Mill Spring, N.C. – Twelve athlete-and-horse pairs contesting the Perrigo CPEDI3* at Tryon Summer Dressage completed their FEI Individual Tests on Friday night under the lights at the Tryon International Equestrian Center. This event serves as the final observation event ahead of team selection for the Tokyo Paralympics.
Roxanne Trunnell (Royal Palm Beach, Fla.) and Karin Flint and Flintwoode Farms LLC’s Hanoverian gelding, Dolton, showed why they’re the FEI’s top-ranked para dressage pair in the world, turning in a characteristic clean and flowing Grade I test for a score of 82.5%.
“Dolton was so wonderful tonight. I couldn’t be happier with that giant goofball,” said Trunnell. “He was really wanting to walk forward and keep his head in that FEI headset while reaching for the bit, which was outstanding since my trainer Andrea Woodward and I have been working really hard to get all these pieces to work together at the same time. It was like tonight it clicked for us and we went out and put in one of our best tests.”
Trunnell and Dolton are one of four combinations in the Adequan® U.S. Para Dressage Team at Tryon this week. Teammate Sydney Collier (Ann Arbor, Mich.) and Going For Gold LLC’s Hanoverian gelding All In One also contested the FEI Grade I Individual Test, posting a score of 70.060 for a second place finish in the division.
Rebecca Hart (Loxahatchee, Fla.) had a busy evening with two horses in the Grade III. With her team horse, Rowan O’Riley’s Dutch Warmblood gelding, El Corona Texel, she finished with a score of 70.245. This put Hart and Tex in second place for the Grade III behind Hart and her other horse, Fortune 500, an Oldenburg gelding also owned by O’Riley.
Rounding out the team, Kate Shoemaker and Solitaer 40, the Hanoverian gelding she co-owns with Craig and Deena Shoemaker, turned in an exceptional ride in the Grade IV to earn a 73.049%.
Competition continues Saturday, June 19 at 8:30 p.m. EDT with the FEI Team Tests. Watch live and on-demand on USEF Network presented by Perrigo.
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