Action Continues at 2008 Paralympic Games in Equestrian

Hong Kong, China – Day two of competition at the 2008 Paralympic Games got underway with the Grade II Individual tests in the main arena at Sha Tin. The USA’s representative, Rebecca Hart rode a solid test on her own Norteassa but was scored very inconsistently by the five judges. Hart and the 16-year-old Hanoverian gelding were placed anywhere from fourth to 16th meaning that her final score was 62.545% - good enough for 12th place in a very strong Grade II field.

“It was ok,” said Hart after her test. “I’m relatively happy, he was a little more settled, it was better (than Sunday). He was definitely a little happier in there.”

Hart, 24, from Erie, PA was born with Familial Spastic Paraplegia and has been involved in Para Equestrian activities for over a decade. She is looking forward to her third and final shot at a medal in the Individual Freestyle on Wednesday evening. The arena proved to be quite buzzy for some of the horses, even during the day. There is much more atmosphere than many of the horses are accustomed to.

“I need to have a good warm-up and work on getting him to settle even more,” said Hart about her strategy for tomorrow. “I’m going to keep working on getting him relaxed.”

The first Paralympic medals in Equestrian were awarded after this Test and Germany took home top honors with Britta Naepel and Cherubin 15 winning gold with 71.909%. Canada’s Lauren Barwick rode Maile to silver and C.C. Nielsen rounded out the top three with Rostorn’s Hatim-T.

The last pair of the evening session was Team USA’s Robin Brueckmann riding Radetsky in the Grade IV Individual Test. The scored 56.387%. The Summerfield, NC rider was pleased with how well the 7-year-old horse handled the environment. Radetsky’s inexperience was exposed in a couple of spots, but on the whole Brueckmann was proud of her horse.

“He was very good in the environment,” said Brueckmann who has reflex sympathetic dystrophy in her right leg. “But we had some rough spots in the test that I hadn’t expected. He got a little bit heavy and when I shifted my weight in the canter he switched leads. We recovered and overall I was fairly pleased.”

Brueckmann is looking forward to her freestyle which features music by, who else, but Radetsky.

“It is very classical,” said Brueckmann. “I’m looking forward to it. I need to keep him steady, quiet, relaxed and forward and I’ll be ready to go.”

Phillippa Johnson, from South Africa, won Gold with Benedict, Ann Cathrin Lubbe and the crowd favorite Zanko took Silver for Norway and Australia’s Georgia Bruce and the big moving V Salute rounded out the medals.

The competition continues tomorrow evening, the final two Team riders from the US and Lynn Seidemann and Barbara Grassmyer, will ride their tests. Keith Newerla will finally get the chance to ride Walk On The Moon in the Grade Ib Individual Test after supporting his teammates through the first two days of action.

Source: www.usef.org