CDS Dressage Letters August 2021

August 2021 ~ Dressage Letters ~ Page 4 Olympic Team (Eventing rider, Phillip Dutton is 57). Beyond his Olympic credentials Steffen has represented the US at four FEI World Equestrian Games, and two Pan American games. He won team and individual gold at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto. With his longtime mount, Ravel, the KWPN gelding owned by Akiko Yamazaki, he won the FEI World Cup in 2009 and individual bronze at the 2010 WEG in Lexington. He has been recognized for his accomplishments with three USEF Equestrian of the Year titles, in 2008, 2009, and 2011. Steffen began competing across Europe as a 12-year-old from Wessels, Germany. Slated to pursue the family business in retail, he dreamed of horses and sunny California. In the summer of 1984, the 18-year-old moved to San Diego. His family later paid to ship him Udon, purchased by his father when the horse was a 3-year- old. His dad later watched Udon (now owned and sponsored by the late Lila Kommerstad) and his son, who became a U.S. citizen in 1992, win team bronze at the 1996 Atlanta Games. At a 2001 clinic Steffen first met Akiko Yamazaki and the rest is history. In addition to Ravel (see above), Akiko and her Four winds Farms sponsored Steffen on Legolas and his current Olympic partner, Suppenkasper. phenomenal record. They were undefeated in 2020 through the Adequan Global Dressage Festival in Wellington, FL., and the CDI3* at Desert Dressage in Thermal, CA. Suppenkasper was named the 2020 US Dressage Horse of the Year. The pair kicked off 2021 in the same way, winning the FEI Grand Prix and Grand Prix Special CDI4* at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) week 3 and the FEI Grand Prix and Grand Prix Freestyle CDI5* at AGDF 7. They won both the Grand Prix and Special at The CDI3* in Temecula. Steffen and Suppenkasper collected personal best scores of 77.696% in the FEI Grand Prix 79.532% in the FEI Grand Prix Special at the U.S. Dressage Mandatory Observation Event. Peters and his wife Shannon, a U.S. Dressage Federation bronze, silver, and gold medalist and three-time National Championships competitor, operate SPeters Dressage out of Arroyo Del Mar in San Diego, California. Sabine Schut-Kery and Sanceo In 1998 Sabine Schut-Kery came to the US to build her career as a professional dressage trainer. Originally from Krefeld, Germany, she settled first in Texas and later in Thousand Oaks, California. She and her husband, Kristine Kery a Hollywood stuntman now live in Napa. The 18 hand (2008) KWPN, gelding has his own unique history. He was born Danny Boy, which was changed to Sir Lukas before finally landing on Suppenkasper which in German means, ‘fussy eater’. In the stable he’s known as Mopsie. He was selected by Steffen and Akiko with Olympic goals in mind and was purchased and brought to California in 2017. The pair have enjoyed a She gained her early notoriety performing exquisite demonstrations, often in ballgowns and side-saddle at the Del Mar National and World Cup in Las Vegas, but quickly began to concentrate on competitive Dressage, winning numerous US National and Regional titles. Sabine, who is coached by CDS member and Olympian, Christine Trauig has brought Sanceo (2006), a Hanoverian Stallion owned by Alice Womble up from the start of his career as a young horse. She competed the then six-year-old in the Young Horse World Championships in 2012, They won the PSG Developing Horse Championships in 2014 and in 2015 at the Pan American Games in Toronto, brought home a team gold medal. The plan was always to take time and build a top international horse, and the patience has paid off. In 2018, Sabine and Sanceo were part of the winning FEI Nations Cup USAteam inWellington,