He proves Ravel can compete and win against the best horses in the world.

Sometimes it’s hard to remember dressage is a sport, and the results aren’t predetermined. We’ve grown bored as Anky van Grunsven and Isabell Werth have dominated every international championship in recent memory.

But Steffen Peters has been hot on their trail for the past three years, and when he put in two magical performances aboard Ravel at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nev., the judges couldn’t help but place him first in the Rolex FEI World Cup Dressage Final, held April 15-18.

That historic win—Peters was the first U.S. dressage rider to win a World Cup Final on U.S. soil and only the second to win for the United States ever—will inspire dressage fans for years to come.

“It’s fair to say, and I probably speak for Ravel too, there’s truly magic soil in [the Thomas & Mack Center],” said Peters, who lives in San Diego, Calif.. “To share that moment in time with the most amazing dressage fans in the world is an incredible feeling. It hasn’t quite sunk in yet. In a few hours, when I see family and friends, it will.”

A Hint Of Things To Come

Peters’ unprecedented achievement started on Thursday when he rode second-to-last in the Grand Prix test. Although the Grand Prix doesn’t count toward the Final, it does determine the order of go.

Germany’s Werth, the individual silver medalist from the 2008 Olympic Games, had ridden an unspectacular test with Satchmo. A mistake in the canter zigzag and another in her first pirouette, where Satchmo broke to trot, were only the most obvious problems in a lackluster, conservative ride.

“I wanted the photographers to be a bit more quiet,” said Werth. “They were really disturbing Satchmo on the sides. The sound didn’t stop—tac, tac, tac, tac, tac! That’s the reason why I was really careful with the introduction to the first pirouette, because he was really scared to turn. He stopped because I was a bit too careful.”

The Netherlands’ van Grunsven, 41, had also left the door open with mistakes in the two-tempis aboard IPS Painted Black, a 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood stallion (Gribaldi—Litchy).

“I wasn’t secure about how he was going to be here. He’s not normally scared, but he gets a bit nervous inside himself,” she said. “That’s why I had the mistake in the two-tempis. But after that, he got his confidence back. When I came out I was really happy. I know we can do better, but for this moment I was very satisfied.”

But Peters, 44, had no mistakes with Ravel. Akiko Yamazaki’s 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding (Contango—Hautain) was at his very best—showing off huge, expressive half-passes and a piaffe with strong sitting power. Peters finished on 77.91 percent, his highest Grand Prix score ever, almost 4 points ahead of second-placed van Grunsven. He scored straight 9s for his position.

Werth, 39, had to settle for an unsatisfying third place. Peters appeared blown away by the high marks. He put his hand to his forehand in disbelief when Brian O’Connor announced the score.

“I had to keep looking at the score a few more times to make sure this really happened. I dreamed pretty big, but today was bigger than my dream,” he said. “It sends a nice message to Europe that we’re finally moving up in the world in America. I’m very delighted that Ravel was the one today to make that distinction.”

Little did he know that the best was yet to come.

A Freestyle To Remember

Werth was the first to ride her freestyle of the top three finishers from the Grand Prix. Satchmo no longer appeared bothered by the photographers, and Werth demonstrated the 15-year-old Hanoverian gelding’s (Sao Paulo—St. Pr. Legata) remarkable technical abilities, which have made him so hard to beat.

There was an error in her two-tempis during the freestyle, however, and Werth chose not to repeat them, a mistake that might have cost her the Final.

The crowd went wild as she finished with a one-handed passage half-pass, and she pumped her fist in the air in triumph. She clearly thought the performance, which scored 84.50 percent, would be good enough for the win.

“I was really, really happy with Satchmo,” she said. “He was super. I had no problem inside. I think he’s really settled down in the arena. We were both really concentrated, so it worked.”

When Peters entered the arena, the audience couldn’t contain themselves. The roaring applause left Ravel a bit on edge, but he stayed with his rider. The pair began with Coldplay’s “Viva La Vida,” and Ravel broke to canter for one step before he turned down centerline as he reacted to the atmosphere, but Peters quickly settled him.

As the Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy For The Devil” came on during the piaffe and passage, the audience continued to cheer. Peters got a big reaction in his first two-tempi change, but again he focused Ravel, and they continued to ride the correct side of the line between brilliance and tension. Ravel’s half-passes were a model of suppleness and swing, his double canter pirouettes showed off his deep engagement, and his piaffes were simply awe-inspiring.

