The dressage justice in the world continued last night. In a fiercely difficult freestyle, Ravel and Steffen delivered a World Cup Championship performance.
It was one of those nights where the planets aligned. How lucky are we to have been a part of it? Ravel got better, and better, and better throughout the Freestyle and they brought down the house for the US.
To the music of the Rolling Stones' Sympathy for the Devil, Ravel, who had an introduction to the world in Hong Kong last summer, set the record straight.
Seven months after their trip to China, history was rewritten.
I ran from the stands down to the in-gate and ran into Rafa, he and Ravel were speechless. The only words out of my mouth are not able to be printer in a PG-13 rated blog. It was just that good.
Watching Steffen watch Anky's test after his rider was beyond painful, always as cool as ice – every nerve was raw. When they announced her score, the tunnel (between the warm-up and the arena) nearly exploded.
The prize giving was unbelievable, Ravel stood like a stone and Steffen said it was so loud on the floor it was overpowering.
Steffen then did scores of interviews, and lived the life of a real life celebrity. The classiest of acts, he took it all in and now both he and his wife Shannon have gorgeous Rolex watches.
When I left him, he still couldn't believe that it had happened.
Before the class started, Steffen and Shannon came up and watched the national anthem, he got a big high five from George Morris on his way out to the barn, and you just got the feeling that it was going to work out.
Earlier in the day, Sapphire was gracious enough to do a video interview with Sarah Lane and one of her best friends, Erica McKeever. Erica and her husband Lee have worked for the Wards for 20 years, and has looked after (and ridden Sapphire since the beginning) McLain then came and signed at the booth armed with one of the McKeever children and a skateboard. == tried to beg a jacket off me at the USEF booth and then the rest of the McKeever family showed up with Lauren Ward (McLain's wife) and seemed to be having a pretty fun time as spectators.
Armed with a bucket of popcorn, the McKeevers went in to watch dressage, Lee could not understand how it could possibly take two hours for 11 horses to go in dressage land, but they stayed until the end and watched Ravel.
They too were rewarded for their patience.
And hopefully will be again later today.