Jan Ebeling drew the unlucky first position for his World Cup debut with Rafalca, and his misfortune continued when the 12-year-old Oldenburg mare took exception to something at C. She flat out refused to go into that end of the arena throughout the test, making it very difficult for Ebeling to perform the movements.

The pair finished on a disappointing 53.83 percent for last place. Despite the problems, Ebeling showed his good sportsmanship with a big smile and a pat for his frightened mount at the end. Unfortunately, their score won’t qualify them for the freestyle, so their World Cup has come to an early end.

Leslie Morse ran into even worse luck when the judge at C, Maribel Alonso de Quinzanos, rang her out after the half-pass. Kingston was lame in his left front leg.

“His warm-up was amazing,” said Morse. “When we got in the ring, he got a bit preoccupied with the crowd, but he seemed fine. Then, he started to get fussy in the bridle. It felt like he was pulling and leaning, and he got on his forehand. In the half-pass, he started to take a few funny steps. His balance changed, and he got more and more on the forehand. I’m totally surprised. We haven’t had any problems like this with him.”

“We need to further examine Kingston to determine the nature and extent of the injury,” said Dr. Rick Mitchell, U.S. Equestrian Federation dressage veterinarian. “Everyone is devastated for Leslie and the horse.”

Morse and Ebeling weren’t the only ones to encounter trouble during their Grand Prix tests, although theirs was the most dramatic.

Australia’s Heath Ryan forgot the new halt and reinback in his test with Regardez Moi. Colombia’s Marco Bernal had a mistake in his one-tempi changes with Diamore, as did Germany’s Monica Theodorescu with Whisper.