Ravel to Skip Selections

What, you have to get selected for the Olympics? Not if you’re Ravel, Steffen Peters’ past WEG and Olympic mount, whom many consider to be the USA’s top hope for a dressage medal in London.

While Steffen Peters competes two of his top prospects, Legolas and Sundance, in the USEF Selection Trials for the 2012 U.S. Dressage Team, held in conjunction with the USEF Festival of Champions in Gladstone, NJ, June 8-17, his third, most decorated mount will be enjoying a brief hiatus from the spotlight.

Watch Peters and Ravel’s bronze medal-winning 2012 WEG performance:

That’s because the USEF Dressage Selectors recently approved Peters’ request for Ravel to skip the trials on the basis that any combination that has “contributed to a team medal or has finished in one of the top six positions as an individual at a World Championship or Olympic Games within the past four years” may be selected to the team without having to participate in the trails.

And Ravel’s certainly got nothing to prove: With Peters, he won bronze medals in both the Grand Prix Special and Freestyle at the 2010 WEGs, and finished fourth individually at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, amongst a multitude of other international accomplishments. For a great read on the pair, check out the Chronicle‘s excellent 2010 Horse and Horseman of the Year feature.

Steffen and Shannon Peters are based on the West Coast, in Arroyo Del Mar, Calif. Let’s hope Ravel’s making expedient use of his downtime by soaking up lots of golden California sunshine.

[Read more at Dressage Daily]

Go Ravel.