McDonald keeps her hopes alive at WEG Dressage selection trials

"I was quite worried," said McDonald. "I've had her since she was three, and I know her like I know myself. I knew something wasn't quite right.

But, after another night to acclimate, and a treatment with a nebulizer, the mare's breathing was audibly improved, and she stormed back in to contention with a fabulous Grand Prix Special, which garnered an excellent 73.40%.

"She felt so much better today," said a clearly relieved McDonald. "I felt it was all just smooth and harmonious. I made my warm-up much shorter today, and the cooler temperatures and breeze undoubtedly helped."

Though thrilled with her move upwards after the second day, McDonald was clearly just happy her horse was feeling better. "I knew I needed to come out and do a good test [to still be in team contention], but my first worry yesterday was her. She means much more to me than a score."

Sue Blinks and Flim Flam exhibited maturity and stability in their tests to lead the way after two trials. Photo by Heather Bailey©

Leading after two trials is Sue Blinks and Flim Flam who handily won the Grand Prix with a 71.92%. Flim Flam looked focused, calm, and fluid-three adjectives that have not always been applied to the mercurial Flim Flam.

"I'm really pleased," said Blinks after her Grand Prix victory. "The horse is with me now, more than he's ever been, and with him being 15 now, that's really saying something.

"He's become more stable-'schtabile' as [USET dressage coach] Klaus [Balkenhol] calls it -he knows his job and likes his job and there is a certain confidence he has now. He knows when we are prepping for something big," she finished.

The bay Hanoverian has been owned throughout his career by Fritz Kundrun and Dressage Sponsor Corp., and Blinks has worked slowly and carefully to harness his brilliance. In the Special, "Flim" seemed a bit more distracted, getting a bit stuck in his second piaffe, and missing his passage to canter transition, requiring two flying changes to find the right lead. He also made a mistake in his one-tempi changes, something rare for the horse whose freestyle routine features 23 one-tempis on the centerline.

"I have to say, we seem to be having a flying changes issue," admitted Blinks. "We're going to have to clear that up, as normally it's his thing.

She made no plans to alter her freestyle though. "I'm going to do them, and I'm going to get them," she said confidently.

While Blinks and McDonald have been with their partners for many years, Guenter Seidel and Nikolaus 7 have only been together for about a year. However, they've forged enough of a partnership to finish second in both the Grand Prix and the Special, and to be standing second overall.. The bright bay Westphalian gelding is a fabulous animated mover, but during the Grand Prix he had a tendency to look a bit tense and short in the neck.

"That's him," said Seidel of Dick and Jane Brown's gelding. "He's so exuberant and so much horse. You just try to go through and not make mistakes. I also think it's a matter of getting to know the horse, especially a horse like him, and even after a year I'm still in that process.

In Sunday's Special, the horse looked much more relaxed and workmanlike, but lacked some of the brilliance in his medium and extended gaits. Seidel however, didn't mind.

"It's a very fine line with this horse," he said. "It would have been easy to give him a kick and get him up, but then maybe you can't risk some things in the ring after. I'm pleased--for him, he felt very relaxed. It's easy to add the forward in later.

Vying for the fourth spot are the recently reunited Christine Traurig and Etienne, veteran pair Stefan Peters and Grandeur, and new partnership Betsy Steiner and Ranier. Mathematically, it's too close to call which of these may be part of the tour that will go to Europe prior to the Games. After European performances, the final four for the team will be selected.

Etienne was the star of the 2000 Olympics, but shortly after the games his former owners elected to sell him, separating him from Traurig who had ridden him for years. After being in Europe for the better part of the year, Traurig's new owner, Kelly Trierweiler purchased Etienne back, and the two were reunited last fall. The 18 hand Westphalain performed a Grand Prix that was nearly flawless, with just an occasional shortness in the neck to finish third. They had a few mistakes in their 2nd piaffe and one-tempi changes in the Special, but stand fourth overall with a 37.542%.

"It's a little bit of a surprise," admitted Traurig. "We didn't qualify very high, as we've only been back since September and we are still coming back. He had a bit of a rough time in Europe, and we have been working hard to get his confidence back in the ring. He's always had a little problem with being insecure, if he makes a mistake he gets rattled because he knows something's gone wrong. But [the Grand Prix] was important for my confidence as well as his."

Ranier also competed in Sydney, but with Robert Dover. Dover's retirement from competition turned the ride on the gray gelding over to Steiner. Under her steady guidance, the famously temperamental Oldenburg appears much more finished, focused and confident, displaying some brilliant piaffe-passage work, and expressive flying changes. He still appears resistant in a few places, and his "expressive tail" still spins, flags, and swings with every new movement. However, the judges stated that in Ranier's case it seems to be more habit, than true resistance.

Grandeur was also well in the running for the team in 2000, until a frightening bout with colic, and subsequent surgery cut their plans short. The flashy bay has come back in excellent form, and has the best canter work in the group (probably due to his largely Thoroughbred heritage), but has a tendency to swing from side to side in his piaffe-passage work, and isn't always completely straight in his one-tempi changes. They are currently standing 6th with a two trial average of 36.888%.

Lurking in the background is Lisa Wilcox, who could well spoil the plans of at least one of the top six. Wilcox lives and works in Germany, and rides two stallions, Relevant and Rhodiamant who have been holding their own in Europe with the cream of the crop. The selection criteria allows Wilcox to qualify for the team if her averaged scores in European competition are two percentage points higher than the fourth-placed qualifier in the trials. Though her qualifying scores have not yet been re-averaged using the 30-30-25-15 figures, she had the highest qualifying score with Relevant, and was the third highest qualifier with Rhodiamant.

Depending on Wilcox's final calculated scores, between four and six horses will travel to Europe to compete in several European competitions, including Aachen. However, if McDonald is chosen as one of the final six, she will join the tour much later, since USDA rules require stallions or mares who have been in Europe for more than 60 days to go through the entire three-month quarantine process upon their return. As West Coast quarantine facilities would not allow McDonald or a groom to stay with the mare and ride her and keep and eye on her, McDonald is adamant that Brentina will not be subjected to quarantine again.

The judges for the first weekend were headed by Denmark's Hanne Valentin and Germany's Dr. Joseph Knipp. Both were complimentary of the overall quality of the group, and Valentin, whose home country will most likely be the U.S.'s closest rival for the bronze medal, stated. "I'm a little scared of your team. The top six here are absolutely top class, and would be, anywhere in the world."

Standing just out of the top six are Seidel's 2000 mount Foltaire, who is a steady performer but at 15 has lost some of his brilliance, Shelly Francis' youngster Gala, who looks to be class horse for the future, who just needs a little more seasoning, and Ohio's George Williams on the perfectly charming black mare Rocher. The Hanoverian's giant lop ears swing and swivel throughout her work, giving her an especially studious expression, and make her a crowd favorite.

As they take this week to prepare for the final trials, most riders just want to stay focused, and keep their horses happy and comfortable. Several of the west coast riders, including Seidel, McDonald, and Traurig, had planned to give their grooms Monday off to take a day trip to New York City, and were looking forward to spending the day doing basic barn chores like stall cleaning and handwalking their mounts.