US Riders Para-Ready

By Helen Murray August 28, 2012

The four American horses presented before the Para-Equestrian Dressage Ground Jury today in the main arena at the 2012 Olympic Games were deemed sound and fit to compete at the horse inspection on Wednesday, Aug. 31. The U.S. will be represented in London by two veteran riders and two rising stars, when competition begins Thursday with the Team Tests. A total of 15 teams and 19 individuals will be representing their countries.

At the Horse Inspection 77 horses were presented for 78 riders  from 27 different nations. Two horses, Finland’s Rosie and Norway’s Ballantine, will be re-inspected tomorrow morning. This is the fifth time dressage is on the program, and excitement is high because Great Britain has a very strong Para-Equestrian culture, having held the team title every year since the sport debuted in 1996, and also leading the individual medal count by a wide margin.

More than 2.2 million tickets have been sold to the London 2012 Paralympic Games, taking place at Olympic venues around the city. The sales have prompted experts to hail this as the greatest Paralympics edition ever.

The U.S. horses looked to be in great health and were exceptionally well-turned out at the presentation, due to the meticulous care of veterinarian Dr. Stacey Kent and their grooms. Missy Ransehousen serves as chef d’equipe for the U.S. Para-Equestrian team in London.

Rebecca Hart (Unionville, PA) is making her second appearance at the Paralympic Games, following her participation in 2008 in Hong Kong. She will ride Jessica Ransehousen’s 20-year-old Oldenburg gelding Lord Ludger in Grade II competition. Together the pair won the 2012 USEF National Para-Equestrian Championships and earned Hart her fifth National title. Lord Ludger is groomed by Alexandra Philpin and was presented at today’s Horse Inspection by Missy Ransehousen.

The 27-year-old is excited to be representing the U.S. in London, a location that has special significance to the sport.

“This has been a really fabulous experience for Para-Equestrian because this is actually the birthplace of Para-Equestrian as a sport. So it’s kind of a homecoming, and it’s great to get to represent our country here,” Hart said. “Today we had the jog in a beautiful, beautiful backdrop of the Queen’s House and always it’s good to get that out of the way. The U.S. horses looked really good. I’m excited for tomorrow.”

Jonathan Wentz is the second veteran on the U.S. team and brings his partner from the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, NTEC Richter Scale. Wentz and Kai Handt’s 18-year-old Shire cross gelding captured their first USEF National Para-Equestrian Championship in 2011 and were the Reserve Champions in 2012. Twenty-one year old Wentz rides in Grade 1b competition. NTEC Richter scale is looked after by Rachael Campbell and was presented today by Kai Handt.

Also representing the U.S. in Grade II competition and making her U.S. team debut is Dr. Dale Dedrick of Ann Arbor, MI. Dedrick will ride her own Bonifatius. With the 14-year-old Hanoverian gelding Dedrick collected Reserve National Champion honors in 2011 and placed fourth in 2012. Meagan Szarek both grooms for Bonifatius and jogged him this morning. The final member of the U.S. team in London is Donna Ponessa, who will ride Wesley Dunham’s 9-year-old Oldenburg mare Western Rose. Ponessa, a Grade 1a competitor, claimed third place honors at the 2012 USEF National Para-Equestrian Championships with her Paralympic partner. Western Rose is cared for by Lisa Miller and was jogged by Wesley Dunham.

Ponessa (New Windsor, NY) is extremely honored to be representing her country and is tremendously grateful to all those that helped her get to London. “I’m just really, really proud to have made the journey with my support staff and team; it’s such a team effort it wasn’t done in a vacuum. We accomplished a lot in a relatively short amount of time and I’m pretty overwhelmed about being here.”

Competition gets underway Thursday, Aug. 30, with the Grade II Team Test and continues through Wednesday, Sept. 4.

The athletes are divided into five Grades (Ia, Ib, II, III, IV, V) and will be looking to impress the judges in the Team Test, Individual Championship Test and Freestyle, with 11 sets of medals up for grabs, two per Grade and the overall team medals.

There will be many familiar faces and medalists from previous Games here at Greenwich Park looking to secure the ultimate prize, and none more so than Lee Pearson, Great Britain and the world’s most successful Para-Equestrian to date, having won three Gold medals (individual Championship, Freestyle and Team) at three Paralympic Games – 2000, 2004 and 2008 – taking his Gold medal tally to an impressive nine.

Pearson will be the most experienced team British member this year, competing at his fourth Paralympic Games, but he is not the Games’ most experienced. That honor goes to France’s Nathalie Bizet, Norway’s Jens Lasse Dokkan and Germany’s Angelika Trabert, all competing for the fifth time.

Competitors from 27 nations will be taking part in this edition with the ages of the athletes spanning over five decades, from Singapore’s 16-year-old Gemma Rose Jen Foo to Canada’s Eleonore Elstone, age 60.

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