At the 2009 Dressage World Cup in Las Vegas, that's where. My best girlfriend and I headed out to the desert last week for a few days of horsey fun. There were lots of horses and we had lots of fun, so I'd say we accomplished our goals.
I love accomplishing things, don't you? It gives me such as sense of...accomplishment.
The FEI World Cup Dressage Final started in 1986, but this is only the fourth time it's been held in the US. It rotates around to different countries, unlike baseball's World Series, whose name I'm still trying to figure out. Can you really call something a "World Series" if you don't actually allow any other countries to compete? But I digress.
Anyway, the US won after-the-fact in 2003 when the actual winner, from Germany, was disqualified due to minute amounts of testosterone in the horse's bloodstream. It was an icky situation all round, because everyone agreed that the amounts were so small that they probably got there unintentionally and had no effect on the horse's performance. But the FEI has a zero-tolerance policy, so the silver medal winners (Debbie McDonald and Brentina) were awarded the gold.
Other than the 2003 win, the competition has always been dominated by Germany and the Netherlands. They have the benfeit of a centuries-old breeding program and their horses get to compete in front of large, noisy crowds all the time, so they're typically not fazed by the commotion in an indoor venue like the Thomas & Mack Center. The US is competitive, but we usually have to settle for third or fourth.
Not anymore!
For the first time, the US won outright, with Germany in second and the Netherlands in third. We were all pretty excited when the US rider, Steffen Peters, won the first round on Thursday. Then on Saturday night, all the riders performed their freestyles to music. For those non-dressage people out there, a freestyle is a ride where the rider gets to choose the music and choreography, and they're judged on artistic merit as well as technical details. It's kind of like the freestyle section of ice skating without the tights. There are certain moves that must be performed, but when and how many times they're done is up to the rider.
Here's Steffen's winning freestyle:
And in case he's making it look too easy, just imagine trying to control 1500 lbs of hyped-up muscle with nothing but your weight, legs and hands. Unless you're a meatpacker or a rider, you have no idea how difficult it is. And a meatpacker doesn't have to look elegant at the same time. Come to think of it, their muscle isn't moving, either. So that probably makes it easier, right?
But I'm digressing again.
In addition to the main competition, there was also a small Pas de Deux class. That's where two horses and riders do a freestyle together, in costume. It's just as difficult as a regular freestyle, except that now you have to keep in sync with another rider, as well. It's popular with over-achievers and masochists. The winning couple this year (Elizabeth Ball and Guenther Siedel) are both Grand Prix riders, and Guenther has been on our Olympic team three times. So I guess they're over-achievers AND masochists. Anyway, here's the ride:
I'll post more photos over the next few days, and I promise I'll include some of people without horses. Personally, I can't imagine why anyone would want such a thing, but I guess it takes all sorts.
In the meantime, here are some cool links if you want more info about the World Cup:
- World Cup website
- Past Winners
- Wikipedia "dressage" entry
- USA Today article on Steffen's win
- Dressage Daily coverage
