SIGN IN YOUR ACCOUNT TO HAVE ACCESS TO DIFFERENT FEATURES

FORGOT YOUR PASSWORD?

FORGOT YOUR DETAILS?

AAH, WAIT, I REMEMBER NOW!

Sidelines MagazineSidelines Magazine

  • LOGIN
  • Home
  • Current Issue
  • Subscriptions
    • Flipbook
    • Subscribe Options
    • Order Individual & Back Issues
  • Podcast
  • Marketplace
    • Business Ads
    • Directories
      • Barns, Farms, Trainers & Clubs
      • Equestrian Services
      • Real Estate
      • Stallions
      • Tack & Feed Stores
    • Classifieds
    • Horse Trailers for Sale
  • Advertise
  • Blogs
    • Show World
    • What’s Happenin’
  • Partners
  • Contacts
    • Contacts
    • Employment
0
Monday, July 25 2016 / Published in Sidelines Spotlight

Olympic Dressage — Looking Toward Rio with Steffen Peters: Dancing Horses and Riders Aim for the Podium

 

 

 

Steffen Peters, a three-time Olympic veteran, and Ravel at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Steffen will ride Legolas 92 in the 2016 Olympics in Rio and is hoping the 2016 Olympic dressage team will dance their way to the podium. Photo by Kim MacMillan/MacMillan Photography

Steffen Peters, a three-time Olympic veteran, and Ravel at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Steffen will ride Legolas 92 in the 2016 Olympics in Rio and is hoping the 2016 Olympic dressage team will dance their way to the podium.
Photo by Kim MacMillan/MacMillan Photography

By Lauren R. Giannini

Beautiful dancing horses and their riders make Grand Prix look easy, but dressage is anything but. It requires years of training and practice, incredible focus and concentration, superior core strength and skills. Horses and riders who compete at the Olympic Grand Prix level are a glorious sight to behold, and the freestyle — individually choreographed routines set to the music of the rider’s choice — provides a wildly popular finale that decides the individual medals.

Dressage in Rio

Sixty riders will compete in Olympic dressage for team and individual medals. Teams are comprised of three or four riders, with some nations represented only by individuals. The 2016 United States Olympic dressage team consists of four riders: Allison Brock on Claudine and Fritz Kundrun’s Rosevelt; Laura Graves on her own Verdades; Kasey Perry-Glass on Diane Perry’s Dublet; and Steffen Peters on Four Winds Farm’s Legolas 92. Shelly Francis and Patricia Stempel’s Doktor are the traveling reserve.

The Grand Prix, August 10–11, serves as the first round of team and individual competition for all riders. The top seven teams, along with any ties for seventh place, qualify to compete on August 12 in the Grand Prix Special, which features a more difficult test. The team’s top three scores in the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Special are added together to determine each team’s placing. The highest score wins team gold.

The Grand Prix Special also doubles as the second round for individual medals, with the top 11 riders from the Grand Prix, who are not part of a team, also competing. After the Special, team medals are awarded. The top 18 from the Special return on August 15 for the third and final round, the freestyle, which determines individual medals.

The Freestyle attracts the biggest crowd. It showcases each horse and rider performing a custom choreography set to music ranging from classical to rock. Freestyles are designed with compulsory movements as well as permissible movements; those with greater degrees of difficulty have the potential to earn higher scores if performed well. The freestyle competition tends to bring down the house; it’s that spectacular.

Selection Process

Horse and rider must achieve Grand Prix level, and because dressage is a progressive system of training, most candidates have been talent-scouted. In June 2015, the U.S. Equestrian Federation (USEF) posted information and forms, including the letter stating that the qualifying period for Rio would run from August 1, 2015, and that athlete/horse combinations must complete at least two tryout events/qualifying competitions to be eligible to be selected to compete at the European Observation Events. This qualifying period would come to a close in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, June 23–26, in the all-important CDIOS***** FEI Nations Cup™ and CDI*** Grand Prix. The nine American combinations vying for a place on the team of four for Rio included three-time veteran Olympian Steffen Peters, who was very busy preparing himself and Four Winds Farm’s Legolas 92 in the weeks before the final showdown.

His wife, Shannon Peters, provided great glimpses into what makes Steffen tick.

