Jerez de la Frontera, Spain–September 12, 2002–The United States won the Silver Medal in the Team Dressage competition, at the 2002 World Equestrian Games in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain on Thursday with a combined score of 5527. Germany won the Gold Medal scoring 5642 and the home team of Spain won the bronze, much to the crowd’s delight, with a score of 5403.

The U.S. squad consisted of Debbie McDonald of Hailey, ID on Brentina, owned by Perry & Peggy Thomas; Lisa Wilcox of Thousand Oaks, CA riding Relevant, owned by Gundula Vorwerk and Dr. Claus Crone-Munzebrock; Susan Blinks of Wellington, FL, riding Flim Flam owned by Fritz Kundrun and Dressage Sponsor Corporation and Guenter Seidel of Del Mar, CA on Nikolaus 7, owned by Dick and Jane Brown.

This marks the best finish for a United States dressage team in any World Championship or Olympic Games. United States Equestrian Team (USET) Chef d’Equipe Jessica Ransehousen felt it was worth the wait.

“It’s a fulfillment of a huge wonderful dream,” said Ransehousen. “We’ve fought and fought for years to get what we’ve gotten here today. Thankfully we have had an organization like the United States Equestrian Team to help us become better and enable us to get the job done.”

All four riders on the squad credited the USET’s decision to hire Klaus Balkenhol as coach in 2001 as part of the reason for the improved performance.

“Klaus makes us feel confident,” said Blinks. “We are a close knit team and everyone of us is now in a stronger place.”

The top 25 riders move on to the next round of individual competition, the Grand Prix Special, that takes place on Friday. The US has three in the top ten and all four in the top 25. Debbie McDonald currently stands third individually, Lisa Wilcox is in fifth and Susan Blinks is in seventh and Guenter Seidel is in thirteenth. The top 15 from the Grand Prix Special qualify to ride in the Freestyle competition on Sunday which determines the individual medals.

The United States Equestrian Team is a non-profit organization that selects, trains, equips and finances equestrians of the highest possible standard to represent our country in major international competition, including the Olympic Games and the World Championships. To accomplish this, the USET seeks out and nurtures the development of talented athletes - riders, drivers, vaulters and horses - and provides the support and guidance they need to help them attain their fullest potential. For more information on the USET, please call (908) 234-1251, or visit USET ONLINE at www.uset.org.