Saturday, June 12, 1004

USEF Olympic Selection Trials 2004 - The First Week

Steffen Peters Knocking at the Door With Grandeur and Floriano

And one person looking forward to tomorrow and next weekend is Steffen Peters, with two good horses, Grandeur and the budding star Melanie Pai's Floriano, who made a very good impression today. “The chestnut (Floriano, a 14-year old Westphalian gelding by Floristan I out of Wichita) was a little bit of an underdog,” said Peters. “The more seasoned horse is Grandeur." Grandeur, Lila Kommerstad's 16-year-old KWPN gelding by Jon Up to Berry, had a good showing last summer during the Euro Tour, where he was part of the USET Nation's Cup team at Aachen.

"If you had asked me before the competition I would have put my money on him but the chestnut is getting a little bit better. It was definitely his best show so far. He’s also a very hot horse. I don’t know the horse that well I’ve just had him since October, he still needs a lot of exposure. The neat thing is that everything right through eighth place, except for Robert, the scores are between a 71 and 68, they aren’t that far apart. I think the fat lady has arrived but she hasn’t sung yet. We’ll see!”