Steffen is triumphant after earning two individual bronze medals at the 2010 World Equestrian Games in Kentucky. Photo by Lauren R. Giannini

Steffen is triumphant after earning two individual bronze medals at
the 2010 World Equestrian Games in Kentucky.
Photo by Lauren R. Giannini

What’s Steffen like before a big competition?

“Two words — cool cucumber,” said Shannon. “He doesn’t ever really change. I would say maybe he’s mentally more focused, and he’s very disciplined every day about the horses and himself. He gets much more disciplined, but he doesn’t get nervous or change anything. He sticks to his routine. He’s very German in that way.”

Since his arrival in the U.S. in 1985, Steffen has established himself as one of the top U.S. dressage riders and trainers. He became a U.S. citizen in 1992 and, four years later at the Atlanta Olympics, earned team bronze with Robert Dover, Michelle Gibson and Guenter Seidel. Steffen was alternate in 2004 with Floriano and, in 2006, they earned team bronze at the World Equestrian Games in Aachen.

Soon after, Steffen began his very successful partnership with TC Ravel, owned by Akiko Yamazaki. In spite of training setbacks, including an injury in 2007, Steffen and Ravel finished fourth individually at the 2008 Olympics. They made history as the first American pair to earn the 2009 Aachen Grand Prix Championship with the highest scores in all three tests, and also won the 2009 World Cup Final. Steffen and Ravel finished best of the Americans, earning two individual bronze medals, Grand Prix Special and Freestyle, at the 2010 World Equestrian Games in Kentucky.

With Weltino’s Magic, Steffen earned team and individual gold medals at the 2011 Pan Am Games. Ravel retired after finishing sixth with the U.S. Team at the 2012 London Olympics. Steffen continued with Legolas, winning individual gold and team gold at the 2015 Pan American Games, qualifying the U.S. for Rio.

He’s obviously a consummate professional and dedicated horseman, as well as a team player. Does Steffen ever retreat to a man cave?

Shannon laughed and said, “I think he’s done that more and more over the last couple years. Before every major championship, whether it’s the World Games, the Olympics or the Pan Am Games, he goes out and flies remote-controlled gliders. He did that with his father when he was young and picked it up again just before Hong Kong. He built a shop where he does all the electronics, builds and maintains them. That’s like his man cave and he’s really focused when he’s in there and when he flies his planes. It goes along with how he focuses when he rides and helps him refine his skills before something big.”

So this really is a big deal and not just “another” competition… 

“Steffen always goes out and gives the best ride he can,” said Shannon. “His horse comes first. He’s as competitive as they come — no doubt about that. No matter what competition it is, he always rides the very best test that he can. He’s as disciplined in his heart and his mind as he can be to get that done. But I don’t think he goes out saying ‘I hope I medal today.’ He just goes out with the mindset that he’s going to do the very best he can — and he absolutely loves what he does.”

Steffen and Shannon laugh a lot. Making each other laugh and laughing at themselves has been part of their relationship and partnership from the moment they met. The laughter has endured through 12 years of marriage. If Steffen goes to Rio, Shannon won’t be going with him. They will keep in touch the same way they communicated while Steffen was in Rotterdam – via Facetime and Skype.

Progressive Training

Dressage goes back to ancient times when wars were fought on horseback and the military developed a system of training to produce maneuverable and responsive horses. The first horsemanship manuals are credited to Xenophon of Athens, circa 430–354 B.C., and those principles remain true today. In the early 20th century, the Olympics featured officers competing in “The Military” from which evolved the disciplines of dressage, eventing and show jumping.

After the U.S. Cavalry disbanded in 1948, dressage took the civilian world by storm. In the 1952 Helsinki Summer Games, the 27 dressage riders included four women, a first in Olympic history, and many men were civilians. Polio struck Lis Hartel in her early 20s, leaving her paralyzed below the knees. Even though she needed help to mount and dismount, the rider from Denmark earned the individual silver medal in dressage that year and again in 1956.

To date, the U.S. earned one Olympic individual bronze in 1932 and team bronze medals in 1932, 1976, 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004. This year, the Americans hope to put the dressage team back up on the podium.

 

 

 

Double D Trailers Info

Tagged under: 2016 rio olympics, dressage, lauren r. giannini, olympics, rio, shannon peters, steffen peters

What you can read next

Amateurisms: The Dreaded “Set-up” Day
Barbara Phillips: The Data Behind a Life Loving Horses
Kelli Cruciotti: Like Mother, Like Daughter

Download Sidelines Digital now from your favorite app store!

