Versailles, France - The U.S. Dressage Team finished their time at Paris 2024 with the final U.S. combination of Steffen Peters and Suppenkasper completing their FEI Grand Prix test. The pair finished with a 66.491% after a difficult final line and some bobbles during their test. At the current time, neither Adrienne Lyle or Steffen Peters are qualified for the FEI Grand Prix Freestyle, but Lyle and Helix are the second reserve for the class, so will re-inspect on Sunday.
"I deeply share Steffen's disappointment with his ride today, especially taking into consideration what this combination has done for this sport, our country, and worldwide, bringing so much positive engagement to and energy to dressage over the past few years," said Chef d'Equipe Christine Traurig. "It became obvious to me during their test, Mopsie was not himself today. Once he returned to stabling after cool down, he was taken care of by his team and our team USEF veterinarian and is starting to feel more himself which is the most important thing."
Peters (San Diego, Calif.) and Suppenkasper started off their test well, with "Mopsie" earning strong marks in the beginning trot tour, but some additional bobbles throughout the test started to impact their score. After their final trot extension across the diagonal, Mopsie spotted something in the crowd, which spooked him, according to Peters, which resulted in a very costly last centerline.
“It was tough,” Peters said. “[He was] a little too much on fire. He’s been in places like this before, and I thought right after the walk I had him, and he got more and more excited, and even on the last extension he was drifting a little right. He saw something on the short side, and [it] gave him from behind so much energy for that last passage, and I knew that could be trouble for the last piaffe."
The FEI Grand Prix Special for Team Medals will begin at 10:00 a.m. GMT+2/4:00 a.m. ET on Saturday, August 3, while the FEI Grand Prix Freestyle for Individual Medals will start at 10:00 a.m. GMT+2/4:00 a.m. ET on Sunday, August 4.