For an unprecedented third time, Steffen Peters is the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s Equestrian of the Year. The dressage heavyweight also garnered the honor in 2008 and 2009, and his top performances with mounts Ravel and Weltino’s Magic earned him the title again at the USEF Pegasus Awards dinner on Jan. 14 in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Peters, San Diego, Calif., had great success with Jen and Bruce Hlavacek’s Weltino’s Magic, sweeping the Intermediaire I division at the Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF National Dressage Championships (N.J.). Peters capped the 9-year-old Westphalian’s season with double gold at the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico.

Akiko Yamazaki’s Ravel continued to shine in the Grand Prix. After dominating the World Dressage Masters early in the season, the pair had impressive showings in Aachen, Germany, in July, placing second in the Grand Prix freestyle behind Matthias Rath and Totilas. In September, Ravel and Peters topped their division at the National Dressage Championships.

You can hear some of Peters’ acceptance speech on the USEF Network.