Cindy Ishoy and Proton Top Canadians in Athens

Cindy Ishoy of Jerseyville, Ontario finished as the best Canadian in  team dressage competition at the Olympics today. On her ten year old gelding Proton, Ishoy rode a nearly mistake-free test with highlights in the piaffe and extended walk to receive a score of 66.583%, which tied her individually in 31st place with Russia’s Elena Sidneva.

After her ride, which took place in the midday Athens heat, Ishoy was visibly happy with her performance. “I was really happy with all the coefficient movements: the zig zag, the pirouettes, extended walk. This was only his ninth Grand Prix in his life. I couldn’t be happier with him.” She credits her supporters with the success of today’s performance, and with Proton’s ability to cope with the heat and the atmosphere of an Olympic event. “We have a great team: Neil, my trainer, Alan Young (Team Vet), my blacksmith who flew over just before I came here to redo him. It takes a team. And we couldn’t get a better chef d’equipe than Gwynne Rooke. She tells it like it is and fights for us.”

Earlier in the morning, Belinda Trussell of Stouffville, Ontario rode Royan II for Canada, finishing in 36th place individually with 66%. “I was pleased,” she said upon exiting the Olympic stadium. “I felt like it was what I wanted in there. I wanted to be clean, I wanted that consistency. I can always pick it to the last little millisecond of the ride, but in general for my first Olympics, my first time in this type of environment, I was really happy.” Trussell had been aiming for a slightly higher score than what she received. “I’m a little disappointed. I thought it would be perhaps a point higher. One judge gave me a 64 which brought it down. My goal was 67%.”

Also a little disappointed with her score was Ashley Holzer, whose 64.667% finish yesterday on Imperioso was two points below her average at recent international competitions and put her in 42nd individually. Imperioso was a little bit spooky in the corner by F, the same place where Leslie Reid’s Mark –  as well as several other horses over the two days –  seemed to find something unsettling to look at. “He’s not normally the type of horse that looks at stuff like that. It really caught me off guard.” Holzer also found many things to be pleased about, however. “I liked the trot  tour, I liked the first passage piaffe part and the walk. I was really pretty happy up until then. Something was bugging him in that corner. He got his head stuck up after the one tempis and the pirouettes are always a bit of a difficult thing for him. Unfortunately the pirouettes were not quite what I was hoping for.”

The Canadians all finished within ten places of one another. Leslie Reid and Mark, the second best for the team, placed 35th with 66.083% in their first trip down an Olympic centre line. As a team, Canada finished ninth, just 0.35% behind Austria. The average score for the Canadian team, which is higher than their average at the 2002 World Equestrian Games, is encouraging evidence that Canada is continuing to improve in international competition.

As predicted by everyone, the Germans cantered away with the gold medal, beating surprise silver medallist Spain by almost two points. Team anchor Ulla Salzgeber rode an exciting and precise test on the sixteen year old Rusty, winning the Grand Prix with 78.208%. The bronze medal went to the US team for the fourth time – they squeaked past the Dutch team by a margin of just 0.236%. Speaking for his team, Robert Dover said “we are always happy to have any medal and we’ve shown again that we’re among the top three countries of the world in our sport. We’ve had some troubles in the past year with soundness and other issues, but we pulled it off and so we’re all very happy.”

The Spanish were understandably thrilled with their silver medal, the first ever medal for Spain in Olympic dressage, and that country’s first medal in equestrian sports since 1948. Beatriz Ferrer-Salat, who is the only team member on a warmblood horse, said, “I was really proud of my colleagues; they all rode really nice tests.” Salat helped her team to the podium with a fluid and relaxed test on the seventeen year old Beauvalais. They currently sit in second place individually.

Individual competition will continue on Monday August 23rd with the Grand Prix Speciale. Salzgeber will be challenged from below by second-placed Ferrer-Salat and third-placed Anky van Grunsven, who had a less than perfect day on Salinero. The reigning World Cup champion was tense and spooky in the ring; there were rough moments in both the canter zig zag and the left canter pirouette, where he spun and almost bolted. At Aachen this year, Salinero beat Rusty, but now Rusty has a healthy head start.  Says Salzgeber, “I don’t think that I improved since Aachen – I only didn’t make mistakes today and Anky made too many mistakes.” She adds that the conditions at these Olympics are on her side. “Rusty feels very well here. He likes the heat. I like the area here too. I feel a little bit like home.”

The top twenty-five horses from the team competition will advance to the Grand Prix Speciale. A new Olympic rule recently implemented by the FEI allows only three horses from each country to advance, regardless of their placing. Mariette Withages, who is the chair of dressage at the FEI and was on today’s ground jury, said “I can assure you this rule was not the idea of the FEI. The IOC reminded us of a rule and we had to impose this change to obey the rule.”

Final Standings Team Dressage
Ground Jury: President – Stephen Clarke (GBR), Dieter Schuele (GER), Mariette Withages (BEL), Vincenzo Truppa (ITA), Francis VerBeek (NED

Gold Medal:  Germany – 74.653%
Silver Medal: Spain – 72.917%
Bronze Medal: United States – 71.500%
Ninth Place: Canada – 66.222%

Individual Results – Grand Prix
1. Ulla Salzgeber/Rusty – 78.208%
2. Beatriz Ferrer-Salat/Beauvalais – 74.667%
3. Anky van Grunsven/Salinero – 74.208%
4. Martin Schaudt/Weltall – 73.417%
5. Debbie McDonald/Brentina – 73.375%
31. Cindy Ishoy/Proton – 66.583%
35. Leslie Reid/Mark – 66.083%
36. Belinda Trussell/Royan II – 66.000%
42. Ashley Holzer/Imperioso (Canada) – 64.667%