Nations Cheer Their Riders at the 2003 Dressage Pam American Games

The Dominican Republic had two riders on Sunday. George Fernandez went first, riding to a merengue beat. The stable manager of Las Marismas Sport Horses, he rode the gray, Joris las Marismas. The local audience rewarded his ride with a loud cheer, applause, and whistles.

Of her placing, Losos said, "For me, the value of this bronze medal is 10 golds. For this country, we're going to try to improve the quality to have better results in the future."

Canadians experienced an embarrassing moment in the awards ceremony. With Leslie Reid on the winner's platform, the sound system blared the notes of "Oh, say can you see…." Holding two huge maple-leaf flags, Canadian supporters responded instantly by launching into an a cappella "Oh, Canada," before the music began to play correctly.

If there had been a "worst rider moment of the day" award, it would have been for Gabriel Armando of Argentina. He was third to ride in the Freestyle, on his young mare, Euclid. As he rode up centerline toward C, he excitedly removed his hat and beamed at the audience--before his final halt and salute.

Armando was the only rider to be eliminated during the four days of competition. Mariette Withages, President of the Ground Jury, called him to her judge's stand to inform him of his elimination, right after he finished his test.

U.S. Reserve rider Susan Dutta watched from the sidelines during the Games. "I'm really proud of all of them," she said, although she admitted that "This has been probably one of the hardest weekends of my life." "I have a really nice horse," she said about her Westside Lady. "It's on to the next horse show."

Of the 44 horses at the competition, 13 were Dutch warmbloods. Nine were Hannoverians, with six representing the Oldenburg breed. Medalists included two Dutch (gold and bronze), and the Hannoverian, Vincent.

Riders did comment on the variances across judges' scores. For example, in marking Losos, Purcell had her first, while Withages had her 10th. When asked for her opinion on the scoring, Lavell said, "We don't know how to ride now. Harry Boldt is a super judge and can just tell you what the marks would be. When they came up, he was just floored."

She added, "The judging is just the judging. None of us can change that. Judges need to go to forums, and they have to see a lot of horses before they are experienced enough to judge."