Aachen, Germany – The Dutta Corp. U.S. Dressage Team took seventh place in the FEI Dressage Nations Cup CDIO5* at CHIO Aachen, finishing on a final team total of 427.048. Denmark took top honors on a team final of 459.412, with Germany securing second place on a 454.903. Sweden finished in third with a combined team total of 440.499. The team was led by Chef d’Equipe George Williams.

"While our goal is always to come into these major CDIO5* competitions in Europe and be as competitive as possible, we also had the opportunity to learn this week, which will benefit us greatly in the future," said Chef d'Equipe George Williams. "We saw some expensive mistakes which impacted our scores but leading into the FEI Dressage World Championships later this summer, it is important that we are able to identify where and how we can improve in the weeks ahead, which is one of the key learnings from this competition, as we continue to prepare for selection for the championship this summer."

Following the FEI Grand Prix tests on Wednesday, the team returned to Deutsche Bank Stadium for the FEI Grand Prix Special to determine team medals and overall final results. Ben Ebeling (Moorpark, Calif.) and Indeed, a 2008 Danish Warmblood mare owned by Vantage Equestrian, improved on their marks from earlier in the week and received a 68.064 percent as the first combination in the ring for the team.

Katie Duerrhammer (Greenwood Village, Colo.) rode Quartett to a beautiful test, maximizing the opportunity of their first experience in the atmosphere of Aachen. The pair delivered a mistake-free test in the Special, but were unfortunately eliminated after Quartett, a 2008 Bradenburg gelding owned by Kylee Lourie, tripped on the final extended trot, biting his lip. Upon inspection post-test, the stewards found trace amounts of blood from the cut, ultimately forcing elimination for Duerrhammer and Quartett.

Going third in the order, Charlotte Jorst (Reno, N.V.) and Kastel’s Nintendo, her own 2003 Dutch Warmblood stallion, received a 68.298 percent from the judging panel. The pair’s test had a few mistakes and Jorst was rung by the judges for an error in the test.

As the anchor combination, Steffen Peters (San Diego, Calif.) and Suppenkasper, a 2008 Dutch Warmblood gelding owned by Akiko Yamazaki, earned a 72.404 percent to bring the team to its final total score. The pair overcame a few mistakes in their trot work and one tempis to finish in 13^th place overall.

Results
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