With two riders making the cut for the Grand Prix freestyle at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, the U.S. efforts in the discipline are being noticed internationally.
Laura Graves and Verdades brought international attention to U.S. dressage during the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in France last week CAEN, France -- U.S. dressage is on the way up at last.
The unheralded Laura Graves was a sensation last week at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, finishing fifth in the Grand Prix freestyle on Verdades and helping the U.S. end up fourth in the team competition.
Few, with the exception of coach Robert Dover, believed the squad could get that close to the podium, dominated as expected by Germany, Great Britain and the Netherlands -- gold, silver and bronze.
U.S. dressage for the most part has been in the international doldrums at championship team competitions since the squad earned a bronze medal at the 2006 WEG.
"We're fourth, and on the rise," Dover said, noting many gave Spain, Sweden and Denmark a better chance than the U.S. for the fourth-place spot at these world championships.
But he said attitude played a big part in the country's success at d'Ornano Stadium.
"We don't go there to take part. We go there to win."
He conceded, however, that "Winning is a relative notion when you have countries as deep in 80 percentile horses as Germany, Holland and Great Britain. For me, fourth, was, in a weird way, like winning a gold medal -- for where we are, relative to where we were.
"I'm very conscious of where we will be next year for the Pan American Games and in two years in Rio (the 2016 Olympics in Brazil).
In addition to Graves, Adrienne Lyle -- another under-30 rider -- contributed to the team medal with Wizard, as did Steffen Peters, the number one dressage rider in the U.S., on Legolas. The fourth team member, Olympic and WEG veteran Tina Konyot, had the drop score with Calecto V, who is retiring to stud, and did not break 70 percent.
Graves came from out of nowhere. She barely qualified to ride in June's selection trials in Gladstone, N.J., but her second-place finish there to Peters put her on the team.
The shows she attended in July and early August in Europe marked her first time competing abroad, but it was under the intense pressure of the WEG that the slender rider really shone on her big bay horse.
Everyone wanted to know who she was. To make a long story short, her family had little money to invest in a horse, so they bought the six-month-old Verdades after seeing a video of him. Graves has worked with the horse for 12 years, earning extra money by waitressing and bartending after going to cosmetology school.
That is not the usual route for successful dressage riders, who often have sponsors behind them and spend time training in Europe.
Graves stayed in the U.S., becoming a working student for former U.S. coach Anne Gribbons, who helped her bring the horse to the Grand Prix level.
Now she operates her own business in Florida and trains with U.S. developing coach Debbie McDonald, once the country's top rider in the discipline.
Graves was completely unflappable, even in the midst of 20,000-plus spectators, and her horse was the same.
She was busy trying to figure out her score after she finished her freestyle when it was announced in French, until finally someone showed her a score sheet and she learned she had passed the 80 percent milestone for the first time, earning 82.036 percent.
That was a little more than 10 percentage points away from the winner, Great Britain's Charlotte Dujardin (92.161 percent), who now has swept the Olympic, European and world championship titles with Valegro. But she's been at it a lot longer than Graves.
"It's a great feeling," said Graves of her WEG experience.
"I'm excited to see where this can go. Just because your horse is talented doesn't mean you're going to get the big scores right away. It has to be reliable, it has to be strong, it has to be relaxed." All of that describes her freestyle performance.
She noted that one of the nicer things for her was that she came with no expectations, never having through she'd get to the trials, let alone the team. and then go to Europe.
"It makes everything a little more playful than just pressure. When you're at the bottom, which I feel like I've been at the bottom for a long time, there's no pressure because there's nowhere to go but up," she said.
"But once you start doing well, there becomes some pressure to keep performing."
In the meantime, she says, all she wants to do is "enjoy this moment."
Wim Ernes, the Dutch coach who is also a judge, sees that America is improving.
"You are doing a good job at the moment. The level is coming up, and with a new promising horse, together with some experienced ones, you can really come up in the rankings again," he believes.
Maribel Alonso of Mexico, one of the WEG judges, thinks Graves is a key to improving American dressage.
"Laura Graves and this horse are amazing," she said.
"I think you have a star there that will help the development of the sport. It sets an example."
Asked about the difference between U.S. morale during the 2012 Olympics in London, where the team finished sixth, and this WEG, Peters,10th in the freestyle, said, "It's very simple. We knew we had a chance again. We knew coming to London that fourth place, even fifth place. was difficult, but we still trained as if we could win a medal. But now there's much more of a reality there, and that's a wonderful feeling."
ON THE RAIL -- One of the USA's most promising eventing horses, Crown Talisman, has been sold by Doug Payne to British rider Nick Gauntlett
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Payne, who recently moved to North Carolina from New Jersey, was reluctant to let the talented mount go, but he wants to use the money to buy acreage behind the farm that he and his wife, Jess, are renting, so they have a place for their future.
Of Tali, he said, "I’m as attached to him as much as I’ve ever been to a horse. He has been with me now for six years, from his very first event to Saumur this spring.
"The thought of selling him has literally woken me up multiple times during the past few weeks. However, after speaking to a number of people I respect, both in and out of the horse world, I’m confident this is the right decision. Certainly doesn’t make it an easy one."
He is comforted, however, by the fact that Gauntlett is a good horseman and his riding style suits Tali.
It is the second time Payne has been parted from a horse who looked as if he were headed to the top. Running Order, an Irishbred he took to the 4-star level, was sold by Patti Springsteen to a client of British rider William Fox-Pitt, and has since moved on to another British rider, Harry Meade.
NEW JERSEY ACTIVITIES SCHEDULE
Today: Dressage at Stone Tavern, Horse Park of New Jersey, Route 524, Allentown; CJL Farm Show, Baymar Farms, 38 Harbor Road, Morganville.
Tomorrow: Jump for Jersey Event Derby, Christie Hoffman Farm Park, Fairmount Road West, Tewksbury; Briarwood Farm Show, Black River Farm, 20 Boss Road, Ringoes.
Thursday: Woodedge Show, 116A Borton Landing Road, Moorestown (through next Sunday).
Saturday: Carousel Farm Dressage Show, 8 Linn Smith Road, Augusta; Saddlebrook Ridge Dressage Show, 10 Saddlebrook Court, Shamong; Standardbred Pleasure Horse Organization Show, Horse Park of New Jersey, Route 524, Allentown (through next Sunday); West Milford Equestrian Center Show, 367 Union Valley Road, Newfoundland;
Next Sunday: Delaware Valley Horseman's Association Driving Show, DVHA Showgrounds, 299 Ringoes-Rosemont Road, Sergeantsville; Lord Stirling Stable Private Horse Hunter Pace, 256 S. Maple Ave., Basking Ridge; Monmouth County Horse Show, East Freehold Showgrounds, Kozloski Road, Freehold.
Nancy Jaffer may be reached at nancyjaffer@comcast.net.