Mare Opens Way for Arlene Paige to Go to U.S. National Dressage Championships

Williams, Rocher Take U.S. Grand Prix Title

Although George Williams felt his ride in the Special the day before his 74.725 freestyle was “really on, after three days of competition, Rocher (Rolls Royce – Fraenzi) came back (in the freestyle) really strong and I am happy with that.”

For a moment at the start of his freestyle, “I got preoccupied with the music which I have done only once since Dressage at Devon in 2003. So as I was riding through it, the refinements I used to do came back to me and that was a little bit distracting. “

In his first line of one tempes “I lost my focus and that was really the biggest problem,” he said. “I didn’t ride it the confidence I wanted.”

Although he won the Grand Prix and the Special, “I hated to think about winning it (the championship). The more you think about things, the more can go wrong,” he said slowly after he got the Grand Prix title with his 72.963. “You want to stay very focused and do the best job you can. And we did.”

Photo copyrighted: Susan J Stickle