Steffen Peters.

“The Team test was good. He was actually starting to listen to my aids and starting to come over his back, which sometimes he doesn’t do so much. That was definitely a major plus because when his back is really good, the movements come through,” said Schempp.

Schempp competed on the Region 7 team last year at the North American Young Riders Championships, and her goal is to try to make the team again this year. She attends a community college as a freshman when not riding.

Amanda Harlan, of Oakville, Calif., won the Young Rider Prix St. Georges (70.12%) riding her own Liberte, a 12-year-old, Dutch Warmblood, formerly shown by Jan Ebeling. “The ride felt really good. Liberte was really through and really submissive. My canter and trot half passes were really good. My extensions were through and forward,” said Harlan. “I’m really still getting to know him. We’re becoming a really good team.”

Harlan, a sophomore in high school, lives in northern California, while the horse stays in training with Ebeling in southern California during the show season. She travels at least every other weekend and spends all of her vacations with him, and the Ebelings are like a second family to her. After being the 2004 alternate, Harlan’s goal is to try and make the NAYRC team this year.

Reserve placings in both the Young Rider Team and Prix St. Georges went to Adrienne Lyle of Whidbey Island, Wash., on Linda Edward’s, Jonkara.

Lyle has been riding the horse since last fall when the horse went to Debbie McDonald for training. A member of the 2004 Region 6 Young Rider team, Lyle contacted McDonald through e-mail about a year ago while she was attending Washington State University. After bugging McDonald and finally getting a few lessons, her husband Bob McDonald offered Lyle a working student position during the summer break, which Lyle eagerly accepted. At the end of summer, the McDonalds asked her if she would like a job at River Grove. After one more semester in the pre-vet program, she jumped at the opportunity.

“They have been incredible, promoting me and helping with my riding skills. The Thomas’ have been so generous to allow me to ride all these horses and have these opport-unities that I never would have been able to do otherwise,” she said.

One of those horses is Dolce, a 4-year-old, Hanoverian mare the Thomas’ purchased last fall from a breeder in Germany. They earned wins at first level with scores ranging from 75.92 percent to 82.59 percent.

“She has the most incredible mind of any 3- or 4-year-old that I have ever worked with,” said Lyle. “She is unfazed by everything. She’s so happy and easy going. She’s my least stressful horse of the day. I can get on her 15 minutes before the test, and she’s loose and soft. We haven’t pushed her past what she wants to do. If we feel like she’s over worked, we’ll back off the work or scratch a ride. There’s no pressuring her.”

Lyle also won at second level on Widby, a 5-year-old, Hanoverian gelding that Bob McDonald picked out at the Hanoverian Verband Auction in Germany. “He’s a little hotter than Dolce. He’s ‘Mister Personality,’ ” said Lyle, who scored a 70.00 percent with him in his first test at second level.

“[He’s an] smart horse. He’s got the kind of mind where you have to keep him challenged. I can come out and teach him leg yield one day, and the next day he knows how to do it and wants to do it,” she said. “He wants to learn more and more, so the more we can challenge him, the better he gets. He enjoys having his mind put to work.”

Found His Niche
Although the 9-year-old Oldenburg, Charly 285, started his dressage career a bit later in life, the horse made his presence known by winning the FEI Junior Team test (66.75%) with owner Christine Stephenson, of Mission Viejo, Calif.

“That’s the highest I have ever scored on that test,” Stephenson said. Charly was originally imported into this country from Germany when he was 7 years old to be a grand prix jumper, but he took a dislike to the water jumps.

Stephenson and her mother bought him through their trainer, Jan Curtis, last September.

“I thought he was a bit lazy, but overall it felt really good. The trot half passes were really good. His canter is getting more uphill and more balanced,” she said.

Stephenson’s goal is to compete in the USEF Junior Dressage Team Championship in Pebble Beach, Calif. “I would be very excited,” said Stephenson, who placed second in the FEI Junior Individual test (62.50%).

Ariel Stern, of Perris, Calif., edged out Stephenson for the win in the Individual test on her own Raffalo (62.75%). This is Stern’s first year trying out for the Junior Team, but she and the 13-year-old Westphalian have won many CDS Junior Championships and were the 2004 USDF National Open Second Level Champions. However, this was Stern’s first time riding the Junior FEI Individual test.

“I made a few mistakes and showed some weak spots, which mainly is needing bend in the half passes. These tests require a lot more focus and concentration on the rider’s part. You have to stay one step ahead of every movement. With every test, I want to get better and better,” stated Stern, who trains with Kim Monk. “There’s stiff competition in the Junior level. Every day a different horse can win depending on how the rider rides the test. The same riders switch places, but there are no hard feelings.”

Although Stern’s goal is to also make the FEI Junior Team Championship this year, she has just purchased a new horse with which she hopes to try out for Young Riders next year.