It was with a certain amount of trepidation that I approached the task of judging the World Equestrian Games Selection Trials at Gladstone, N.J., in mid-June. Since her triumph at Devon (Pa.) last September, we hadn’t seen Rocher in the competition ring. While in Germany, Kingston had suffered a relatively minor injury that kept him out of the trials, and Brentina wasn’t going to appear on the East Coast.

So the Grand Prix division was wearing thin, and a strong performance at the World Equestrian Games, necessary for us as a nation to qualify for the Olympics, looked at least uncertain. But, amazingly, every one of the Grand Prix horses decided to put their best foot forward, and we judges were most encouraged by their ability to live up to the occasion.

Let’s start with the winner of all three Grand Prix classes: Floriano, with Steffen Peters in the saddle. The chestnut gelding is no spring chicken at 16, but nobody has told him that, and he looks fresh and eager to work. As I’ve judged him over the past couple of years, the horse has improved, especially in the piaffe, which has gone from an earthbound shuffle to a respectable feature good enough for a 7. The passage has a lot of suspension for fairly consistent 8s, while the transitions flow easily from one to the other.

Through all the canter work, Steffen has the horse so well “contained” under his seat that the movements look easy, almost casual, without losing any of their expression or im-pact. It doesn’t hurt that Flo-riano’s walk is pure and elastic and that his extended walk has a resolute ground cover. In the Special, Steffen’s riding was truly excellent, so I gave him a 10.

Finishing in reserve position was Guenter Seidel, on Aragon. Guenter is another solid team rider, capable of guiding a horse to stardom, although this combination has had its potholes on the way. Aragon can be goofy, so neither the rider, nor the judges, can always anticipate what will happen next.

This weekend, though, Aragon was in a mood to let himself be organized, and, although he had an occasional blonde moment, the gray allowed Guenter to show him off to his advantage in the Special.

Sometimes the lay-up of a prime candidate allows the rider’s second horse to become noticed. This was the case of Tip Top, who has up until now played second fiddle to Kingston. But Leslie Morse, who rides both stallions, had to rely on her boy No. 2 for these trials, and he didn’t let her down.

With great flair, he trotted into the spotlight, displaying half-passes of incredible reach and expression and a canter that featured flying changes soaring three feet above ground. Leslie and Tip Top gave it their all in every test, culminating in a freestyle that was electrifying to behold.

And then there was Wild One, our representative at the FEI World Cup Finals in April and one of my favorites. The bay gelding and Arlene Page made a most favorable impression in Europe, and in spite of a serious illness when they returned, Wild One rose to the occasion at Gladstone. Perhaps he was still a little weak from his ordeal, causing some of the air to leak from his performance in the Special, where they slid down to fifth place. In the freestyle, he came back, though, and regained a third place with a lovely, clean go.

The horses in reserve position each looked really good too. The chestnut mare Arabella, ridden by Heather Bliss, is a fresh, new face we need to see more of, and Cooper, the 18-hander owned and ridden by Susanne Dansby-Phelps, is an awesome horse with international qualities.

To our communal delight, our team looked better and stronger after Gladstone. As it stands now, we have the top two, Floriano and Aragon, secured on the team for Aachen. Going over to Europe to vie for the two remaining spots are Brentina (and Debbie McDonald), Tip Top and Wild One. Joining the short list in Europe will be Catherine Haddad on Maximus, who has been showing in CDIs over there with good results. Our two reserves will be waiting in the wings at home.

This is a year with a lot of “ifs” for our team, which achieved the historic breakthrough of winning the silver medal four years ago. If Brentina travels to Aachen in top shape, if Aragon keeps his thinking cap on, if Tip Top likes the venue (he should, it’s outdoors), if whoever ends up on the team stays safe and sound, and so on. After the positive impression of Gladstone, what we need, as usual, is for the stars to line up and lead our way to a good showing and an Olympic ticket.

Clash Of The Titans
The Germans, as always, are looking tough, with Elvis VA leading the way. This is a lot of chestnut gelding, whom I first met up with when judging in Hagen (Germany) last summer. At that time, he won both his classes, although I wasn’t totally convinced because there was a lot of tension going on. It was a cold and rainy show, and the big red warmed up for hours on end. Still, he was a handful in the test, which was not without flaws.

A year can make a huge difference, as we all know, and I understand that now Elvis has transformed his excessive enthusiasm into useful engagement. He is, for sure, athletic as a cat, slinky like the Pink Panther, and there is no shortage of power. In charge of operations is Nadine Capellmann, who rode the similarly endowed Farbenfroh to the World Champion-ship gold medal four years ago.

Back on the German team is another “golden girl”: Isabell Werth. She has several horses going strong, including Satchmo, who has gathered some fantastic scores over the past season, and Warum Nicht FRH, who has been strong on the World Cup circuit.

