It was not until the final set of the Grand Prix CDIO that the crowd of 60,000 spectators, all there to watch the best Dressage in the world began to get excited as the young Russian rider, Alexandra Korelova and her rescued Russian Police horse Balagur earned two 10’s for the piaffe. The only 10s the judges awarded so far. With the new FEI rule which does not allow the scores to go on the jumbo tron during the test, only the crowd can follow the scoring f the movements with small screens along the rail hidden from view of the riders. But it did not take the results to flash on the screen for the knowledgeable crowd to know a good thing when they saw it.

Steffen Peters and Ravel have claimed their part of Aachen history by being the first US Rider to win the Grand Prix Dressage CDIO at Aachen. Peters and Akiko Yamazaki’s 11-year-old Dutch gelding Ravel put in a history making ride, scoring 77.830% in the Grand Prix against many of the best horses and riders in the world. The five judges unanimously placed the pair first, and their average was more than 5 points clear of second place finisher, Hans Peter Minderhoud and Exquis Nadine. Among those left in their wake were 2008 Olympic Gold medalists Anky van Grunsven and IPS Salinero, who finished fifth on a score of 71.362%.

The pair's quest for a sweep of CDIO Aachen will resume on Saturday, July 4, America's Independence Day, in the Grand Prix Special and Sunday in the Freestyle.

See the slide show and results...more news and photos tomorrow.

WILLIAMSTON, MI – Since the Mary Anne McPhail Equine Performance Center opened in 2000 at Michigan State University in East Lansing, there has been a strong connection between the university community and the dressage community. The Copper Creek Dressage Series, a series of three dressage shows in nearby Williamston, Michigan, has benefited greatly by that connection.

Werner Van Den Brande launched a professional stable in his home country of Belgium at the age of 21 and nine years later, in 2006, he moved Dressage Stable Van Den Brande to Wellington, Florida, where he now enjoys a successful business as a sought-after rider, trainer, and coach. Werner also has a keen eye for spectacular horses and specializes in importing them from Europe to the U.S. for his thriving sales business. Currently, Werner’s favorite mount is Amoret – a four-year-old chestnut gelding that he’s aiming for the 2009 World Championships for Young Horses in Verden, Germany. Werner has competed several young horse champions, including the international superstar Galant Du Serein, with whom he represented Belgium at the 2000 Young Horse World Championships. Werner loves to compete and his goal is to represent Belgium in more international competitions, including “… one or two Olympic Games.”