Comments on: Steffen Peters and Ravel Head Up US Olympic Dressage Team

By: Lee Jacobson

Lee Jacobson — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 21:03:44 +0000

For Steffen and Shannon (his second wife – he was married to Janet for about 17 years) it’s all about the money, although he is a magician with horses.

By: ashleigh

ashleigh — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 10:11:46 +0000

Thanks so much for sharing that with me i feel so confident again about riding in big shows like that,i just lost my award winning horse hazza bombazza and am very sad but now am able to show that i can teach another horse how to do things,
cheers,
Ashleigh

By: Jackie

Jackie — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 17:46:08 +0000

John,

Thanks for taking the time to share some insight into Steffen’s background and personality. It’s really exciting to hear from someone who knows him personally. I always like to hear good things about the talented people who are representing our country, so I’m glad you took some time out to applaud him.

By: John Hall

John Hall — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 16:30:07 +0000

As someone who has worked closely with Steffen and Shannon for several years (and Courtney), I believe “onthebit” has unfortunately totally mis-characterized Steffen. In my opinion, shared by many others, he is one of the finest horsemen in the world: just watching him and his relationships with his horses is pure magic.

Like many excellent horsemen, Steffen is much happier communing with horses than with humans! Also, English is not his primary language. He is shy, and is not a showman, plus they do have a 29-horse barn to take care of. Americans have it in their nature to self-promote: Steffen was brought up in a world where this is regarded as anti-social and it’s just not in his character.

So, please give him a break. He’s not “uppity”: he’s a focused, responsible genius on a horse and needs to be lauded for that.

John Hall

By: Jackie

Jackie — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 16:01:50 +0000

OnTheBit – I knew you’d be waiting for that one! Actually, you probably know more about her than I do or could find online. If you want to share some info, or if you’d like to help write it, drop me an email! Otherwise I’ll be going through all of my old PH magazines looking for the one with a profile of her.

Sorry to hear that about Steffen Peters. I’m sure all these top riders are pretty pressed for time and can only take so many people and make excuses from time. I wonder if he was doing a clinic that your trainer rode in; from what I read it sounded like he does a lot of clinics all over the country.

By: onthebit

onthebit — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:34:38 +0000

I cannot wait for your post on Courtyney King-Dye! I was at the 2006 national championships and Steffan deserved to win, no question. He is a nice guy, approacable but a bit…uppity I guess would be the way to describe it. My friend approached him about doing a clinic at her barn…his response? “I only come to the east coast to compete, you can feel free to bring your horse to my barn in Cali and I would be happy to work with you out there for a week or two.” Now I know he has since come back and done stuff on the east coast because my trainer rode with him last fall…she was hoping he would get on her horse…he never did.