Dressage News Notes Brought to You By Back On Track

The World Dressage Masters Palm Beach is over and what a fantastic competition it was! Steffen Peters did a double becoming Champion for the second year in a row, but the Freestyle had another Charlotte Dujardin breathing down his neck! At the same show, Paralympians were strutting there stuff on the way to earning qualifying scores towards the Paralympics. Speaking of Olympics, Steffen Peters has decided to scrap a trip to this years World Cup and Guenter Seidel has a new ride to aim toward the Selection trails. Matthias Rath has hired Dutch coach Sjef Janssen to become his trainer...check out the story!

After the scope and size of the World Dressage Master, it seems the show scene is a little quieter this week with only 3 shows this coming weekend. Forida has two with the Wellington Dressage in Wellington and the American Dressage Concours I and II in Venice and California host the Golden State Dressage Premiere in Rancho Murietta.

The World Dressage Masters Palm Beach was a resounding success and Steffen Peters pulled out victory for the second year in a row on Akiko Yamazaki's 14-year-old Dutch gelding Ravel. While Steffen put in a record breaking ride in Friday's Grand Prix, the Freestyle on Saturday proved to be a much tougher battle as Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro came within five one hundredths of a percentage point of taking the crown! The Freestyle was sold out with 2,000+ spectators taking in the world class competition. Read More Stories at DressageDaily.com!

While the WDM Masters was rolling along, the Paralympians were also competing at the Wellington Classic Sunshine Challenge CPEDI3* (both ran in conjunction). This competition allowed the Para Equestrian riders to earn qualifying scores toward the 2012 London Paralympic Games. The team from the U.S. came out on top in the team competition coming ahead of Team Canada. Riders from 7 different countries competed in the CPEDI3*. Check it out!

In more Olympic news, Steffen Peters has decided to not contest this years World Cup Final in 's-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands in April. The decision was made after Steffen consulted with owner Akiko Yamazaki and wife Shannon Peters and it was in Ravel's best interest to stay stateside and focus on preparing for the Olympics in London.

Guenter Seidel is back in the game with a new mount to aim towards the Olympic Selction trials! Thanks to the help of Ed and Camille Penhoet of Napa Valley, Guenter will be taking over the ride of Marie Meyers Grand Prix horse, Fandango. Marie offered the ride to Guenter who says “I am thrilled that Marie made this opportunity available and that Camille and Ed’s gracious support is making it possible." Glad to see that Guenter is back in the game! Read the complete story here!

While Germany may have gotten Totilas from the Dutch, the Netherlands is where his German rider will now be going to train. Matthias Rath and Sjef Janssen have struck a deal for Sjef to train Matthias on his up and coming FEI horses Bretton Woods and Furst Romancier. While it was asked of Sjef to also train the fabulous Totilas, the Dutch trainer declined on the basis that it would be "a conflict of interest". However the Dutch Federation has stepped in and halted any agreement from going forward until after the 2012 Olympics when Sjef's contract will be up. See the full story here!