Brentina leads the way for WEG squad

"I was really stressed this morning," said McDonald after her Grand Prix test. "I was feeling very emotional in the ring, because she certainly wasn't feeling 100%, but she comes through for you regardless.

And a clean performance it was, punctuated by nearly a nearly flawless piaffe-passage tour, and Brentina's trademark flowing transitions. Others, however, showed the wear of the previous efforts.

Two competitors from the first weekend, Shelly Francis and Gala and Tom Noone and Fresco withdrew for soundness reasons. Though Gala's problem was not disclosed, Fresco apparently tripped and fell down in the warm-up ring right before his test, and tore a muscle in his chest. In addition, after an uneven Grand Prix in which Ranier showed some of his trademark temper, Betsy Steiner withdrew him for soundness reasons also.

Last week's Grand Prix winner, and the leader from the first trials Susan Blinks and Flim Flam looked a bit undone in their test, with an unsteady piaffe-passage tour, and a missed canter transition. The normally forward Flim Flam looked generally slow and labored, and they finished the Grand Prix in 4th with a 67.20, dropping them to second in the overall standings behind McDonald and Brentina. Blinks herself felt something was wrong, but the problem didn't become clear until a bit later when Flim Flam began to colic. IV fluids and Pepto-Bismol were administered, and the horse perked up enough to compete on Sunday.

Nikolaus 7's extravagant movement helped propel he and Guenter Seidel into second place for the 2002 WEG dressage team. Photo by Heather Bailey©

"It's disappointing, it was definitely my bad riding today," said Seidel. "He was very good and relaxed, and if I'd pushed him at the right moment he would have been fine, but instead we were sleeping through the test. The horse is not that familiar to me, and he's not been that relaxed before-he needed more riding, which is great, but I just didn't do it."

Christine Traurig and Etienne cemented their return to the top ranks with another stellar Grand Prix performance. After being separated for nearly a year when the horse's former owners decided to sell him, Traurig was able to engineer his return to her when new owner Kelly Trierwieler bought the horse. However, the fragile psyche of Etienne had not faired well without the constant care of Traurig (she does all the care on him, including mucking his stall and feeding him), and the pair has struggled to regain their Olympic form from 2000. However, the big gelding was tuned in completely to his rider, and except for some slight creeping in his piaffe, put in a smooth performance to finish second in the Grand Prix with a 68.96.

"I'm really happy, I couldn't ask for more from where he's coming from. I didn't expect to be so [high in the standings]-it's been a rocky road to get here and my goal was just to come and do a good job and I had no expectations beyond that.

"You just have no idea how happy I am to have my horse back," she finished. "That's really the main thing."

Steffen Peters put in aggressive and flashy test with Grandeur, and it moved him into 5th overall following Ranier's mistakes and subsequent withdrawal.

Sunday was the day that most spectators and competitors had been waiting for-the musical freestyle. Lynda Cameron and Orion started things off with a well-choreographed freestyle performed to television theme songs, including piaffe-passage work to Law and Order, extended trot work to Monday Night Football, as well as half-passes to Police Squad. This performance showed great creativity and promise, but needed further technical skills to pull it all together.

Cherri Reiber and G Tudor's Irish-themed freestyle demonstrated the bay gelding's flexibility and strong canter work. Susan Dutta and Gumshoes DC performed to some of Elvis Presley's greatest hits, humorously punctuated by an Elvis-like voice-over stating "Elvis is in the building" as they entered, and "Thank you, thank you very much" as they made their final halt and salute.

Foltaire and Guenter Seidel came alive in their freestyle, showing more energy and brilliance than in the other portions of the trials. The Australian-and-island-themed music-including Men At Work's Land Down Under and Harry Bellefonte's Day-O-was originally compiled for the Sydney Olympic Games. The music highlighted excellent canter work, including multiple pirouettes, and tempi changes on a curve.

As much as Foltaire seemed to like his music, it was owners Dick and Jane Brown who really got into it, dancing enthusiastically on the sidelines while their horse performed.

"I've told them pretty soon no one's going to be watching me, they'll all be watching their freestyle," laughed Seidel.

George Williams and his lop-eared black mare Rocher had been charming the crowds-if not always the judges-all week, and the love affair only continued with her strong freestyle performance. Entering to Madonna's Get In To The Groove, and proceeding through trot work to Holiday and Material Girl, she performed a half pirouette in passage which she finished in a full pirouette in canter as the music switched to 'Nsync's Bye Bye Bye. Her walk work to Borderline was highlighted with a lovely piaffe.

