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Lars
Petersen and Dansko’s Success Win Grand Prix At 2nd Annual
Zada Enterprises, LLC Dressage at the National
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WELLINGTON,
FL – November 28, 2003 – Denmark’s Lars Peters, 38,
of Loxahatchee, Florida, riding Dansko’s Success won the Grand
Prix at the 2nd Annual Zada Enterprises, LLC Dressage at the National
today with a score of 67.188%. The dressage show runs from November
28-30 in conjunction with the 120th National Horse Show at the Palm
Beach Polo Equestrian Club show grounds in Wellington, FL.
“It’s
the first time ever he has shown Grand Prix,” said Petersen
of the gray, eight-year-old, 16.2-hand Danish Warmblood. Petersen
and his Five Star Farm have owned the gelding since he was a year
old, and though Petersen has done all of the training on Dansko’s
Success, the first Grand Prix still posed questions. “I don’t
know how much I can push him so it was a little bit of an experiment
in a way,” said Petersen, noting that mistakes in the zigzag
were his as he is just discovering how much he can trust his green
Grand Prix horse. “I backed him off a little bit too much.
I could have just trusted him,” he said, and then added with
a laugh, “And I counted wrong twice!” Petersen noted that
Dansko’s Success is a very hot horse so the best part of his
performance was the way he handled the show atmosphere. “He
kept his concentration,” said Petersen. “He can be ‘look-y’
and he really kept his cool in there.” Petersen, a member of
the Danish dressage team for nine years, was especially pleased
with how Dansko’s Success performed the trademark movements
of the Grand Prix. “His piaffe/passage I was really happy with.”
Lorraine Stubbs, the judge at C, scored Petersen’s ride at
319 points, and judge Gary Rockwell at B, concurred, awarding 326
points.
Earlier
in the day, Californian Heather Bender, 39, now of Loxahatchee,
Florida, won the Prix St. Georges aboard her Winwood, with a score
of 69.00%. Winwood is a flashy chestnut eight-year-old, 16.1-hand
Hanoverian gelding. “He’s very, very hot – people
don’t see that in him but he’s very explosive,” said
Bender, citing that last year their scores in the Prix St. Georges
and Intermediaire I were erratic due to the explosiveness. “The
exciting win today was when I went down the side he showed me that
hot side and I thought, ‘Uh-oh’ but he’s so much
better on the aids I can now put the hotness into the work and get
the great extensions. He stayed so soft and honest on the aids.”
Bender noted that Winwood was consistent throughout the test and
easily performs the movements at this level. “It’s a matter
of having him emotionally in the right place so that he doesn’t
get cheeky on me. He’s so sensitive that if I change how much
air I have in my lungs it affects how he goes,” said Bender.
The judges were in agreement on the test – Gary Rockwell at
C gave Bender 279 points and Lorraine Stubbs at B awarded the ride
273.
For
complete results visit www.nhs.com or www.stadiumjumping.com
TICKETS
Children
age 12 and under are always free. General admission seating for
adults, Wednesday through Saturday (on Friday, there are separate
day and evening tickets), is $10/each, with Sunday priced at $15/each;
children over the age of 12 and seniors (65 and older) are $7/each.
Diamond Horse Shoe Club and box seating information and reservations
can be obtained by calling (800) 237-8924 or the Special Events
office at (561) 753-3389.
www.NHS.org
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