Dressage Gets in Olympic Groove

By Joanie Morris July 31, 2012

The four American horses presented before the Dressage Ground Jury in the main arena at the 2012 Olympic Games painted a picture of healthy composure. A mixture of experience and youth will represent the United States when the Dressage competition gets underway on Thursday with the Grand Prix. Ten teams and 20 individuals will be representing their countries. The U.S. has drawn sixth.

The four grooms, veterinarian Dr. Rick Mitchell, physiotherapist Tom Meyers and farriers Todd Meister and Steve Teichman of Chester Country Farriers worked to ensure that the horses presented were sound and healthy for the 2012 Olympic Games. Also working behind the scenes on behalf of the U.S. dressage team is chef d’equipe Eva Salomon and technical advisor Anne Gribbons.

Riding on the team are Steffen Peters (San Diego, CA) and Ravel. The seasoned duo represented the U.S. in a Team and Individual fourth place effort at the 2008 Olympic Games in Hong Kong. A 14-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding owned by Four Winds Farm and Akiko Yamazaki, Ravel’s credits include two Bronze Medals from the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, an FEI World Cup title, and a sweep of CDIO Aachen ― all with Peters up. Dawn White O’Connor is Ravel’s groom.

Making her Olympic debut, Tina Konyot (Palm City, FL) was Peters’ teammate at the 2010 WEG and rides the 14-year-old Swedish Warmblood stallion Calecto V, which she owns with John Byrialsen. The pair was 2012 USEF Reserve National Grand Prix Dressage Champions in June. Laura Donahoo grooms for Calecto.

Rafalca has caused quite a media stir as one of her co-owners happens to be Ann Romney, wife of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Ann owns Rafalca in partnership with Beth Meyers and Amy Ebeling, wife of Rafalca’s rider Jan Ebeling (Moorpark, CA).

The lovely 15-year-old Oldenburg mare was third at the USEF National Dressage Championships and has been a consistent performer for Ebeling in recent years. The horse has been training with Ebeling since 2006. They competed in their first FEI World Cup Finals together in 2009. Sanne Vondel is Rafalca’s groom.

The USA also qualified to have a fourth rider compete for individual honors, and Adrienne Lyle (Hailey, ID) and Wizard scored that slot with a fourth place finish at the Selection Trials at the USEF Festival of Champions in Gladstone, NJ, in June. Rueben Palomera, who groomed for Lyle’s mentor Debbie McDonald at the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games, is in London to groom for Wizard. Peggy Thomas’ 13-year-old Oldenburg gelding looked exceptionally well at the jog, gleaming with dapples.

“I think all the horses looked fantastic at the jog up and just to walk into that Olympic stadium with all of our Olympic gear on was really exciting. I think we are all ready to get going,” Lyle said.

The Dressage competition begins at 11:00 AM GMT on Thursday August 2nd.

Short URL: https://theequestriannews.com/?p=11856