Etienne and Christine Traurig had performed well all week, but Traurig had admitted earlier that designing a new freestyle had been "the last thing on our minds" while they worked through their problems. Though her performance was accurate and clean, the Yanni and John Tesh music, also originally put together for Sydney, doesn't seem to suit the enormous Etienne, and the choreography isn't terribly complex. Traurig is currently working on a new freestyle with help of coach Jo Hinneman.

Nikolaus 7 and Guenter Seidel overcame their hiccups the day before to perform a strong Spanish-flavored freestyle that showed off the horse's extravagant gaits, strong piaffe and passage, and overall flexibility. They got a bit bogged down near the end of the performance during a final pirouette in piaffe, but overall featured a strong technique.

"It was kind of obvious [that part didn't go perfectly], I was down there for half an hour," Seidel later joked of his final movement. "But today I knew what was happening [when he was quiet], so I was more aggressive in parts of the test and in the warm-up, and it was much better."

Debbie McDonald is such a fan of her music that she said she planned to listen to it under headphones non-stop on Saturday afternoon and evening. The sassy combination of so-called stripper music and Cabaret show tunes suits the big chestnut mare, who seemed to visibly strut and swagger through her routine. However, their otherwise strong performance was marred in one scary moment when the mare spooked violently at a spectator with a camera in the trees near K and tripped, almost falling to her knees. The pair recovered well, and finished strongly with an excellent piaffe-passage section.

Though she loves her music, it didn't make her any more relaxed especially when they nearly fell. McDonald admitted that she immediately thought of another favorite who had been defeated by an unlucky stumble-Triple Crown hopeful War Emblem.

"I didn't know what happened," she said. "I was thinking 'wow, this feels great,' she was doing her best extension, and then, bam.

"The whole day was very tense for me," admitted McDonald. "I wish it wasn't, but it ain't over 'till the fat lady sings."

"We traded Imodium this morning," joked Blinks, who went on to say "I had my own stuff to carry around today."

Blinks indeed had her own stresses with her horse's uncertain health. While the horse appeared much restored on Sunday, and performed a strong and complex freestyle, including his trademark 23 one-tempis on the centerline, the horse was given IV fluids as soon as the awards ceremony was completed.

"I hope I made the right decision by riding today," said a clearly emotional Blinks. "I had several vets' opinions that he was OK, and he felt normal by the end of the test, but I hope I made the right decision."

Steffen Peters and Grandeur continued their upward climb with a flashy freestyle performed to a combination of Riverdance and Lord of the Dance. The Irish music suits the Thoroughbred-y bay, and his piaffe-passage work was well-synced with the music.

Throughout the trials, the judges couldn't seem to agree on this horse, some placing him quite high, and others quite low. Peters believes it has to do with his tendency to swing in his tempi changes and to pace laterally in his collected walk, and is circumspect about his final placing.

"Today, and all week, he's been very good," he said. "There has been some differences in the judging, but the best thing I can do is learn from the comments. The collected work is an issue-he is clean in his tests but there are things I can't argue with. I would imagine he isn't the easiest horse to judge."

When the dust had settled on Sunday, Brentina and McDonald stood on top with a combined score of 71.216%, followed by Seidel and Nikolaus 7 with 70.671%, Blinks and Flim Flam with 70.385%, Traurig and Etienne with 68.820%, Peters and Grandeur with 67.596%, and Seidel and Foltaire 66.215%.

The top six decided by two weekends of trials will notnecessarily be among those to travel to Europe in search of a team berth. Lisa Wilcox and Relevant made the squad byhaving her qualifying score of 74.299% be two percentage points higher than thefourth placed qualifier at the trials (Traurig and Etienne with 68.820%). This bumped Traurig to fifth, Peters to sixth, and Seidel and Foltaire to seventh. However, Peters has elected not ship Grandeur to Europe, so only four riders will join Wilcox in Europe.

Despite being pushed from that key fourth spot, Traurig was still beaming from ear to ear. "No I don't think [I'm going to improve from 5th place], and my outlook is more long term," she said. "I've got my horse back, and he's finally coming back to his old form. I hope to show at Aachen, and then we'll look to the future. I couldn't be happier."

Those six horses and riders will compete in at least two European shows, at which point the final four will be decided by a selection and veterinary panel.

See the slide show of the Dressage Selection Competition! Click here!