Wellington, Fla. – The Perrigo U.S. Para Dressage Team had their second outing of the 2024 competition season at the Adequan® Global Dressage Festival 9 CPEDI3* in Wellington, Fla. Chef d’Equipe Michel Assouline guided Beatrice de Lavalette and Sixth Sense, Rebecca Hart and Floratina, Fiona Howard and Fleuresse 4, and Cynthia Screnci and Sir Chipoli to the win in the team competition with a score of 428.150. The U.S. combinations delivered strong performances as they continue to fine-tune their skills for the season ahead.
“The team was excellent throughout the competition and in the freestyle in the end,” said Assouline. “All in all, we had several horses scoring above 70 percent, which is very good.”
(SusanJStickle.com)
Hart (Loxahatchee, Fla.) and Floratina earned scores in the 70s throughout the competition, demonstrating how their partnership has developed since they began competing together last spring. They collected a score of 73.445% in the Grade III FEI Para Grand Prix A Test for a second-place finish in Friday’s class to begin competition. Hart and the 2008 Hanoverian (Fidertanz x Rubina) mare owned by Chloe Gasiorowski were awarded a score of 75.000% to win Saturday’s Grade III FEI Para Grand Prix B Test. The duo finished the weekend with a win in Sunday’s Grade III FEI Para Grand Prix Freestyle with an impressive score of 76.367%.
(SusanJStickle.com)
De Lavalette (Lake Fort Worth, Fla.) and Sixth Sense began the event by winning the Grade II FEI Para Grand Prix A Test with a score of 68.908%. They earned a score of 72.833% in the Grade II FEI Para Grand Prix B Test to win the class. De Lavalette and the 2010 Oldenburg (Sir Donnerhall I x Edosta) gelding owned by Elizabeth and Nicolas de Lavalette closed out their weekend with another excellent performance in the Grade II FEI Para Grand Prix Freestyle to win their third class with a score of 74.700%.
Howard (Boston, Mass.) and Fleuresse 4 finished second in the Grade II FEI Para Grand Prix A Test with a score of 67.471%. The pair had another respectable ride in the Grade II FEI Para Grand Prix B Test to finish second with a score of 66.333%. Howard and the 2017 Oldenburg (For Romance x Dorofinja Mae) mare owned by Fiona Howard, Elizabeth Bagsby, Sharon Day, and Julian Howard ended the event on a high note with a score of 72.389% to finish second in the Grade II FEI Para Grand Prix Freestyle.
Screnci (Boca Raton, Fla.) and Sir Chipoli had a solid score of 69.060% in the Grade V FEI Para Grand Prix A Test to start the competition with a second-place finish in the class. Screnci and the 2007 Dutch Warmblood (Sir Donnerhall x Vivalucienne TKS) gelding owned by Volado Farms and Cynthia Screnci won the Grade V FEI Para Grand Prix B Test with a personal-best score of 68.904%. Screnci elected not to compete her team mount Sir Chipoli in the Grade V FEI Para Grand Prix Freestyle after strong efforts on Friday and Saturday, instead competing his stablemate For Memory 4 for the experience and scoring 69.600% to win the class.
The Perrigo U.S. Para Dressage Team will next head to the World Equestrian Center Ocala for the next CPEDI3* in three weeks. The venue will be hosting a CPEDI for the first time, and it will be a new experience for several U.S. combinations.
“As a chef, I am quite keen to see how the horses will develop in Ocala because it is a complete change of facility. A lot of the horses are based in Florida, and Wellington is their home showgrounds,” said Assouline. “We have never been to Ocala and we will compete there in the main stadium, so I will find it very interesting to see how the horses will be. In terms of the technicality, the horses have already progressed well from the first show [in January]. I think we will see the real results of the adjustments that have been made when they show in Ocala.”
