The sun came out from behind the clouds for the first time today at Aachen just in time for Steffen Peters’ Grand Prix test, which did its own job of lighting up the main arena. Peters rode Floriano to one his best tests ever to vault him into third place after the first 16 horses of the morning session went, and boosting American team hopes with a score of 72.708 percent. And it’s shaping up to be the predicted heated battle between Germany and the Netherlands for gold and silver, while Great Britain has launched a determined offensive to challenge the U.S. for bronze.
“I’m still beside myself. It’s so nice to have one of the rides of my life at just the right moment,” Peters said. “At my last halt, that’s when I let myself think that it had been that good. I looked at the scoreboard, and I was hoping for a 71 percent. When I saw that it was a 72, I was beside myself.”
Peters has carefully planned the 16-year-old Floriano’s year to peak at this very competition, and his thought process has paid off. Floriano had career-best tests at the selection trials at Gladstone, N.J., in June, and here “he felt like he did in the Special test at Gladstone. It was a little bit of a gamble to not show him from Gladstone until here, but it paid off. He’s 16, but he has a ton of energy, so there’s no need to overdo it with an older gentleman. I knew my nerves could handle going straight into a big competition like this, so that’s what we did.”
And while he’s wearing the American flag on his saddle pad, Peters is originally from Germany, so this is a little bit of a sweeter moment. “It’s always exciting when you can do something like this close to your original home. My whole family is here, and a lot of my school friends,” said Peters.
Peters and Floriano scored nothing but 7s and 8s for the entire first section of trot work in the test. Peters admits that Floriano’s weak point is his piaffe, and their first piaffe brought them three 7s and two 6s. But their passages were straight 7s for the entire test.
“We started out with a really good extended trot, and I was very happy, because when he’s keyed up, those can be difficult,” Peters said. “His passage felt really good today, and the trot half-passes felt super. I was able to open him up in the neck a little—he can get a bit short in the neck. I was a little nervous in the collected walk—he was anticipating the passage a bit. I had to take it easy and ride him very light and leave him alone. It’s hard to get a good transition to passage when you’re riding that light, but we did that well. The piaffe felt good, but they’re still his weak point.”
The only noticeable bobble in Peters’ test came on the last centerline, with a little bit of a rough transition from the last piaffe to the passage. “He was a little bit ahead of me, but we’d had such a good ride until then that I hope they didn’t penalize us too much,” he said. The judges’ marks for that last piaffe and the transitions to the passage ranged from 5 to 7. But Floriano’s tempi changes were like clockwork, scoring straight 8s for his two-tempis and straight 7s for his one-tempis.
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The flying changes were the only major problem for Germany’s Nadine Capellmann, who rode Elvis to a score of 72.833 to help keep Germany in the tooth-and-nail battle for supremacy against the Netherlands. Capellmann was happy with her test, but “I only would have wished for two more percentage points,” she said wryly.
Capellmann and Elvis showed phenomenal work early in the test, with 8s and 9s peppering the scoreboard. Elvis’ score dropped in the piaffes, where the judges gave him 6s and 7s. But then, in the one-tempi flying changes, Capellmann missed a change. “I think it was my fault. I think I gave him a touch with my left leg when I shouldn’t have,” she said. The judges responded with 5s and 6s. And then, Elvis lost some rhythm in the pirouettes, bringing them scores from 5 to 7. And while his passage scored consistent 7s and 8s, the piaffe was a bit weak and earth-bound, garnering them scores of 5, 6, and 7.
“I thought his passage was very good, and the piaffe were the best he’s ever showed in a test,” Capellmann said. “I’m very pleased with him.”
With that test, Capellmann kept the Germans in the lead, but the last two Dutch riders—powerhouses Anky van Grunsven and Edward Gal—still have yet to go this afternoon. And German star Isabell Werth will finish up the German effort later.
While those two titans battle it out at the top, the Americans will have to wage their own battle for the bronze with the British, who have had brilliant performances. Backing up Laura Bechtolsheimer and Wayne Channon’s scores yesterday of 67.375 percent and 67.542 percent, this morning, Emma Hindle rode Lancet to a 70.417 percent. Calculating the totals after their first three riders, Great Britian has 205.334 points, while the U.S. has 206.750.
It will all come down to the anchor riders—Debbie MacDonald on Brentina for the U.S., and Sandy Phillips on Lara for Great Britain—this afternoon. Check back in to see who emerges triumphant from both these pitched medal battles.
