Three top riders battle it out for Grand Prix blues.

There were no clean sweeps at the top in this year’s Centerline Events CDI-W/Y/J/P.
   
At the upper echelons of the CDI competition, the winners changed places throughout the three days of competition, Aug. 17-19, at the HITS-On-The-Hudson show grounds in Saugerties, N.Y.

Lars Petersen captured the CDI Grand Prix aboard Succes. Elisabeth Austin rode Olivier to the top of the CDI Grand Prix freestyle. And in the CDI Grand Prix Special, Courtney King and Mythilus emerged on top.

Petersen, of Wellington, Fla., knew his margin of victory in the CDI Grand Prix was slim—the top three were within .20 points of a percentage. “I was lucky that nobody was better because he was so fresh, and I had a lot of problems and some very expensive mistakes,” he said.

Those mistakes started with the first extended trot, in which Petersen feared letting the horse go or Succes would “have been out of the ring. He was so happy and so hot. Basically, the whole ride had problems.”

Still, he wasn’t the least bit upset about the behavior of Succes (Blue Hors Silver Moon—Wapeti) and was
actually rather happy that the 12-year old Danish Warm-blood had such fun in the ring and added a few jumps and squeals to the test.

“I just think he’s a very happy horse,” Petersen said. “When you have all that power for the piaffe and passage, it’s actually really fun. With him you can just sit back and he just keeps on going, bigger and bigger. I don’t think I’ve ever in my life had a horse with more talent. He’s just so much fun, and there’s really nothing he can’t do.”

Petersen, who rides for Denmark, is aiming for a spot at the 2008 FEI World Cup Dressage Final with Succes.

Melissa Taylor is based at Legacy Farms with Petersen, and the two have essentially swapped horses. While Petersen was busy showing Succes, previously shown by Taylor, she was busy competing with Dacardo, who had earlier in the year been Petersen’s ride.

Taylor took over the ride in the spring after Petersen took a spill off Dacardo. During Petersen’s short recovery, Taylor kept Dacardo, a 9-year-old Swedish Warmblood gelding she owns, in training. It went so well that Petersen suggested she keep the ride.

It was a good decision, as Taylor and Dacardo (D-Day—Azisterne) won the CDI Intermediaire I at Saugerties with a score of 67.66 percent.

“It’s my first big win with Dacardo—it’s a CDI, and we’ve only done four shows so I’m super excited that he did so well. He’s a good boy, and he worked with me,” said a very happy Taylor. “My first show with him was a total disaster, but every show after that has gotten a little bit better.”

The hardest part of riding Dacardo is actually mounting him. “I honestly think something happened to him as a baby when he was being broke. You go to get on him, and he panics some times. He’s actually afraid. That’s how Lars went off him. He bucked him off and the reins broke. So I have a method now. I lunge him, and then I have someone hold him when I get on. Then if he’s anxious, I trot off when I get on,” Taylor said.

Trading Places
Taylor and Dacardo traded wins in the Intermediaire I CDI competition with Cesar Parra on Silver Label, Michael Shondel’s Swedish Warm-blood gelding. Parra and Silver Label (by Rambo) won the CDI Intermediaire freestyle with a score of 70.91 percent, one of the rare CDI scores over 70 percent. Taylor and Dacardo finished second (68.91%).

Parra said he’s been riding Silver Label because Shondel finished college this year and has been busy getting his career off the ground.

“The horse needs to be ridden, and Michael knows he has a top-quality horse. He wants to come back and try to focus on the Grand Prix with the horse,” Parra said. “The horse knows the movements of the Grand Prix, but he’s still very green in the shows. He’s not done many shows, and I think that’s the problem.”

Parra said the fact that Silver Label came together so well after several days on the show grounds proves just how good he can be once he’s settled.

“He had more go today than the last two days. I was able to push him more forward. The last two rides I was babysitting him. Today I was able to be an artist and to have fun and move. And he was more relaxed in the arena. It was mistake-free,” Parra said after his Intermediaire freestyle win.

Well-Rested
CDI Grand Prix freestyle winner Austin was just as excited about her victory. It was the young rider’s first Grand Prix freestyle outing, and she won over a field of experienced competitors.

The 23-year-old Austin and Olivier, an 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood stallion sired by Courtney King’s popular ride Idocus, rode to a mix that included music from “Pretty Woman” and the rock duo, The Eurythmics. Austin and Olivier scored a 71.40 percent. Behind them in second was Petersen and Succes (70.75%).

Austin, who trains with her mother, Madeleine Austin, and with Arlene “Tuny” Page, borrowed the freestyle from long-time supporter Theo van Bruggen of Belgium, who had designed it for a European rider. Austin and Olivier, known affectionately as “Fizzy,” arrived at Saugerties a bit drained from traveling, and she said it showed on the first day of competition.

“We’ve been on the road for 10 days. And it’s breeding season so he’s been very excited. He’s not naughty, just excited,” Austin said. “Yesterday in the Grand Prix, he tried for me, but I could feel that physically he was just tired. Today he just felt there. I think he slept better last night.”

The weekend before Saugerties, Austin and Olivier traveled to Long Island for the Equus Equestrian Sport Foundation’s Scholarship Benefit Weekend. The Sunday evening gala included awarding Robert Dover with a Lifetime Achievement Award, and in honor of him, Austin and Olivier rode a Grand Prix freestyle of Dover’s.

“I rode his freestyle to a live orchestra. It was so great,” Austin said.

Austin and Olivier are the two-time winners of the Brentina Cup for young adults. This year, Austin plans to focus on competing at Grand Prix and maybe even try to qualify for the FEI World Cup Finals. Her strategy for the CDI Grand Prix Freestyle was an easy warm-up and no pressure.

“Today was a shorter warm-up, and I thought, ‘I’ll get him a little more up and just go for it.’ Yesterday, even though he was tired, he still went in and had super piaffe and passage. I was very proud of him. Today, the whole thing was just so much fun,” Austin said.

No Bugs On Me
On the third day of CDI Grand Prix competition, King and Mythilus earned the blue ribbon with their CDI Grand Prix Special score of 68.56 percent.

“It’s the first time he’s done the Special,” King said of the 13-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding by Ferro and owned by Richard Malloch. “It was so good to get that first Special out of the way. I think the judging at this show has been very strict. There’s an international, top-level panel, so to get a 68 percent the first time out from that panel was a huge achievement. I was really happy, and I know there are plenty more points in there.”

King and Mythilus did their first Grand Prix just two weeks before the Saugerties CDI at the Windy Hollow Hunt Dressage (N.J.). They competed in Friday’s CDI Grand Prix, but their efforts were thwarted by a bug.

“In the Grand Prix he had this huge horsefly attacking him and got totally fried,” King said. “So it was nice that coming into the Special he had this renewed confidence.”

Among young riders, Ashley Peterson and Mozaick really impressed judges and spectators with their wonderful ride in the CDI Young Rider freestyle with a score of 64.08 percent.

The 20-year-old Peterson, who lives in New York City, trains with Lendon Gray. She bought Mozaick last summer from Parra, who imported the Dutch Warmblood gelding (Inglesias—Daimant STV) in 2005.
Peterson and Mozaick rode their freestyle, designed by Marlene Whitaker, to British rock music that included such hits as “Saturday Night Fever,” “Mack The Knife” and “Georgy Girl.”

Peterson was certainly pleased with her freestyle ride. “It’s only our second time riding it at a show. So I was very happy with the way he went,” she said.

Lynndee Kemmet