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Morse
Wins USET Dressage Grand Prix Championship
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Gladstone, NJ—June 23, 2003—Leslie Morse of Beverly
Hills, CA, and her stallion, Kingston, topped a field of twelve
horse-and-rider combinations to win the United States Equestrian
Team (USET) Dressage Grand Prix Championship at the Bayer/USET
Festival of Champions, Presented by State Line Tack, held at the
United States Olympic Training Center in Gladstone, NJ.
Earning the blue ribbon in the Grand Prix and the Grand Prix Freestyle
and taking second place honors in the Grand Prix Special, Morse
finished the weekend with an overall score of 68.711%. “He’s
going really well. I’m really excited. It’s only his
fourth year in dressage,” she said of her stallion.
Morse
imported her stallion, who stands at 17.3 hands, from Holland
after finding him at a sales barn. “He gives a feeling that
he will just protect you and take you. He touches me,” she
said of her partner.
Finishing behind Morse and earning Reserve Champion honors was
Jan Brons aboard Fernando. Brons and Fernando finished the weekend
with an overall score of 66.472%. Although he has been living
in the United States since the 1980s and currently resides in
Southampton, NY, the Bayer/USET Festival of Champions, marked
the first time that this native of Holland has competed as a United
States citizen, so this win was especially meaningful.
Earning
third place honors was Susan Dutta of Wellington, FL, aboard Gumshoes
DC. This horse-and-rider combination finished the weekend just
behind Brons with an overall score of 66.355%. An ex-jumper, Gumshoes
DC, has a special place in Dutta’s heart. “He’s
the love of my life, that horse,” she said. “This horse
owes us nothing. Everything he does for us is extra. He brings
us only joy.”
The United States Equestrian Team is a non-profit organization
that selects, trains, equips and finances equestrians of the highest
possible standard to represent our country in major international
competition, including the Olympic Games and the World Championships.
To accomplish this, the USET seeks out and nurtures the development
of talented athletes - riders, drivers and horses - and provides
the support and guidance they need to help them attain their fullest
potential. For more information on the USET, please call (908)
234-1251, or visit USET ONLINE at www.uset.org
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