With Sue Blinks taking the lead, a grand victory seemed already to be made in the Grand Prix test at the 2000 Park Festival Dressage in Bad Honnef, Germany.
As the international dressage competition of Norten-Hardenberg sucked up most of the big star entries, Bad Honnef had to be pleased with only a handful of famous riders. It were also they who were able to break the American hegemony in the Grand Prix. Blinks had a correct but careful ride taking the lead with 67.48%. Fellow team mate Christine Traurig was the biggest threat for that top position in the ranking. On Etienne, a Westphalian Ehrentusch gelding, she had a daring ride. Traurig took a lot of risk while keeping the whole professionally balanced and correct. 

USET rider Robert Dover described Etienne as majestically and that's what he was in this test. The extensions were good especially the ones in canter. In the half pass to the left Etienne lost his balance but the one to the right was clearly better although at the end of it the collection got a bit lost. Piaffe is a still a slight problem for Etienne. Traurig does not keep him on one place and although it's allowed to use a few meters, a piaffe on one place has so much more. The 2nd piaffe was definitely better, showing good rhythm and flexion of the hocks. The passage was nice but there could have been more impulsion. In the tempi's every single stride Traurig missed two and there she probably gave away the lead. The extended trot in the middle and end of the test was absolutely superb. They earned a 67.20% but could easily have been hitting the 70s.

Image copyrighted Phelps Photo