Steffen Peters and Suppenkasper ©SusanStickle.

Wellington, FL – February 26, 2021 – The USA’s Steffen Peters and Suppenkasper welcomed a victory in the FEI Grand Prix Freestyle CDI5*, presented by CaptiveOne Advisors, in the first “Friday Night Stars” competition of the season. Peters and Suppenkasper, Akiko Yamazaki and Four Winds Farm’s 2008 KWPN gelding by Spielberg, danced under the lights at Equestrian Village to a score of 80.995%.

“There were lots of things that were great,” began Peters. “The piaffe felt really good, great half-passes, the pirouette felt good. To me, one of the highlights of ‘Mopsie’ now, that used to be so difficult, is the collected walk. I used to have to hide that a little bit in the corner, but now I’m doing it on the diagonal because I can really show the relaxation. That might look like a boring movement, but to me it’s huge. Of course, I risked a little bit much in that one extension, so he broke: one little fumble. The rest felt great.”

Despite having no general attendance, the night still had its usual buzz of excitement, and Suppenkasper handled the atmosphere like a pro. Peters rode to a slightly different floor plan than normal, and despite some miscommunication, still pulled off the +80%.

“The floor plan was different this time,” he said. “I do the extended walk 20 meters and then another 20 meters collected walk across the diagonal. So, the half-passes are going the opposite way. I think that was slightly confusing to the judges. There was a little miscommunication before, but it was my fault. I should have been clearer about it.

“One thing you don’t want to do, you don’t want to confuse the judges. And I did,” he said with a smile.

The pair has finished competing at AGDF, and they will resume their training with the hope of making it onto the final USA Dressage shortlist. Peters concluded, “We decided to bubble wrap him from here and preserve him and head back to California next week.”

For more information and results, please visit www.GlobalDressageFestival.com.

Steffen Peters and Suppenkasper. ©SusanStickle.

Wellington, FL – January 30, 2021 – The Adequan® Global Dressage Festival continued on Saturday, January 30, with a consecutive win for the USA’s Steffen Peters and Suppenkasper in the FEI Grand Prix Special CDI4*, presented by Havensafe Farm. Peters and Akiko Yamazaki and Four Winds Farm’s 2008 KWPN gelding by Spielberg topped the class of 11 entries, earning a final score of 75.766%.

“The grand prix special is always my favorite test,” began Peters. “It has those beautiful transitions from extended trot to passage, and then the half-passes are a little easier to ride, so there was a bit more of a throttle there with Mopsie today because he was so relaxed. The passage tour felt really good, and I really thought I had him there for the one tempis – I really collected him on the short side, and then I risked it a little and it was just a tad too much, so we had a small mistake. But he’s done five shows in a row without a single mistake, and at the end of the day I am human, and they’re horses and not machines, so those things happen.”

Peters was happy with his mount’s strengths during the performance and noted his relaxation in the walk and patient transitions into piaffe. He explained, “He walked nicely, which is a challenge for him in the grand prix special because he gets so fired up from all of the extensions and all of the passage, and to get him to relax is not an easy thing. However, he waited patiently for me to ask for the piaffe; he didn’t anticipate it, so overall it was a good test and I’m happy with it.”

The pair won’t be back in the Global Stadium Arena at Equestrian Village until the five-star at AGDF 7, and Peters plans to work with U.S. Dressage coach Debbie McDonald on improvements between now and then. However, he noted, Mopsie will get some time to relax as well.

For more information and results, please visit www.GlobalDressageFestival.com.

Steffen Peters and Suppenkasper. ©SusanStickle.com.

Wellington, FL – January 29, 2021 – The 2021 Adequan® Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) continued competition during AGDF 3 at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) in Wellington, FL on Thursday, January 28, with a red, white, and blue victory for Steffen Peters (USA) and Suppenkasper in the Grand Prix CDI4* for Special, presented by Havensafe Farm.

