Dressage trainer Todd Flettrich and his mount Otto, owned by Cherry Knoll Farm, had an exciting victory in Friday afternoon's FEI Grand Prix de Dressage at the Gold Coast Opener Festival in Wellington, FL. Competing in the main arena at the Jim Brandon Equestrian Center, Flettrich and Otto completed their Grand Prix test with a score of 67.8% for the overall victory, and qualified to compete in Saturday's Grand Prix Special following the win.

Otto, a 13-year-old Danish Warmblood, was purchased by Cherry Knoll Farm in 2009, and Flettrich has worked on forming a good partnership with the horse over the last year. Flettrich was very pleased with his test and thought that Otto was great for his first show back since Devon. "My goal truly was not to make any mistakes, and I was a bit nervous myself because I haven't shown since Devon, and I didn't have any kind of practice run," Flettrich noted. "I felt a little bit ill-prepared, but I really was very happy with him. Otto definitely has more in him than I did today, but he did everything that I asked, and I achieved my goal."

Flettrich and Otto will compete in the Grand Prix Special Saturday afternoon, and Flettrich explained that he would like to work out the little kinks and be more confident in the test. "I thought that Otto was a bit conservative himself actually in that indoor today. The weather kind of changed, and he certainly kept pressing on and performing, but I thought that he wasn't quite as good as he is at home, so that is my goal for tomorrow," Flettrich stated.

"The Special is a very nice test for him. The test is difficult. It's a longer, busier test with many more transitions and lots of forward and back and piaffe transitions, but Otto's talent is definitely his piaffe and passage, so I feel very confident going into tomorrow's competition. Otto is a great horse, I love him, and I am grateful to have him," Flettrich concluded with a smile.

Todd Flettrich is based in Wellington, FL, has earned his United States Dressage Federation (USDF) Silver and Gold medals, and is a graduate of the USDF 'L' Judge Program. Flettrich competed at the North American Young Riders Championships (NAYRC) four times and won the Individual Gold medal and Team Silver in 1991. Flettrich served as Region 1 Coach and Chef d'Equipe at NAYRC from 1988 through 1994. His student, Catherine Malone, won the Individual Gold in 2005. Flettrich's current mounts are owned by Cherry Knoll Farm. For more information, call Todd Flettrich at (484) 459-2749.