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. AGDF 3 continues through Sunday, January 31, and the circuit hosts 10 weeks of international and national dressage competition until April 4. Free live streaming and on-demand of select classes are available to view at GlobalDressageFestival.com.
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, presented by Havensafe Farm.
“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.”
Peters continued, “If you look at the world, there’s nothing good about COVID because we’ve lost so many people, and there is so much tragedy, but I think it really opened up my eyes. When I wake up in the morning and I can take a deep breath, I can appreciate those things. I wake up with more gratitude every single day, and I think that shows a little bit in the riding. If I have a ride that didn’t go that well, it’s not as significant now.”