Peters and Suppenkasper, Akiko Yamazaki and Four Wind Farm’s 2008 KWPN gelding by Spielberg, have notched 16 wins in a row now, concluding their Grand Prix performance with a 76.761% in the Grand Prix CDI4* for Special.

“We had a nice ride this morning,” Peters began. “Usually I work him twice on competition days. He felt great so I did exactly 22 minutes of work at 9:00 am, and 25 minutes in the warm-up today before the test, because sometimes the longer I work him, the hotter he gets. Remembering last year when I went into this ring, he was a firecracker, and the first test we did wasn’t as good. I rode a little bit with that mindset today, and rode a little more conservatively, and he surprised me. I think I could’ve ridden him a little more, but it’s a good start with a clean test, and I’m very happy with him. Usually the wind and cold air bothers him too, so he’s growing up.”

Peters and the gelding took part of the spring off, enjoying California and the break from competition. “I think for both of us it was great to take a break,” he admitted. “I was pretty bummed that the World Cup didn’t happen last year, as that’s always such a highlight riding in front of an American crowd. But then you accept it, and for both of us it was good to take it easy. I enjoyed biking and boating, and Mopsie certainly took it easy in April and May, and then in June we picked it up again a little bit.”

For more information and results, please visit www.GlobalDressageFestival.com.

Steffen Peters on Suppenkasper. ©️Susan Stickle.

Wellington, FL – February 22, 2020 – Steffen Peters (USA) threw his hands in the air as his winning score of 77.106% was announced in the FEI Grand Prix Special CDI5*, presented by Palm Beach Equine Clinic. He was last to go in the class of 11 starters in the five-star week seven of the 2020 Adequan® Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) in Wellington, Florida.

Peters’ score represented a new personal best in this test, and his delight with Suppenkasper, Four Winds Farm’s 12-year-old gelding, was evident as he punched the air. Canada’s Brittany Fraser-Beaulieu rode All In to a new personal best score of 73.447% in this test to finish second, with Sabine Schut-Kery (USA) finishing third on Sanceo with 72.979%.

Despite a mistake in the middle of the one-time changes on the diagonal, this was the first time Peters had broken the 77% barrier and repays the faith he has had in this giant and extraordinarily athletic horse.

“He’s been at 76% for some time,” said a delighted Peters. “I knew there’s a 77% in there and we’re slowly and consistently creeping up, so without the mistake it would have been even higher. It’s so very exciting to see ‘Mopsie’ getting a 77%.

“It felt really good for him to still after four shows have this energy,” added Peters, who is based in California. “The horse has so much go, it’s incredible. I didn’t push him for one single extension; in fact, I was still holding back a little bit.”

The test was fault-free apart from a blip in the middle of the diagonal of one-time changes.

“He’s done six tests without a mistake, so today he was allowed one and I’m not sure it was his mistake; there is always the rider involved too. To be honest, I just did not feel comfortable with the way my underwear was sitting so when I came in, that’s what I was thinking about. Thank god it didn’t cause me more trouble than just a missed one-tempi.”

Watch Steffen Peters’ winning test here. Courtesy of Richard’s Equine Video.

Both Peters and Schut-Kery have been training with Debbie McDonald while in Wellington, and the legendary trainer identified what went wrong for Peters in the flying changes right away.

“Debbie said she thought that before the one-tempis, I rode him just a little too forward on the short side to get a bit more energy and ride the one-tempis with risk,” explained Peters, who was on the bronze-medal winning USA team at the Rio Olympics in 2016. “She’s absolutely right that I didn’t need to do that.”

For more information and results, visit www.globaldressagefestival.com.

Steffen Peters and Suppenkasper. ©️Susan Stickle.

Wellington, FL – February 20, 2020 – It was a bonanza day of grand prix level action on the second day of week seven of the 2020 Adequan® Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) in Wellington, Florida. There were four classes contested at the level, two three-star classes, and two five-star.

