EQUITANA AUSTRALIA - MELBOURNE NOVEMBER 18-21 2010
Melbourne Showgrounds - Presented by The Weekly Times
STEFFEN PETERS |
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Steffen Peters grew up in Germany and was always horse mad. When he was 16 his father purchased Udon, a 3YO KWPN gelding for Steffen to train and compete. Udon was by the Dutch stallion Darling Boy. Steffen settled in to life in the USA and the American dressage community warmly embraced the enthusiastic German. In 1992 Steffen became a US citizen. Steffen loved the American sense of patriotism and a highlight of his career was being part of the Bronze Medal US team at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, riding his German partner Udon. Steffen went on to form a history making relationship with a horse belonging to a student - this "aged" gelding really had something and quickly developed into superstar under the guidance of Mr Peters. At 17 years of age the attractive Westfalian gelding Floriano partnered Steffen to be the alternative horse and rider for the Bronze Medal US Team. In 2005 Steffen and Floriano visited Germany together and put the leading dressage nation on notice that they were HERE by winning the CDIO Grand Prix competition at the famed Aachen Showgrounds. The following year, and again at Aachen, Steffen and Floriano turned heads at the World Equestrian Games and their performance was noted by the expects as a fine example of sympathetic riding, which preserves the horse physique and spirit - Floriano looked like a horse half his age and Steffen was delighted to be in his homeland under such commendable circumstances. 2007 was another milestone year as Steffen Peters won the US Freestyle Championship, which qualified him to take part at the World Cup in Las Vegas, where he brought home the Silver Medal for his wonderful ride in the Grand Prix. Germany's Isabell Werth on Warum Nicht were the victors on this occasion. In 2008 Steffen made a glorious, but controversial appearance at the Beijing Olympic Games and threw down a challenge to the dressage hierarchy that he was still "HERE". His performances saw him right up there and challenging the German rider Heike Kemmer for an Individual Bronze Medal. Steffen rode the test of his life - as did Heike, and it would have been difficult to pick the best of these two riders based on their Freestyle performances. In the early stages of Steffen's test the US contingent were sublimly confident - this was a winning ride! However the German judge marked Steffen well down, and as the marks were very close, this discrepancy in the judges' opinions cost him an Olympic Medal. However, Steffen was very pleased with Ravel and seemed to take this situation as a challenge to show the world their true talent. In April 2009 Steffen and Ravel again appeared at the World Cup Final in Las Vegas and all of the disappointments of Beijing faded into the distance as they came through as the World Cup Champions of Freestyle Dressage. Steffen has already been to Australia, where he conducted Riders' clinics - his teachings were enthusiastic, articulate and compassionate to both horses and riders and he has been put forward as a perfect coach for Australia one day. We are so lucky to have him as part of 2010 EQUITANA Melbourne and surely Steffen will help to make this a memorable occasion for all dressage enthusiasts. Steffen Peters will be in Melbourne from the 18th - 21st of November and he will present a specialist dressage clinic on how to train dressage horses from Preliminary to Grand Prix level and he will also participate in the daily Education Program, where he will deliver various dressage training sessions and presentations during the show. View this story on Cyberhorse website |
ACE Radio Interview 1 July 2010
