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U.S.
Wins Dressage Gold Medal At 2003 Pan American Games
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The
United States successfully defended its Championship title from
1999 by winning the Team Gold Medal in dressage by the slimmest
of margins with a score of 206.550 at the 2003 Pan American Games
in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Canada won the Silver scoring
206.300 and Mexico came in third for the Bronze with a score of
195.350 just slightly ahead of the home team of the Dominican
Republic with a score of 194.850.
The
U.S. bested eight other nations, the largest equestrian contingent
in the history of the Pan Ams, for top honors. The U.S. squad
consisted of Jan Ebeling of Moorpark, CA riding Feleciano (Westphalian;
Florestan I – Barette), owned by New Horizons Dressage, LLC;
Pierre St. Jacques of Boscawen, NH on Lucky Tiger (KWPN; Lucky
Light – Teike) owned by St. Jacques and Lisa Belcastro; Carol
Lavell of Loxahatchee, FL, riding her Much Ado (KWPN; Quattro
– Varla) and Kristina Harrison-Naness of Burbank, CA on her
Kantor (KWPN; Olympic Ferro).
The
Dressage team competition took place over two days, but it all
came down to the last rider on the final day. The fourth U.S.
rider, Jan Ebeling, impressed the judges enough to score a 70.400%,
forcing Leslie Reid of Canada, riding Mark, to give the performance
of her life. As the anchor rider, Reid had all the pressure, but
she came through with a score of 72.150%, the highest in the competition,
but not good enough to give her team the gold.
Waiting
for the results, the tension in the air was thicker than the humidity
and when the scores were announced no one was sure who really
finished first. In the end, the gold was captured by only one-quarter
of one percent.
After
hearing the results, Ebeling could not contain his excitement.
“This is so great!” said Ebeling. “It was so great
to be a part of this team. It was such an unbelievable experience,
to look at the flags and say “WOW! I’m here! I can’t
believe it! It was so much fun.”
Pierre
St. Jacques was the first U.S. rider on the second day and he
scored 69.35%, the second highest on the U.S. squad. St. Jacques
was elated, especially at the end of the test. “When we were
going down the center line I had the best feeling. I knew we put
in a solid, clean test,” said St. Jacques. “I couldn’t
have done it without my wife, though. Everything that happened
in there was because of her.”
U.S.
Equestrian Team (USET) Chef d’ Equipe Jessica Ransehousen
was thrilled with the performances of all the U.S. riders. “They
were wonderful,” said Ransehousen. “I knew we would
have to work for the gold, but I was not surprised when we won.
The U.S. continues to do our best over and over.”
The
top 25 riders move onto the next round of competition, the Intermediaire
I test, which takes place on Friday. The U.S. has three in the
top ten and all four qualified to ride; Jan Ebeling is in third
individually, Pierre St. Jacques stands sixth, Carol Lavell is
eighth and Kristina Harrison-Naness currently stands in 13th place.
On Sunday, the top fifteen move on to the final test, the Intermediaire
Free Style, which determines the individual medals.
USA
Equestrian Inc., as the National Equestrian Federation of the
U.S., is the regulatory body for the Olympic and World Championship
sports of dressage, driving, endurance, eventing, reining, show
jumping, and vaulting, as well as 19 other breeds and disciplines
of equestrian competition. As
the country's largest multi-breed organization, the Federation
has over 80,000 members and recognizes more than 2,800 competitions
nationwide each year. It governs all aspects of competition, including
educating and licensing all judges, stewards, and technical delegates
who officiate at these shows.
VISION STATEMENT
The vision of USA Equestrian is to provide leadership for equestrian
sport in the United States of America, promoting the pursuit of
excellence from the grass roots to the Olympic Games, based on
a foundation of fair, safe competition and the welfare of its
horses, and embracing this vision, to be the best national equestrian
federation in the world.
www.equestrian.org
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