Sidelines Magazine - Apple store   Sidelines Magazine - Google Play store   Sidelines Magazine - Amazon store
Update iOS app. Re-download Google Play and Amazon app.

Follow on Instagram!

sidelines_magazine

Sidelines Magazine
Breeding season is underway at Iron Spring Farm! W Breeding season is underway at Iron Spring Farm! We're proud to offer exceptional modern Sporthorse stallions, with wonderful temperaments and quality gaits to North American breeders.
 
Among our stallions are Cum Laude and Kaiman. Cum Laude (Apache x Weltmeyer) is a winning FEI horse and sire of quality dressage horses, breed show champions, and offspring scoring 9.0s on gaits.
 
Kaiman (Dark Pleasure x Gribaldi) earned high scores at his stallion testing and in the young horse classes. He's also the sire of a Licensed Oldenburg stallion. Kaiman's first North American foal crop is arriving now and they are gorgeous!
 
If you're looking for top international bloodlines please check out our 2023 stallion collection, now available fresh, frozen, and by the dose.

Among our stallions are Cum Laude and Kaiman. Cum Laude (Apache x Weltmeyer) is a winning FEI horse and sire of quality dressage horses, breed show champions, and offspring scoring 9.0s on gaits.

Breeding season is underway at Iron Spring Farm! We're proud to offer exceptional modern Sporthorse stallions, with wonderful temperaments and quality gaits to North American breeders.

https://www.ironspringfarm.com/biolink/

@iron_spring_farm 

#stallion #horse #horses #horsesofinstagram #equestrian #equine #dressage #pferd #equestrianlife #mare #hengst #horseriding #instahorse #cheval #pferde #equinephotography #horselove #dressagehorse #pony #horselover #caballo #foal #quarterhorse #aqha #arabianhorse #showjumping #photography #caballos #horseofinstagram #sidelinesmagazine
❗️George Williams column❗️ The FEI World ❗️George Williams column❗️
The FEI World Cup Final in Omaha is coming up quickly. That means that it’s starting to heat 
up as the end of the qualifying period for both the Western European League (WEL) and the 
North American League (NAL) nears. I started to write this column before the Amsterdam CDI- W, and I was using the FEI Ranking List from January 15 as a reference. As I sit down to finish 
my column, I’m now looking at the results from Amsterdam. While the list of the top contenders 
for the WEL hasn’t changed, they’re definitely moving around on the ranking list. The WEL has 
three more legs, as they’re referred to: Neumünster February 16–19, Goteborg February 23–26, 
and ’s-Hertogenbosch March 9–12, and they could change things dramatically.
Looking at the top 12 athletes from the WEL as they were ranked on January 15, there are five 
from Germany, three from the Netherlands and one each from Great Britain, Denmark

➡️Read Georges's full column by clicking the link in our bio, and never miss an article by subscribing to Sidelines Magazine 🦄 

#horse #horses #horsesofinstagram #equestrian #horseriding #equine #pony #pferd #equestrianlife #horselove #dressage #horselover #instahorse #love #cheval #showjumping #horselife #photography #nature #pferde #horseofinstagram #caballo #riding #horsebackriding #pferdeliebe #caballos #horsepower #horsephotography #instagram #Sidelinesmagazine
Lisa Goldman-Smolen and Ivaro N strike gold in Gre Lisa Goldman-Smolen and Ivaro N strike gold in Great American $300,000 Grand Prix at HITS Ocala!! 🏆🥇

Crowds filled the stands at the HITS Ocala Grand Prix Ring on Sunday afternoon to watch the world’s top athletes compete in the Great American $300,000 Grand Prix. The day concluded with a thrilling five-horse jump-off featuring athletes 
representing four countries. In the end, it was Lisa Goldman-Smolen (USA) and Ivaro N who produced the only double clear effort of the day, claiming one of the biggest wins of her career. Scott Keach (AUS) and Noble De La Chapelle earned the second-place prize with the fastest 4-fault jump-off, while Aaron Vale (USA) and Obi Wan placed third as the day’s pathfinders.

“I'm still on cloud nine, I still can't believe it – I’ve used up all my luck for the year,” smiled Goldman-Smolen after her win. “I've been knocking on the door a long time in these bigger classes. I am so proud of my horse – he gave every ounce of effort.”

