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American
Dressage News
USET Dressage Short List Selected For The World
Equestrian Games
 The
short list to determine the United States Equestrian
Team (USET) Dressage squad for the World Equestrian
Games (WEG) in Jerez, Spain was named today. The five
riders and horses that will go to Europe for further
training before competing in the WEG in September are:
Debbie McDonald of Hailey, ID, and Brentina, owned by
Parry and Peggy Thomas; Guenter Seidel of Del Mar, CA,
with Nikolaus, owned by Dick and Jane Brown; Sue Blinks
of Wellington, FL, and Flim Flam, owned by owned by
Fritz Kundrun and Dressage Sponsor Corporation; Lisa
Wilcox of Thousand Oaks, CA, with Relevant, owned by
Gudula Vorwerk and Dr. Claus Crone-Munzebrock; and
Christine Traurig of Carlsbad, CA, with Etienne, owned
by Kelly Trierweiler. Steffen Peters of Escondido, CA,
with Grandeur, owned by Robert and Lila Kommerstadt
actually qualified in sixth place but removed themselves
from the selection process leaving five riders to vie
for the U.S. team.
The final selections were made following four days
of Dressage Trials that took place over two weekends
at the USET Headquarters and Olympic Training Center
in Gladstone, NJ, June 1-2 and June 8-9. The first day
of competition consisted of a Grand Prix class to count
for 30% of riders’ overall selection trial score with
the Grand Prix Special accounting for 25% the next day.
There was a second Grand Prix on the following Saturday,
again representing 30%, and the remaining 15% of riders’
scores were taken from the Freestyle on the final Sunday.
The Trials also served as the 2002 USET Grand Prix Championship.
The Grand Champion was Debbie McDonald and Brentina
and the Reserve Champion was Guenter Seidel and Niklaus
7.
McDonald finished first overall, but finished second
in the Freestyle after Brentina stumbled while trotting
down the diagonal.
 “I
didn’t know what happened,” said McDonald. “I found
out later that she spooked from a photographer. It was
very scary, it was a very big stumble, but then she
felt fine.”
Seidel won the Freestyle class riding Nikolaus 7 and
came in second overall. Seidel was pleased with his
final showing.
“The test for the most part lived up to my expectations,”
said Seidel. “There were some parts that were a little
disappointing, that I need to work on, but overall,
I am very pleased with my results.”
Lisa Wilcox and Relevant, chose to qualify by competing
in Europe. Her score of 74.299% was the necessary 2%
above the fourth place competitor in Gladstone and therefore
made the short list.
Three competitors withdrew their horses from the trials
due to various medical reasons. Tom Noone, Shelly Francis
and Betsy Steiner.
Related Links
Images copyrighted: Mary
Phelps
Christine Traurig and Etienne
Head for Gladstone
2002 USET WEG Selection
Trials at Gladstone
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