Wellington, Fla.—April 1

The in-gate of a top competition is a unique place. Emotions run high and the tension is palpable.

As Laura Graves peformed her freestyle with Verdades in the CDIO*** Grand Prix Freestyle, her trainers Debbie McDonald and Robert Dover were riding the entire test with her.

“Half-halt; half-halt; half-halt,” repeated Dover as Graves performed her two- and one- tempis on a circle, a new addition to the pair’s freestyle.

“Bring it home, bring it home,” muttered McDonald as Verdades and Graves performed their final piaffe-passage tour up centerline.

As Graves’ hand dropped in her final salute, McDonald could no longer contain her excitement. She lept from the fence she’d been perched on, jumping up and down as she yelled exhuberantly.

In an instant that tension melted away. Relief, gratitude, exhaltation all replaced it.

Graves is more reserved when it comes to her excitement. Verdades gets lots of love and then it’s back to the barn to care for the gelding. If she’s jumping up and down, it’s in the privacy of the barn. Graves is likely the only rider without a groom—only having help when it comes to the awards and someone needs to hold “Diddy” as she climbs atop the podium.

The winners in the CDIO*** Grand Prix Freestyle (from left) Kasey Perry-Glass, Laura Graves and Belinda Trussell. Photo by Kimberly Loushin.

This is the second year in a row that Graves topped the final freestyle of the season. But this time there’s something special about it. That score—an 82.80 percent—is the highest score ever recored on the showgrounds for the Adequan Global Dressage Festival.

As AGDF Thomas Baur announced that in the following press conference, Graves sits there in quiet disbelief.

“It’s amazing,” she said. “It’s obviously a goal we have every time we go into the arena, and it was an incredible atmosphere here tonight, so I could not ask for a better high to end our season with. Team gold, individual gold and personal bests and really exciting looking forward to the rest of this year and the amazing Team USA we’re creating.”

This was the second time Graves showed her new freestyle. The choreography is similar to her previous one, but they upped the level of difficulty, relying on “Diddy’s” strengths by putting in two tempis on a circle into the one tempis twice.

“It’s a lot of counting, but he’s pretty honest she said.”

“We did put in the risk where we feel comfortable that this horse can succeed, and that’s always important—difficulty in a way where you’re not going to over face your horse or make it look actually that difficult.”

“Get used to that sound,” Arlene “Tuny” Page told Kasey Perry-Glass as they discussed the sound of her silver medal hitting the buttons on her shadbelly. The young professional made quite a statement tonight, picking up a personal best of 81.32 percent with her mount Goerklintgaards Dublet.

Her efforts made such an impression that as she was walking out of the ring, Dover turned to McDonald and said: “Oh my god!” pausing on each word for effect. “Kasey is fearless like Charlotte [Dujardin]. There is not one fearful bone in her body.”

“I’m just so blessed,” Perry-Glass said. “I couldn’t have asked for a better year. I think I found my grit.”

“I think in the beginning of the season I kind of went in there, ‘Well this is my first season in the Grand Prix and never really went for it,” she said. “I felt like I was going for it, but I never went into the ride saying ‘I’m going to go for it.’ Everytime I would come out and Robert would say, ‘You’ve got to go for it a little more.’

“I think that it was a progression throughout the whole season. Dublet and I really formed a relationship where I can have a conversation with me in the ring. He trusts me enough to push him enough, and he showed that tonight. I can put my leg on just a little bit and he said ‘OK, how high?’ ”

Rounding off the top three, also with a personal best was Canadian Belinda Trussell who put in a 76.35 percent with Anton.

Canada’s Belinda Trussell and Anton. Photo by Kimberly Loushin.

“It was a goal for me to try to be on an individual podium and to do that I’m thrilled,” she said. “It’s my first time to be on an individual podium and it’s exciting. Anton was a little bit wound and it gets a little bit tight when he gets wound but he also gets more expressive so that’s nice. Really he was with me. I’m always so blessed with this horse that whenever he’s like that he’s still with me.”

“During that class the hair on my neck was standing up,” said judge Stephen Clarke. It was fantastic. I think the level was amazing and you guys just really went for it. We saw such such harmony, a lot of risk taking, a really high degree of difficulty. beautiful music interpretation. It was just a super class. To me it was really fun to judge.

Moving On Up
“Now I know what it’s like to be an animal in the zoo when they say not to use the flash,” Juan Matute Jr., joked as his picture had been taken for the umpteenth time in the evening.

Despite a bobble in the collected walk where Dhannie Ymas spooked, Matute pulled off what he considered to be his best freestyle to date to when he won the CDIO*** Intermediaire I Freestyle on a 74.55 percent.

Juan Matute Jr. and Dhannie Ymas. Photo by Kimberly Loushin.

This was the first year that the small tour freestyle ran separately from the large tour freestyle. When the idea came up during the FEI General Assembly Baur jumped on the idea of being able to give countries other than Canada and the U.S., who might not have large tour pairs going yet, to get on the podium.

“Dhannie and I had a great test,” said Matute. “I think that I have not felt a better test ever. Power ambition and at the same time he felt relaxed. Unfortunately the collected walk he all the sudden spooked a little bit. Besides that I think the test was super.

“He felt unbelievable, and I am super pleased with the overall performance of the whole week. We’re evolving each day and every day getting better and better, stronger. The bond, the feelings are getting even better each day and I’m just super super thrilled for the future. I think it’s a great end of the season.”

Katarina Stumpf, an amateur rider from Austria, slipped into second with For My Love with a freestyle composed entirely from love songs.

“I’m super happy with my horse,” she said. “All the season was fantastic. He gets better and better and better. This was a fantastic end of the season and I’m so, so so happy.
“It’s really a big honor for me to be in the open division because I’m only an amateur and I’m honestly only doing the open tests because there’s always the freestyle, and I love the freestyle.”

Katarina Stumpf and For My Love. Photo by Kimberly Loushin.

Columbia’s Raul Cochuelo slipped into the bronze medal position with Beckham when he turned in a 70.90 percent.

“For me it’s a very special occasion because it’s my first season here in Florida and I’m very happy with Beckham,” he said. “I’ve been working with this horse for the past three years and despite yesterday he was a little bit behind me, but today I wanted to make sure he wanted to do it. I’m very happy because he really really did it.”

See more pictures from the freestyle.

Results from the Adequan Global Dressage Festival can be found here.

If you’re looking for more coverage of the Nations Cup, read about day 1 and day 2 of the team competition.

For an in-depth look at how the winners made it to the top of the podium, be sure to pick up the April 25 issue of the Chronicle.