U.S. League Finals for Dressage World Cup
U.S. Freestyle Championships
by Norma Parrie

On the weekend of February 28th and 29th Sue and I traveled to Burbank, CA to watch the United States Freestyle Championship and U.S. League Finals for the Dressage World Cup. The event was held at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center in Burbank. This is a very impressive venue unlike any facility available in the Bay Area. The competition attracted many familiar names, but most notable were Debbie McDonald, Leslie Morse, Steffen Peters and Guenter Seidel.

We arrived Friday evening especially to watch the Quadrille demonstration slated at the end of the day's competiton. Although the demonstration put on by a local juniors group was disappointing, we were treated to an impressive FEI Quadrille performance by Steffen Peters, Jan Ebeling, Leslie Morse, and Leslie Web, who thrilled us with coordinated upper level movements. Quadrille is actively being campaigned to be added as an Olympic event. The hope is that Quadrille will enhance the sport of Dressage as an Olympic game and attract more spectator participation to our beloved sport. At present, Sue is actively soliciting interested riders to participate in developing a Quadrille group in the Dixon area. Please contact her if you have an interest. Sue developed a junior's Quadrille group that successfully competed in 2001, taking 2nd place in the CDS Championships with a score of 72.22 and winning the California Quadrille Association's Liz Searle trophy.

Both Saturday and Sunday we were thrilled with the riding performances by the "big four". As expected, Debbie placed first in all of her entries, with an average score of 79.85%. Leslie Morse riding Kingston was equally impressive in her CDI Grand Prix Freestyle riding to the music of "Pirates of the Caribbean" and placing second with a score of 78.97%. Guenter Siedel entered two rides and placed third riding Nikolaus 7 with a score of 76.85% and fourth riding Aragon with a score of 74.25%. Steffen Peters had an impressive showing on Grandeur and placed 5th with a score of 73.45%. Also, equally impressive, but not part of the "big four" was Leslie Reid from Canada. She made an impressive showing on her two horses Mark and Lanzar placing 1st in the Intermediaire Freestyle and both Grand Prix clases on Saturday and Sunday with an average score of 71.83%.

All in all, Sue and I had a great time. We had a needed break, enjoyed the beautiful weather full of sunshine, and learned that we could travel together. We stayed at my sister's home in Huntington Beach which allowed me to visit with her and my two nephews. We even had a chance to fit in a dance lesson with Sue's ballroom dancing coach Victor Veyrasset. It was my first experience watching Sue dance in person which gave me an even greater appreciation for her persistence to seek out the best instruction available. Victor, ten time world ballroom dancing champion, and Lilo Fore, Debbie McDonald's coach for seven years, are sharing their gifts with Sue and in turn allowing her to evolve and grow into a future champion. My plan in the very near future is to be more than a spectator at this event. One day soon, I will be on the sidelines watching as Sue enters that arena and claims her rightful spot in the world of Dressage.