Team USA (Photo: Courtesy of Hope Hand)

London, England – Every tear shed, every mile traveled, and every salute in the show ring over the last few years have now led to this moment at the 2012 London Paralympic Equestrian competition held in Greenwich Park. Before riders and coaches could breathe a sigh of relief seventy-eight horse and rider combinations stepped forward for the official horse inspection. Each team and individual presented their mounts at a trot in front of the competition officials including the veterinary commission and ground jury. Each horse was carefully examined before being given the official nod to compete in the 2012 Paralympic Equestrian Games scheduled for August 30th through September 4th. The horse inspection began in alphabetical order according to the International Paralympic Committee abbreviations. Henceforth, the United States watched 74 horses approach horse inspection before Lord Ludger, NTEC Richter Scale, Western Rose, and Bonifatius were given the salute to continue on to the first day of Para-Dressage competition.

Four dashing United States members dressed in exquisite Ralph Lauren red, white, and blue attire formally presented each United States’ equine. These handlers included: United States Paralympic Equestrian Chef d’Equipe Missy Ransehousen presenting Lord Ludger for United States Team Captain Rebecca Hart; owner Kai Handt leading NTEC Richter Scale for Jonathan Wentz; owner Wes Dunham of Western Rose for equestrian Donna Ponessa; and groom Meagan Szarek presenting Bonifatius for rider Dale Dedrick.

Wes Dunham owner of Western Rose ridden by Donna Ponessa for the United States (Photo: Lindsay Yosay McCall)

Meagan Szarek noted, “The whole Paralympic experience has been wonderful. It really gives a humbling prospective about what able-bodied individuals take for granted on a daily basis. It is very motivating watching and working with each of these athletes on the United States Para-Equestrian Team. I am honored to be a part of it all and share this experience with so many talented Equestrians from around the world.” Out of the 78 horses from 26 nations only two horses were asked to return for additional inspection. These two horses will be evaluated further before the competition begins on Thursday. Grade II will be the first Grade in the incredibly designed Greenwich Park Arena to show in the Team Test competition. The first horse will enter the ring at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday with the final Grade II trotting down centerline at 12:35 p.m. Grade Ib will begin at 14:15 p.m. and the last Grade Ib athlete will finish at 16:35 p.m.

United States Para-Equestrian Dressage Grade II rider Dale Dedrick and Bonifatius of Ann Arbor, Mich. will compete at 9:30 a.m in the Team Test competition while Grade II Rebecca Hart aboard Lord Ludger of Unionville, Penn., will compete at 10:30 a.m. Jonathan Wentz and NTEC Richter Scale of Richardson, TX will compete at 4:15 p.m. in Grade Ib and final United States Para-Equestrian Donna Ponessa and Western Rose of New Windsor, NY will compete in the Team Test on Friday.

NTEC Richter Scale (ridden by Jonathan Wentz of the USA) and owner Kai Handt (Photo: Lindsay Yosay McCall)

The Overall Team Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals will be determined based on the top three rider’s percentage scores for their country. Each rider will compete in the Team Test and his or her score will be combined with the Individual Test for an overall percentage score. The top three rider’s scores from each country will be compared for the final score for the Team medals. The Individual Medals will include a Gold, Silver, and Bronze for each of the five grades (Grade Ia, Ib, II, III, and IV. These medals will be determined based on each rider’s individual performance score on the Individual Test. The Freestyle Medals will also include a Gold, Silver, and Bronze for each of the five grades.

This week Rebecca Hart was nominated as the Team Captain of the United States Paralympic Team. This is an honor for her as she adds her name to the list of team captains before her. Rebecca commented, “This has been a really fabulous experience not just for our team but for Para-Equestrian Dressage. London is the birthplace of the Para-Equestrian sport and it feels great to represent our country in this wonderful city. As we watched each of our horses jog in the horse inspection we were impressed with the beauty of the backdrop of the equestrian venue at Greenwich Park, The Queen’s House. Donna Ponessa agreed, “It makes me really proud to be an American and represent our country in the birthplace of the Para-Equestrian movement. I am also really proud to have made this journey with my support staff and team. We have accomplished a lot in a relatively short amount of time and I am pretty overwhelmed about being here.” The Paralympic Equestrian Competition begins on August 30 and concludes on September 4th.

