Rider Reflections from Rome

Shelly Francis
First USA rider to go on September 30; rode in Grand Prix.

"Pikant felt pretty good in his extended trots, and the extended canter. The pirouettes were better. Some things he's been doing a little better with--like his piaffe has never been easy, and he's doing it better. His changes, he got a little short on them. It wasn't perfect. I'm disappointed, but I'll get over it. I have two other horses I'm bringing along."

Robert Dover
Rode in Grand Prix and Grand Prix Special

After Grand Prix:
"Lennox has a brilliant brain. He lets you completely control things as they're happening. So if you're not sure, or you don't like what's going on, he'll let you manipulate him. He'll let you deal with him throughout the test. It makes him a pleasure to ride."

"Horse per horse, on the two horses left to come [Graf George and Flim Flam], they're as good as anybody else that is out there. Now it's up to the riders to perform in the show ring. The riders have to perform and the horses have to want to go along for the ride."

After Grand Prix Special:
"Today when I got into the oval, I could just feel him start to go. It was a little work through the beginning. But what's lovely with him is that it was very little work through the middle and the end. He's got a really good heart, and he's a real trier. He's a horse that I think will bloom in the next 12 months."

"I think that we are horse for horse as good as the bronze medal team, or better. In all honesty, we have strengths in our team that are of a nature that, this coming year, we'll see more strong horses coming out."
"I would like to see us think about Aachen next year as a mock World Championship. When you do well at Aachen...this year the same exact judges did Aachen and the European championships."
"A championship competition is determined in part by the momentum going in. Part of the momentum is doing Aachen and winning--part of the momentum is going with a team that maybe won the medal before."

Guenter Seidel
Rode in all three tests; 9th place individually

After Grand Prix:
"I actually thought Graf George felt a little better here than in Atlanta. I know him a little better now. I think he's very healthy. He had a good rest in between the trials. For Atlanta, I think I pushed him a little more for the trials. I didn't know the horse as well, and I had to ride him a little more. Now I knew the horse more and I could hold back before the trials and work some toward the final stage."

"Compared to other tests, he stayed very good in the bridle up in the extensions. He felt pretty good in piaffe and passage. I thought the walk work was good. His collected walk was better than it sometimes is."

"I usually have a bad reinback, but it was really good for him this time. A lot of things were very good for him."

Sue Blinks
Rode in all three tests; 12th place individually.

After the Kur:
"I didn't expect to get into the freestyle--I was tickled pink! I need to develop my comfort level in Kurs, but this was icing on the cake. I ran out of horse today, but he went as I hoped and will be two years stronger in Sydney."

"This has been a goal--to be in the top 12 of the world. I'm very lucky that everything added up and I could be here."