2005 CDIO Aachen

American Glory in Aachen: Steffen Peters Wins Grand Prix Group 1

August 24, 2005 - Text and Photos copyrighted: Astrid Appels/Eurodressage

Historically, the CDIO Aachen in Germany has mainly been dominated by Germans, but today American Steffen Peters changed that a bit by outclassing the European riders with a win in the Group 1 CDIO Grand Prix.

Aboard Laurie and Stephen Browning's Westfalian gelding Floriano (by Florestan), Peters rode a very pretty Grand Prix test with the half passes, canter pirouettes and extended walk as highlights. Though Floriano was sometimes a bit tight in the neck, he looked expressive and uphill throughout the test. Judges awarded Peters' ride with a 71.333% score which put him first in a field of 19 competitors.

Finnish Kyra Kyrklund has made an impressive, international come back this year with yet another world class horse. Yvette Conn's Swedish warmblood gelding Max (by Master x Alpenfurst) is a delightful liver chestnut with three outstanding paces. The piaffe and passage were fabulous, but due to a costly miss in the flying changes every single stride her score stopped going up at 70.500%. It ranked her second. The Russian Alexandra Korelova finished in third place with 69.833%. Her 15-year old grey Russian stallion Balagur can do textbook piaffes, but in the extended trot he is running a bit and his passage could be balanced out more.

The second American to go today was George Williams on Chuck and Joanne Smith's Rocher (by Rolls Royce). Williams had an outstanding ride in which harmony and looseness prevailed. The black mare Rocher showed breath taking trot extensions which earned her 9s. The passage could have been a bit more flamboyant and the second piaffe had to be straighter in the body, but in general Rocher was very willing to work and responsive to the aids. Their 69.333% score ranked them fifth in group one, and the German judge Gotthilf Riexinger even placed them first with 71.250%.