Posted March 12, 2006

2006 Cadillac Challenge of the Americas - Page 3

Entertaining Pas De Deux Combinations

Representing Team USA Purina Mills in the Pas de Deux was Betsy Steiner riding Coco Chanel and Tami Hoag aboard Feliki. The pair put in a crowd-pleasing performance to music from the Oscar-winning film Chicago. Highlights of the ride that brought appreciative applause were the side-by-side one-tempis and mirror pirouettes both performed on the centerline. The Americans earned a total score of 98.00%, which proved to be unbeatable and gave them a first place finish in the Pas de Deux.

Photo: susanjstickle.com

The dressage duo from Team Canada was Evi Strasser riding Pryme Tyme and Jacqueline Brooks aboard Gran Gesto. The pair used a variety of instrumentals featuring banjo, guitar, big band swing, and rock ‘n’ roll with a version of the Rolling Stones’ I Can’t Get No Satisfaction highlighting the trot work. The Canadians received a total score of 88.80%, which gave them a third place finish in the Pas de Deux round.

Tina Konyot aboard Liberty and Katherine Bateson-Chandler riding Rainier represented the International Team and stunned the audience with their dramatic costuming and out-of-this-world soundtrack. The two gray horses were painted with yellow and orange flames and sprayed with gold from hoof to tail, and the riders wore whiteface with mask-like features painted on in black. Their music was outer-space-based tracks from movies and TV featuring Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Star Trek, and 2001 Space Odyssey. The pair utilized many mirror-moves in piaffe and passage and executed some dramatic transitions, including passage to piaffe to canter pirouettes. The judges awarded Team International a score of 90.40%, which placed them second in the Pas de Deux.