Heike Kemmer on Bonaparte just starred at the German Dressage Championships in July, securing her spot on the German team. They won the Grand Prix Special and the Grand Prix freestyle (with an impressive 82.40%), and Heike earned the German Ladies Championship. Bonaparte, a beautiful chestnut, has all of the physical attributes of a dressage horse supreme, and Heike is a strong and experienced rider.

Klaus Husenbeth and Piccolino earned the fourth spot on the German team with consistent results at the German Championships. Husenbeth edged Hubertus Schmidt to earn the German Men’s Championship. Schmidt and Wansuela Suerte will be the reserve pair.

The Dutch are back in full force, with Anky van Grunsven on Keltec Salinero leading the troupe. The Olympic gold medalists have been completely unbeatable so far this season. And Edward Gal was named to the team with his Lingh, the stallion who stole our hearts at the Las Vegas World Cup Finals last year.

Imke Bartels-Schellekens secured her place on the Dutch team riding a mare named Sunrise, who has been in the family since she was 5, ridden alternately by Imke and by her mother, Tineke. Another new combination from the Netherlands looks promising for a strong Dutch performance–Laurens van Lieren on Hexagon’s Ollright.

As usual, the clash of the titans–Germany and the Netherlands–hasn’t occurred this year prior to the WEG, since the Dutch avoided sending their best horses to the “mini-WEG” at Aachen in May.

Watch The Swedes
To defend our position as third in the lineup, we’ll need to stay in front of three other teams that are beginning to gel. The riders in Sweden, Denmark and England haven’t been sleeping on the job, and each of their teams can boast a “kingpin” who can be expected to boost their scores.

Sweden’s Jan Brink has been a steady presence on the medal podiums lately, and he was the sensation at Aachen in 2005 when he and Björssels Briar won the Grand Prix Championship. Louise Nathhorst on Guiness (a very seasoned pair, particularly strong in the freestyle) and Per Sandgaard (who, to the delight of the Swedes, recently “defected” from Denmark with his horse Memphis) could certainly strengthen the Swedish team.

Their fourth member is Kristian von Krusenstierna, who surprised himself by suddenly riding in the World Cup Finals because another horse who had qualified was out of commission. Timing is everything in life, and now the 29-year-old and his horse Wilson are on the international map.

If Andreas Helgstrand could ride all three of his Grand Prix mounts on the team, Denmark wouldn’t need anybody else. But he can choose only one, and he’ll probably show up on Blue Hors Don Schufro, the son of Donnerhall, who is on top of the list of breeding stallions for dressage. But Blue Hors Cavan and Blue Hors Matine have both demonstrated fitness and ability to win lately, so Helgstrand is well set for mounts.

Lone Jorgensen joins Helsgrand on the Danish team with her now more seasoned Hardthof’s Ludewig G, a horse who looked good last year in Las Vegas, although he was rather green then. And Lone, who trained and showed FBW Kennedy for years before Jane Clark bought him for Robert Dover to ride, knows how to produce and maintain a top Grand Prix horse.

While the Spanish team appears in a state of reorganization and out of contention, we have somebody else to worry about: the Brits are coming! Yes, they’re hunting fewer fox and more dressage medals, and riding up front is Emma Hinkel on the stallion Lancet. They’ve been ambitiously competing and placing high in good company.

To support her, the selectors have nominated Laura Bechtolsheimer on Douglas Dorsey, Sandy Phillips on Lara, and Wayne Channon on Lorenzo, and that’s likely to be a group strong enough for us to worry about.

They’re Looming Nearby
Even the French now have an anchor rider in the shape of Karen Thebar, on Fallada. Joining her is another strong combination–veteran Dominique d’Esme on Roi de Coeur. With Monica Theodorescu as coach, the French could become a “surprise team,” and we need to keep an eye on them.

The same goes for our neighbors to the north, who had a successful show season on the Florida circuit and will have four cool and intense riders at Aachen: Ashley Holzer on her stallion Imperioso (with Gambol as an alternate), Cindy Ishoy on Proton, Jackie Brooks on Gran Gesto, and Evi Strasser on Quantum Thyme should be the Canadian team.

In the race for individual medals, two people who aren’t part of competitive teams deserve a mention: Kyra Kyrklund, of Finland, has had an incredibly successful year on Max, and Silvia Ikle’, representing Switzerland, has been right up there in the standings lately too. When the team competition is over, those ladies will most probably make a charge for the top placings.


Anne Gribbons is a former international competitor and is now an active FEI O-rated judge. She also judged the U.S. Olympic selection trials in 2004 and was the Chronicle’s Dressage Horseman of the Year for 2005.