Lord Ludger (ridden by Rebecca Hart of USA) and Chef d’Equipe Missy Ransehousen (Photo: Lindsay Yosay McCall)

THE UNITED STATES PARALYMPIC EQUESTRIAN TEAM NOMINATED BY THE UNITED STATES EQUESTRIAN FEDERATIONRebecca Hart, 27, of Unionville, Penn. and Jessica Ransehousen’s Holsteiner gelding Lord LudgerJonathan Wentz, 21, of Richardson, Texas and Kai Handt’s 18 year-old NTEC Richter ScaleDonna Ponessa, 51, of New Windsor, N.Y. and Wesley Dunham’s Oldenburg mare Western RoseDale Dedrick, 56, of Ann Arbor, Mich. and her 14 year-old grey Hanoverian Bonifatius Team Staff:Missy Ransehousen (Unionville, PA)- Chef d’EquipeJim Wolf (Lebanon, NJ)- Chef de MissionPam Lane (Gladstone, NJ)- Team LeaderStacey Kent (Cochranville, PA)- Team Veterinarian 2012 Paralympic Equestrian Schedule at Greenwich ParkAugust 30, 2012Grade II Mixed Team Test 9:00 AM -12:15 PMGrade Ib Mixed Team Test 2:00 PM -5:00 PM August 31, 2012Grade IV Mixed Team Test 9:00 AM-11:30 AMGrade III Mixed Team Test 1:15 PM-3:45 PMGrade Ia Mixed Team Test 3:45 PM-6:15 PM September 1, 2012Grade II Mixed Individual Championship Test 9:00 AM – 12:15 PMMedal Ceremony Individual Championship Grade II 12:30 PM-12:45 PMGrade Ib Mixed Individual Championship Test 2:30 PM-5:30 PMMedal Ceremony Individual Championship Grade Ib   5:45 PM -6:00 PM September 2, 2012Grade IV Mixed Individual Championship Test 9:00 AM-11:30 AMMedal Ceremony Individual Championship Grade IV 11:45 AM-12:00 PMGrade III Mixed Individual Championship Test 1:45 PM-4:14 PMGrade Ia Mixed Individual Championship Test 4:15 PM-6:45 PMMedal Ceremony Individual Championship Grade III 7:00 PM-7:15 PMMedal Ceremony Individual Championship Grade Ia 7:15 PM-7:30 PM September 3, 2012Grade II Mixed Individual Freestyle Test 9:00 AM-11:30 AMMedal Ceremony Individual Freestyle Grade IIGrade Ib Mixed Individual Freestyle Test 2:15 PM-5:00 PMMedal Ceremony Individual Freestyle Grade Ib 5:15 PM-5:30 PM September 4, 2012Grade IV Mixed Individual Freestyle Test 9:00 AM-11:30 AMMedal Ceremony Individual Freestyle Grade IV 11:45 AM-12:00 PMGrade III Mixed Individual Freestyle Test 1:45 PM-3:45 PMGrade Ia Mixed Individual Freestyle Test 3:45 PM-6:00 PMMedal Ceremony Individual Freestyle Grade III 6:15 PM-6:30 PMMedal Ceremony Individual Freestyle Grade Ia 6:30 PM-6:45 PMTEAM MEDAL CEREMONY 6:45 PM-7:15 PM  September 9, 2012Closing Ceremony

Bonifatius and Meagan Szarek ridden Dale Dedrick of the USA (Photo: Lindsay Yosay McCall)

Information on Live Streaming Paralympic Coverage at Paralympic.org and Television Coverage at NBC Sports Network (information about coverage below was provided by the International Paralympic Committee and was not written by USPEA) By creating original video content for the US Paralympics YouTube channel, YouTube.com/USParalympics, while also partnering with NBCUniversal and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), US Paralympics will provide the American public with more coverage of the US Paralympic Team than any previous year. Beginning on 29 August and continuing through the conclusion of the Games on 9 September, US Paralympics will provide 10 daily video highlights packages via its US Paralympics YouTube channel. In addition to the online content, NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) will air one-hour highlight shows on 4, 5, 6 and 11 September at 7 p.m. EDT. Following the Paralympic Games, on 16 September, NBC will broadcast a 90-minute special from 2-3:30 p.m. EDT. All NBC and NBC Sports Network Paralympic highlight shows and specials will re-air on Universal Sports Network and UniversalSports.com. During the Games, which start on 29 August, the IPC’s website will have five channels broadcasting live sport each day. Four channels will have English commentary whilst a fifth channel will be available in Spanish.

National Maritime Museum in front of the equestrian arena (Photo: Lindsay Yosay McCall)

The website will also feature a revolutionary new SMART player which has been developed by the IPC’s worldwide IT partner Atos. The player uses innovative technology that will enable those watching live swimming and wheelchair basketball on www.paralympic.org to view real-time results tickers, statistics, biographies, news and social media – all in one integrated and synchronized window. It also simplifies the user’s interests and gives specific and relevant results per sport, similar to the ones available to commentators inside the venues. Direct Link: http://www.youtube.com/paralympicsporttvU.S. Paralympics website (http://www.usparalympics.org), U.S. Paralympics Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/usparalympics/) U.S. Paralympics Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/usparalympics/).  For more information about the United States Equestrian Federation please visit www.USEF.org For more information about the Para-Equestrians heading to London please visit http://www.fei.org/events/games/paralympic-games/london-2012 To view more about the London 2012 Paralympics please visit the official Paralympic website at http://www.london2012.com/