Sunday’s Great American $300,000 Grand Prix marked the conclusion of the 2023 HITS Ocala circuit. HITS CCO Joe Norick concluded, “We are so excited about the new HITS, with 2023 as the launch. New footing, many new arenas here, and a lot of our facilities across America are getting a lot of love and new footing. Our partnerships with Worldly Martin and others across America including our footing leader Bart Poles overseeing our operations – it really makes a big difference for us. Today is about Ocala and these three riders sitting next to me who supported us this entire winter. We want to be a proud destination for our exhibitors and our friends. We know we have to provide them a beautiful showplace to work from that's horseman friendly, and that's our go goal. 

Congratulations to all of the riders, horses, owners, and groom who participated in this prestigious class!!! 🎉
📸 @esi_photography 
#horseshow #horses #horse #horsesofinstagram #equestrian #horseriding #horselove #horsestagram #instagram #showjumping #equestrianlife #equine  #horsebackriding #dressage #horselife #pony #of #horserider #horseshoe #horsemanship #horseshowlife #riding #instahorse #horseaddict #horseofinstagram #sidelinesmagazine
It's #STUDSunday and today's featured stallion is. It's #STUDSunday and today's featured stallion is...

 ✨PF'S DIAMO BLUE✨
Diarado-Diamant de Semilly- Chacco Blue
17.0hh, Oldenburg International Hunter Derby/ Jumper Stallion
An outstanding Pedigree- Chacco Blue and Diamant de Semilly
WBFSH/ Rolex top ranking Jumping Sires 2017 thru 2022
Standing at Ryan Pedigo Sport Horses, in California

For more information, you can contact 
🖥Ryanpedigosporthorses.com
🖥Ryan.p.f@hotmail.com
☎️(714) 357-2714

You can find ALL of the stallions featured towards the back of the magazine in the equestrian gallery. Keep a look out EVERY Sunday for a new handsome STUD muffin🧁 and don't forget to subscribe to get your very own edition of Sidelines Magazine, the magazine for horse people, about horse people 🦄

@ryanpedigosporthorsespf_

#stallion #horse #horses #horsesofinstagram #equestrian #equine #dressage #pferd #equestrianlife #mare #hengst #horseriding #instahorse #cheval #pferde #equinephotography #horselove #dressagehorse #pony #horselover #caballo #foal #quarterhorse #aqha #arabianhorse #sidelinesmagazine
Load More... Follow on Instagram

From Our Classifieds Ads

  • PORTOFINO
    A Perfect Place to Live, Ride & Train Raleigh/Clayton NC 919-740-8009 www.portofinonc.com

    [Read more]

  • THE TACKERIA
    13501 South Shore Blvd., Suite 107 Wellington, FL 33414 561-793-2012 800-882-7656 info@tackeria.com www.tackeria.com

    [Read more]

Sidelines Articles by Email

Subscribe to Sidelines Magazine Articles by Email

RSS Sidelines Blogs: What’s Happenin’

  • Get More for Your Money with an Adjustable-Rate Mortgage
  • Longines Global Champions Tour of New York Returns to Governors Island
  • A Paris Horse Adventure: Saut Hermes 2022

RSS Sidelines Blogs: Show World

  • 2023 Upperville Colt & Horse Show Presented by MARS EQUESTRIAN™ Returns for 170th Year on June 5-11
  • Will Coleman Retains Yanmar America CCI4*-S Lead in Dramatic Show Jumping at Setters’ Run Farm Carolina International
  • First edition of the World Sport Horse Sales was a hit with $410.000 for the most expensive horse

Category

Recent Posts

  • April 2023 – Table of Contents

    Subscribe for just $9.95 or Order Individual Is...
  • Building a Bond With a New Horse

    By Margie Sugarman I just bought a new horse. I...
  • Developing Healthy Relationships With Your Barnmates

    By Rob Jacobs The purpose of this month’s colum...
  • The Value of Self-Coaching

    By Liz Halliday-Sharp The sport of eventing is ...
  • Unbridled With Annette Longenecker

    By Britney Grover  Annette Longenecker wasn’t j...

Copyright © 1987 - 2021 Sidelines Magazine
Privacy Policy · Returns & Refunds Policy · Hosting by Lucian Web Service
· Login

TOP
Get the Sidelines Scoop — your weekly look behind the scenes.Sign me up!