Cindy Stys : Jan Ebeling

Olympic Dressage Day 1 Results

Cindy Stys — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 18:21:00 GMT

The first day of dressage competition is over, and recent media superstar Rafalca, with rider Jan Ebeling, was the only American horse to compete today. Ebeling put in a solid test and tactfully rode Ann Romney's mare to a very respectable 70.243%, putting them in 13th place.

Team Great Britain is dominating the dressage competition so far with riders in the first and second place spots. Carl Hester leads the way with an incredible 77.720%, with Laura Bechtolsheimer not far behind with a 76.839% after her first test.

Tomorrow the competition continues with US rider Tina Konyot leading the way with the first test, followed by individual competitor Adrienne Lyle and teammate Steffen Peters. Today's rides have set the bar high, and our remaining three riders will have to give it their all to stay in contention for a medal!

Stephen Colbert Responds To Dressage Pep Rally Video

Cindy Stys — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 16:41:00 GMT

Check out Stephen Colbert’s response to Gladstone dressage fans’ excitement over his proclamation that dressage is the “Sport of the Summer”

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/415570/june-19-2012/mitt-romney-s-champion-horse---stephen-s-dressage-contribution

Dressage Pep Rally– Stephen Colbert - payback time

Cindy Stys — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 21:48:00 GMT

Yesterday I had the opportunity to witness a dynamite dressage competition at the coveted US Equestrian Team in Gladstone, NJ. While any final day of an Olympic Selection Final is always exciting, with the horse (Rafalca) co-owned by Ann Romney (Mitt Romney’s wife) ranked in 3^rd position and after political satirist Stephen Colbert’s video mocking the sport was bound to be a historical day for dressage. I was going to leave before the award ceremony but when they started to distribute large foam hands like ball game fans wave (used by Colbert in the video) I decided to stick around. After the riders made their victory gallop spectators chanted R-A-F-A-L-C-A waving the red hands with “Dressage is #1” as the 3rd placed combination remained in the arena. To add fuel to the fire, Budweiser beer bottles were being passed around to the spectators as they swarmed behind Rafalca ridden by Jan Ebeling with Ann Romney trying to get beside her jigging horse. All in all, it was a a great rebuttal by USEF and dressage fans to the video spoof of Colbert who declared dressage "the sport of the summer". Stay tuned to our blogs for more on that!

I was definitely pumped up afterwards and it was great to see Ann Romney up close and in person. She is surely like the rest of us equestrian enthusiasts happily jumping up & down for her mare’s spot on the London Olympic Team.

Ann Romney in London Team jacket watching the Award Ceremony

Rafalca & rider Jan Ebeling in the limelight