Chris Hickey Delivers Gold, Lauren Sammis Takes Silver, in Debut International Competition at the Pan American Games Dressage Individual Finals

Brian Sosby, USEF

Bronze medalist Losos de Muniz who has been named the person in charge of her country’s dressage and jumping programs, said, “I think the competition was a very exciting competition right to the end. We started out and kept each other on our toes, which was fun. It wasn’t clear-cut from the beginning. I think we were all, right to the end, waiting to see [what happened], and I think that is the most fun in a competition.”

The third American competing today was Ohio’s Katherine Poulin-Neff and her mother’s gelding, the 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood/Thoroughbred cross, Brilliant Too.

Coming into the deciding day for the Individual medal in dressage, she stood at sixth place, and that is where she would finish her debut effort on the international stage. Her Intermediaire I score of 66.350% was combined with her freestyle’s 69.000% (seventh place for the day) to end her work with a combined 67.675%.

President of the Ground Jury for the dressage competition, Belgium’s Mariette Whitages, said that the competition was a nail-biter from the perspective of the jury.

“It was very thrilling for the five judges who were members of the ground jury,” said Whitages. “We might as well have been reading a James Bond book. Everybody had their highlights and everybody had their boo-boos. The results really reflected what has been happening. Overall, I think that they were a very successful Pan American Games for dressage.”

A fourth member of Team USA was Wellington-resident Susan Dutta who was the team alternate rider.

“I want to thank the owners of this horse [Pik L, a 14-year-old Hanoverian stallion owned by Horses Unlimited] for giving me the opportunity to ride it,” said Dutta. “Luckily, I’ve been the reserve before, so I know the good and the bad of it. This was a young team, and none of them had done an international competition, so I was kind of a ‘guider’ and it was nice in some ways.”

Dutta didn’t go home empty-handed. The new format used at this year’s Pan American Games that has only three riders compete as opposed to four allowed for the alternate rider to also receive a team medal.

“They gave me a medal anyway,” said Dutta. “That was amazing.” Fitting considering that these important team members are required to enter the ring with up to only an hour’s notice should one of the three team members require a replacement. Staying on your toes is the name of the game when you’re an alternate, and Dutta was a fine example of keeping pace with every step of the game.

Equestrian competition continues on Friday with the dressage phase of the eventing competition at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.