Dressage
Grand Prix - Wed. 11 & Thur. 12 September 2002
Grand Prix Special Friday 13th September.
Grand Prix Kür - Sunday 15th September 2002
by Berni Saunders Report - Page 14

The top 25 combinations go through to the Grand Prix Special
and the top 15 horses from this competition go through to the Kür
and I will cover all 3  performances for the top horses.

Special - As with the Grand Prix - it was hard to find too much wrong that may have lost them marks - it was a great test for a score of 75.68% and moving them up one place to 4th at this point.

Grand Prix Kür - I thought that Lisa chose music which was most suitable.  It was light and tinkly and went so well with the lightness and beauty of her horse.  The Passage had a couple of swinging steps but the Piaffe was very strong. Beautiful sting music accompanied the walk.  The canter work was great - and the pirouettes were very nicely done. It was so well choreographed with a wonderful choice of music it scored 82.70% and I was left feeling how did they lose 17.30% - it was perfect.  The finished in 5th place overall - a great result from all members of the USA team who have really challenged the 'unbeatable' Germans.

Brentina and Debbie put together a fantastic Grand Prix test - the trot work was particularly nice - Brentina is so strong and regular in her paces.  The Piaffe and Passage were also very good - I could not help but think that this could easily have marked 1 or more % higher - Debbie is to be congratulated for such a great job.  The score was 74.64% and this put them into 3rd place after the first round.

Special:  Their Special ride was very similar and extremely well presented and prepared.  I must confess that I have only become aware of this combination in quite recent times, and was not aware of just how good they are.   It is very exciting to see some new faces on the international Dressage scene.   The Special score was 76/12% and this kept them in 3rd place.

Grand Prix Kür The musical choice for the canter was very nice - it was a medley from old and classic movies. "Who could ask for Anything More" - it was swinging and bright and well suited the timing of Bretina's paces.   'You make me feel so young"  and "It aint necessarily so" for the walk and "Fascinatin' Rhythm" - it was really toe tapping ... and this adds such a lot to the personal enjoyment and involvement  of the spectators in the performance.  Technically Brentina's work was very strong the canter includes the 2 time changes on a circle and the final Piaffe on the circle was difficult to fault.   For me it was a perfect performance.  Rusty had worked two horses earlier and there was a delay in getting his score announced.  The scored for Rusty and Brentina were announced at almost the same time and when Brentina's was called - 82.700% the crowd booed and voiced their disapproval - I would have not like to explain why Rusty got 83.775% for his Freestyle - it was good but not over 1% better than Brentina's  This talented new combination finished in 4th place overall and I am sure they will be on the winners dais very soon - congratulations Debbie - a great test.

The Grand Prix test was strong - apart from the first halt at X when Rusty walked a few steps in the transition - the rest of this performance was hard to fault.   The Half Passes were beautifully flowing and the power and strength the is the hallmark of Rusty's work is so very pleasant to watch.  A great score of 75.64% has them in second place after the first round of competition.

Special:  This was also a lovely test for the most part, but Rusty did show some resistance to the spur in Piaffe which would be responsible for the loss of marks to a score of 74.12%.  This meant that their position went down to 5th after the second phase in this competition.

Grand Prix Kür:  Ulla used her Sydney 2000 music - I would have thought that these tunes would send shivers down her spine !  When they came to the walk I could feel the music wanted to sop as it has done on each of the 100 times that I have watched that performance on video - not so today.  It was a foot perfect and well executed performance.  The music was obviously professionally prepared for Rusty as it matches his timing perfectly - they scored 83.775% which escalated their placing from 5th after the Special to 3rd overall.