Lexington, KY – The U.S. Para-Equestrian Team continued to make strides in qualifying for the 2012 Paralympic Games by winning Team Gold at the 2011 Melbourne CPEDI3* held in conjunction with the Saddle World Dressage Festival. The U.S. was represented by Donna Ponessa, Becca Hart, Erin Alberda, and Mary Jordan all riding borrowed horses at the competition held December 8-11 at the National Equestrian Centre in Werribee, Victoria. The team win came in spectacular fashion as the four riders earned the highest overall team score that the U.S. has ever produced. Australia place second with New Zealand and Japan placing third and fourth, respectively.
The winning was not limited to the team competition – U.S. riders finished no lower than second in any of the tests they rode. In Grade 1a competition, Ponessa (New Windsor, NY) produced three winning efforts riding Miike Setsuko’s Don Armani to scores of 70.588%, 69.5% and 68.5% in the Team Test, Individual Test and Freestyle, respectively. Alberda of Woodinville, WA, also had a clean sweep of her Grade III division tests scoring 66.913% in the Team Test, 65.556% for the Individual Test and earning a 71.5% Freestyle score with Adele Plumbridge’s Southern Cross Tamaris. Grade IV rider, Jordan (Wells, ME) produced second-place efforts in the Team Test, Individual Test and Freestyle riding Elainie Castiellini’s Northern Charmer to scores of 64.271%, 65.161% and 68%, respectively.