In the five-star ranks, it was Steffen Peters (USA) who topped the FEI Grand Prix CDI5*, presented by Palm Beach Equine Clinic, which was a qualifier for the FEI Grand Prix Special CDI5* on Saturday. The 55-year-old California-based rider rode Suppenkasper to their third highest career grand prix score, leading the field of 12 with 76.239%, just 0.63% shy of their best ever in this test, which they laid down in AGDF week five. The pair is unbeaten in their seven starts so far this year.

Both second-placed Sabine Schut-Kery (USA) and Canada’s Brittany Fraser-Beaulieu posted identical scores on the board of 73.674%, so the standings were decided by the only collective mark. Schut-Kery’s rider mark on Sanceo was higher than Fraser-Beaulieu’s on All In, shoring up the final placings.

Peters, whose bond with Suppenkasper, Four Winds Farm’s 18.2hh gelding by Spielberg, is going from strength to strength, said: “He was great, even more relaxed than last time. I rode the first pirouette just a tiny bit too late and then I didn’t have enough time to prepare the change at X so it got a little crooked and it wasn’t a good score. The rest was very clean.

Watch Steffen Peters’ winning test here. Courtesy of Richard’s Equine Video.

“The passage and piaffe felt better. I’m able to ride the piaffe a little bit more in place. Debbie [McDonald] and I have been working on it. That’s been so much fun. It’s amazing the work and the collaboration with Debbie here in Wellington. She deserves a huge part of that 76%.”

He elaborated on the training the pair have been doing on Suppenkasper’s piaffe, adding: “He’s so eager to go forward. The horse has so much tremendous power; there was not a single moment where I was pushing him. His desire, even in the piaffe, is to go forward. So I ride it – I do five or six steps, and then I halt. Instead of leaping forward into trotting or running into the passage, we halt or even rein-back and say, ‘Listen buddy, we stay here a little longer.’ That wasn’t possible even six months ago, so it’s a huge step ahead.”

For more information and results, visit www.globaldressagefestival.com.

Steffen Peters and Suppenkasper. ©️Susan Stickle.

Wellington, FL – February 7, 2020 – It was the second last to go who captured the imagination of judges and the crowd alike in the FEI Grand Prix Freestyle CDI-W, presented by Helgstrand Dressage. Steffen Peters (USA) and the 18.2hh Suppenkasper showed a jaw-dropping degree of difficulty in their winning test — including a canter pirouette into piaffe into walk — to claim the winner’s cooler with a new personal best of 83.495%. Their previous best was 80.99%, awarded in California in April 2019.

In cool conditions but under clear skies, 15 combinations battled it out in week five’s showcase class under lights at the 2020 Adequan® Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) in Wellington, Florida.

Olivia LaGoy-Weltz (USA) finished second on Lonoir (79.365%), with Denmark’s Agnete Kirk Thinggaard filling third with 77.635% on Blue Hors Zatchmo. Both the top two horses were bought through class sponsor Helgstrand Dressage, who has recently opened a new sales barn near the AGDF venue in Wellington.

Of his test on the 18.2hh son of Spielberg, Peters said: “It felt wonderful. I knew when the music started and he was still walking — usually we’re piaffing and passaging with one hind leg going to the moon — from then on I knew there was a very good chance that he would just stand still. From there he was right with the music the entire time.

“This is one of those freestyles that I’ve visualized for many days — many mornings, many nights, throughout dark times — and it worked out beautifully,” added the 55-year-old, whose result qualified him for the FEI World Cup™ Final in Las Vegas in April. “There were a few tears that I wiped away. I kept telling Mopsie, ‘It looks like we’re going to Vegas.’ I told him that a bunch of times, but I think I was a bit more excited about it than he was. The bottom line is that it’s a huge accomplishment and something we dreamed of every single day. It’s hard to describe what that feels like when you go through a difficult time and your horse is so therapeutic.

Watch Steffen Peters’ winning test here. Courtesy of Richard’s Equine Video.

