2005 CDIO Aachen

History Written in Aachen: The Netherlands Wins Nations' Cup Dressage

Bronze for the U.S.A

The American team won the bronze medal in the nations' competition in Aachen. Steffen Peters, the winner of the CDIO Grand Prix group 1, remained to be the best performing rider with 71.333%. Leslie Morse and Kingston, the last pair to go in group 2, had the pressure on their shoulders. A 73% could have put them in silver medal position, but Leslie has not accomplished such score before, in Europe.

The 13-year old Kingston (Voltaire x Burggraaf) lacked some oomph in his ride. He showed good trot extensions and a nice piaffe, but the passage could have been more powerfully off the ground. The bay stallion got a bit tight in the neck in the tempi changes every two strides and there was an error in the ones. The final end piaffe was delightful though, but the score of 69.500% was less than Morse had hoped for.

"I'm disappointed," Morse said right after her ride. "He felt great all week and I took him for a walk a couple of hours before my ride but I didn't get a connection in the warm up and he only gave 50% of what he can do. I was quiet and thorough in the warm up. His character just wasn't sterling. You have good days and so so days. If you chalk it up, it wasn't one of those days."

But it was when Leslie returned to the barn and confered on Kingston's welll being did they concur on his well being. "We all noticed that today Kingston was flat, which is totally out of character for him. After my ride I spent time conferring with my wonderful staff about what may be the cause.

We have been concerned the last few days that Kingston had not been sweating. He normally sweats profusely no matter what the weather is like. And as we alll know, it takes a few days to put these things together. Our vet is in agreement, after checking him out, that Kingston was dehydrated today, which caused him to act out of character. So, we're spending the next few days hydrating him and making sure he drinks plenty of water."

Guenter Seidel and Aragon (by Abydos) finished 19th with 68.792% without having too many hiccups. The piaffe passage tour was smooth and rhythmical, but in the canter work, Aragon could have covered more ground, especially in the one tempi's. In general, Seidel's ride lacked that bit of bravura to hit the 70% marker.

More news on Aachen to come