Sunday, June 18, 2006

USET Foundation Dressage Festival of Champions 2006

Grand Prix Special Proves Depth of the Future American Dressage Team for the 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games - Aachen

Steffen Peters and Floriano Put in a Ride of a Lifetime

“The bottom line is I consider myself a pretty tough guy," said Steffen Peters, "but when I come out of the ring crying you know it was a pretty good test. I was beside myself. It was just one of those rides that you don’t have too many times in your life."

Even after Steffen Peters stated on Thursday that his horse had given all he had to give and this was the best it got after a score of 74.5% in their Grand Prix test, today Floriano and Peters ate their words when a 77.24% flashed across the score board. It was a breathtaking performance for the crowd gathered at Gladstone, from Steffen Peters, of San Diego, CA, and Floriano, a 16-year-old Westphalian gelding (x Floristan), owned by Laurelyn and Steve Browning,

Everything was so expressive and so clean without any mistakes. Just to have him that supple and that energetic at the age of 16 is unbelievable. And that’s how he started out today in the warm-up. He was so ready to go again. After the Grand Prix, you expect them to be a little tired. But there was absolutely no sign of that at all.”

When asked today if they could do any better, this time Peters had little to say. “That’s what I said on Thursday, but it’s always great when the horses prove you wrong. There was definitely more in there, and like I said it was so amazing to have him that loose and that supple and ahead of the leg. He had the same amount of energy but was just a little bit more supple. That made all the difference today.” Peters credits his wife and Klaus Balkenhol for helping him prepare.