Peters rode to a new soundtrack and floorplan, but the canter music is that same as he used for Ravel, on whom he won the FEI World Cup™ Final in 2009. He will remain in Wellington and contest the CDI5* in week seven (February 19-23) and the Nations Cup show in week 10 (March 10-15) before returning home to California.

He added: “There were difficult movements tonight, but the relaxation of this horse was tremendous. It is always an amazing pleasure to ride here. It was eight years ago today at the World Dressage Masters that I won in Wellington. I’ve never won the freestyle here and the experience was amazing. I was excited to go back on the long side [after the test] to shake a few hands, and that felt really good. There are only so many of us, but there were hundreds of spectators and they made it happen. We’re only a small part of it, and it felt good to give a little bit back to them.”

For more information and results, visit www.globaldressagefestival.com.

Steffen Peters and Suppenkasper. ©️Susan Stickle.

Wellington, FL – February 6, 2020 – It was a head-to-head between two titans in the FEI Grand Prix CDI-W, presented by Helgstrand Dressage. The two as-yet unbeaten USA pairings of Steffen Peters (Suppenkasper) and Olivia LaGoy-Weltz (Lonoir) tussled for the top spot on the opening day’s action of week five of the 2020 Adequan® Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) in Wellington, Florida.

It was Peters, the last to go of the 23 combinations, who stamped his authority on the class, claiming victory with a new personal best of 76.869% on Four Winds Farm’s 18.2hh gelding by Spielberg — including a high score of 79.13% from Swiss judge Hans Voser. The test was peppered with eights and nines for a wide variety of the high-quality work.

“Every show has been getting a little bit better,” said the 55-year-old California rider, who has built the giant horse’s confidence brick by brick in the early part of the AGDF 2020 season. “I was super excited because in the walk I heard the tents flapping, but ‘Mopsie’ didn’t hear it and that’s a huge step forward because that really threw him off the first week when we competed here. The Wellington arena is the plan to give him the exposure for the future.

“When a horse is this rideable, so soft in the contact, so perfect in the frame, he goes forward at any time, he comes back at any time, he goes sideways at any time so easily — so extremely rideable — it’s a feeling that you can’t give less then a 10,” he added. “I wish the judges could experience the incredible feeling that this horse can give.”

Watch Steffen Peters’ winning test here. Courtesy of Richard’s Equine Video.

Despite career-high scores, Peters feels that there is still even more to come from the 12-year-old as he continues to gain in confidence in the ring: “It’s super exciting to get a 79% from one judge. Both Debbie [McDonald] and I feel that there might be an 80% in there and it doesn’t hurt to dream about and visualise that. The goal is there.”

The top 15 combinations from this class return on Friday night to contest the FEI World Cup™ Grand Prix Freestyle, presented by Helgstrand Dressage, to music under lights and in front of packed stands.

Friday night’s freestyle will present unique challenges for the incredibly sensitive and reactive Suppenkasper, but Peters asserts that everyone will know right away how the horse is coping with the atmosphere: “The first halt will tell everything,” he explained. “If I get him to stand still right at the beginning of the arena, we’re starting with a huge extended trot, then coming to the piaffe. If those early movements work, I think most likely we’re in good shape. But it’s a huge hurdle.

“If it goes great, then that’s the ticket to the World Cup™ Final in Vegas [in April]. Some people say you can’t talk that way or you’ll jinx it, but I’ve learnt to dream more, visualize more — and why shouldn’t it happen tomorrow night? I have amazing memories from 2009 [when Peters won the Final on Ravel] and I look at the picture on my phone of me holding up that World Cup trophy every single morning. I have a certain routine from lots of coaches and I listen to people like Denzel Washington, Oprah Winfrey, and Morgan Freeman who motivate me. I go through that routine every single morning,” concluded Peters, who was on the bronze medal-winning USA team at the Rio Olympic Games in 2016.

For more information and a full list of results, visit www.globaldressagefestival.com.