Friday, February 6, 2004

On the Scene at Wellington Dressage

Nancy Later and Alexis D Win Wellington Dressage USET PSG Qualifier

Wellington Dressage, the first of three dressage shows at the 2004 Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Florida, kicked off today at the Palm Beach Polo Equestrian Club. Wellington Dressage is a four-day show, February 5-8, featuring qualifiers for the Olympic Games Selection Trials, USET national championships, and the GAIG/USDF Regional Championships.

Nancy Later riding her own Alexis-D won the $1,000 USET Prix St. Georges, a Qualifying Competition for the USET Intermediaire I Championship with a score of 68.250%, topping a class of 14 entries. The judges were all tightly in agreement; scores were: 271 from Joan MaCartney at H; 271 from Jessica Ransehousen at C; and 277 from Lorraine McDonald at B. In second place, Patricia Becker riding Tsunami earned 66.917%. Third place went to Catherine Morelli riding BeSe with a score of 66.583%.

“I was really excited because she was concentrating on her work and focused on me through the whole test,” said Later, 40, of Wellington, FL. With the Bayer/USET Gold Coast Jumper Classic CSI*** taking place at the same time as the dressage show, Later said the atmosphere was the hardest element the mare had to cope with. “The fact that she was being herself in a place like that, with the big ring that she hadn’t seen before, I was thrilled. She went to work with me and stayed with me even with all the busy-ness and windiness. It was so much fun to ride that test. It was really great.”

Alexis-D is an 11-year-old, 16.1-hand, bay Oldenburg by Archipel (also the sire of today’s second placed mare, Tsunami) out of a Guerdelain II mare. Later purchased the Grand Prix mare in Germany in March 2003. The two have been in training with Diederik Wigmans in Holland since June and returned to Florida in November. Later believes Alexis-D has what it takes to represent the US as a team horse. “She for sure has the talent. She has super grand prix movement. Every day that I’m on her is the most fun I ever had riding,” said Later. “She’s so light on her feet. She has super pirouettes.” In today’s class, Later pinpointed those pirouettes as the best part of her performance. “It was fun to have the time to go in, to make the canter really little, to turn, to go out when I wanted – that was a time when I was really having fun.”