The 18 horses and riders participating in the FEI Dressage World Cup Final in Amsterdam, The Netherlands (April 20-23), had a “day off” today (Friday), following Thursday’s Grand Prix and prior to Saturday’s FEI Dressage World Cup Final Grand Prix Freestyle to music, which will decide the winner. Riders were allowed to use the Europahal of the Amsterdam RAI this morning for 90 minutes, with each rider scheduled for a solo five-minute sound-check in the arena and the opportunity to accustom their horses to the ring.

Competition resumes tomorrow morning with the FEI World Cup Dressage B-Final for the six riders who did not make the cut for the FEI World Cup Dressage A-Final. The A-Final will take place in the afternoon with the 12 top riders from the first leg of the competition vying for the World Cup Dressage title.

Special Focus on USA Breakthrough Performance from Arlene Tuny Page
USA rider Arlene ‘Tuny’ Page, 49, of Wellington, Florida, delivered a positively consistent test in the FEI World Cup Grand Prix yesterday riding Wild One. Every movement received a percentage score of 70+ or 71+. The sixth rider on the roster, Page scored 71%, which put her in the lead until the eventual winner, Anky van Grunsven aboard Keltic Salinero, edged her out seven rides later. In the final standings, Page’s score kept her in the top seven against the world’s best horse’s riders – and this is her first outing representing the USA with a “green” Grand Prix horse! It was also the highest score she and Wild One had earned in a CDI. We take this opportunity to share with you Page’s comments about her performance in the FEI World Cup Dressage Final Grand Prix presented by Kampmann.

Page stated immediately that her aim in this competition was to make the cut into the final convincingly. Wild One, it has often been noted, can live up to his name, but in the FEI World Cup Grand Prix he looked polished and practiced, and quite noticeably further developed and improved from just months ago when he was competing on the Florida circuit. “To be honest, I think it’s absolutely normal development of an international horse,” stated Page. “He has all the fire and he has the sensitivity, and because of that, of course he’s not so easy at moments. It’s pretty natural that that would happen.” She acknowledged that she was making the observation from a very positive point of view on this day. “It’s nice to say it now and be able to say he can handle this environment and he can handle the pressure.”

As a rider, Page has a long history in three-day eventing and has spent the past 16 years devoted exclusively to dressage, but a competition such as the World Cup Final can be a bit unnerving for a first-timer – however, not so for Page. She described her first day at the venue when riders were allowed to bring their horses into the Europahal. “You know, it was funny – working in the main arena I had ‘fish legs’ until I cantered. I was too fishy. I [said] I’ve just got to canter until this horse relaxes and my body relaxes a little bit. But there’s no room for you to be nervous and do this right. When I say nervous, I don’t mean do you have butterflies – yes of course, but does it come out in your riding? It better not.”

Page presented a picture of calmness and confidence during her ride in the Grand Prix, and she pinpointed some of the elements that helped her achieve that comfort zone. “The USET Foundation and the USEF and Klaus [Balkenhol, U.S. team coach] and Lars [Petersen, who helps her in Florida] and my family and my friends all had an expectation of this horse and me that was right on par with reality,” she said. “Everybody’s been generous that way. Everybody said, ‘Look, this will be the horse’s first international competition beyond regular CDIs. He’s green and maybe he’s tight, and maybe he makes a few mistakes, but