When the scores were announced, the judges were split. Three had Peters second and Werth first, but Dutch judge Wim Ernes and U.S. judge Linda Zang placed him on top, and their scores were enough to move him ahead of Werth (84.95%).

Van Grunsven rode next, and although she’s a nine-time World Cup Champion, it seemed unlikely she’d go ahead of Peters on her second-string horse. Painted Black thrilled the audience with his fun tango music, but repeated mistakes in the two-tempis left him out of the running in third place (82.15%) ahead of fellow Dutch rider Hans Peter Minderhoud on Nadine (81.05%) and Canadian Ashley Holzer aboard Pop Art (79.20%).

“They were extremely close together,” said Zang of Peters and Werth. “What made me like Steffen a little bit more was his piaffe. It was more correct, and there was more power, but a controlled and uphill power. Both of them are super talented riders on super horses that are ridden in a correct way.

“Steffen’s horse has an enormous ability to sit over his hind legs in his pirouettes,” Zang added. “When he comes into them, you can see him collect and come under. Isabell does those little key points just as well, but [Ravel] is just doing a little bit more and has a little bit more power through his whole body that makes him stand out.”

Werth didn’t agree.

“It was a really tough and close competition. At the end I was second, but next time I’ll try to make it a bit harder for [Peters]. Maybe I’ll have one more judge, and it will be four, not three that have me in No. 1,” she said bitterly at the press conference.

Van Grunsven was more sportsmanlike about her third-placed finish.

“I think it’s great for the sport that it’s not always the same. I think it’s good that Steffen won,” she said. “He had the highest score, and he was the best today. Of course, we’re going to go home and practice very hard to beat him next time. That’s how competition should be. It shouldn’t be that people think Isabell or Anky is going to win. It should be between all of us.”

To The Next Level

Debbie McDonald is the only U.S. dressage rider to ever win a World Cup Final—she won in 2003 (Sweden) with Brentina, but it was after the fact when Germany’s Ulla Salzgeber was eliminated because Rusty tested positive for a prohibited substance.

McDonald retired Brentina at the Thomas & Mack Center on April 17, and it was fitting that the day after the sweetheart of U.S. dressage left the ring forever, a new hero took center stage.

“I need to give all the credit to Ravel. He made me look good,” said Peters. “I didn’t have to push him that hard. He offered the movements. It really felt like he wanted to be there and wanted to do it.”

Peters also credited Ravel’s sound mind as the key to their achievements together.

“I can’t take too much credit for his mind. That’s how he was born. I’m one of those really lucky guys in the world who gets to ride a horse like that,” he said.

It was a good thing Ravel and Peters have such a strong partnership, because Ravel’s trust in his rider kept him from reacting too much to the enthusiasm of 7,669 spectators.

“In the freestyle I rode him a little bit more sensitively, because he was so with me. He tried almost too much,” said Peters. “He’s naturally a very solid horse and extremely confident. This was evident before the Grand Prix when we schooled him. We schooled him with a good crowd in there that went a little crazy between the half-passes, and he kept it together. From there on I knew this could be good.”

Peters did worry about the crowd’s enthusiasm during his test, but he didn’t blame them. He said he had some concerns at the end before the quarter turns in piaffe.

“The energy was still good, and I could see his ears were pointed toward me instead of reacting to things, so I knew he was still with me. There was an amazing electricity in the crowd. The same electricity that was there between the piaffe and my last halt in the Grand Prix. It was very hard for the dressage fans to hold back, and I appreciate it.”

Zang said that uncontained enthusiasm bodes well for the future of U.S. dressage.

“The audience was so happy to see someone from America be in the running,” she said. “When I sat on the side in the Grand Prix, you could hear the emotion. No one was speaking, but you could feel the emotion coming out from the crowd to see someone from America be so successful. He’s been so close, and that time he had the best ride of the day. When you can feel the crowd and the emotion, you know it’s good for our sport. We have to do things that encourage people to be involved and have enthusiasm and feel.

“In the last year we’ve lost some really top riders and horses. The problem with the drug testing at the Olympic Games brought everybody down, but now we’re back up,” she continued. “I think this win will bring everyone back up and say, ‘Hey we’re on top. Let’s get behind the sport and make it go again.’ ”