By: Eleanor R. Brimmer

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. – September 15, 2016 – Rebecca Hart of Wellington, FL returned to the arena Thursday, September 15, to contest the Grade II Individual Championships with Margaret Duprey and Cherry Knoll Farm’s Schroeter’s Romani. The USA team rider placed 9th with a 67.714%, her score combined with the team test will allow her to move onto the Freestyle and another shot at a medal on the final day of competition at the Deodoro Olympic Equestrian Center . Winning Gold in the Grade II Individual Championship was Great Britain’s Natasha Baker riding Cabral to a score of 73.400%. Riders from the Netherlands took both Silver and Bronze medals Demi Vermeulen and Burberry were silver with a 71.600% and her teammate Rixt Van Der Horst and Caat were bronze 70.743%.

Rebecca Hart and Schroeter’s Romani photo by Lindsay Y. McCall

The large Grade 1a division had their Individual Championship in the afternoon and the United States was represented by two riders, Margaret “Gigi” McIntosh of Reading, PA, and Roxanne Trunnell of Rowlett, TX. Gigi was the first of the pair to go, riding her mare Rio Rio to a score of 66.217% for 20th place. Roxanne Trunnell had a strong finish, she rode Rachel Zent and Julia Handt’s Royal Dancer to 10th place with a score of 69.565%. Trunnell commented about her ride, “Royal was a superstar once again. His free walk during this test was so fantastic. I’m sure the judges were wondering why I started grinning like a maniac in the middle of it. Even though we didn’t medal I was more than pleased that Royal pranced to a 10th place finish out of 25 riders. I also learned that Royal and I were the highest scoring USA Para Equestrian. Royal is definitely an amazing horse I can’t thank his owners (Julia Handt & Rachel Zent) enough for giving me this opportunity.”

Great Britain team riders took both gold and silver medals, Sophie Christiansen and Athene Lindebjerg took gold with a whopping 78.217%. Her teammate Anne Dunham and Ljt Lucas Normark took Silver with a 74.348%. In Bronze medal position host country Brazil’s rider Sergio Oliva riding Coco Chanel earned a score of 73.826%.

In the team medal results Great Britain earned Gold yet again with a total score of 453.306, in Silver was Germany with a total score of 433.321, rounding out the podium was the Netherlands in Bronze position with a score of 430.353. The United States finished in 12th position with a score of 409.439.

Friday, September 16, showcases the completion of the 2016 Paralympic Equestrian Games at the Deodoro Olympic Equestrian Center in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Para Equestrian competition will see top riders from each grade riding musical freestyles. Rebecca Hart will ride her freestyle in the Grade II division at 3:30 PM local time.
Full results and live scoring can be found here: http://rio2016.live.fei.org/

Rio Rio and Margaret McIntosh photo by Lindsay Y. McCall

2016 Paralympic Equestrian Games Timeline
September 16

9:00  AM Grade III FS

10:10 AM Grade IV FS

11:16 AM Grade III FS – Victory Ceremony

11:31 AM Grade IV FS – Victory Ceremony

1:00 PM    Grade Ib FS

2:10 PM    Grade Ia FS

3:10 PM    Grade II FS – Rebecca Hart (3:30 PM)

4:16 PM    Grade Ia FS – Victory Ceremony

4:31 PM    Grade II FS – Victory Ceremony

4:46 PM    Grade Ib FS – Victory Ceremony

5:01 PM    Team – Victory Ceremony

For more information about the U.S. Paralympic Equestrian Team please visit United States Equestrian Federation at www.USEF.org, the United States Equestrian Team Foundation at www.USET.org, or Team USA at http://www.teamusa.org/US-Paralympics/Sports/Equestrian.

For more information about the 2016 Paralympic Equestrian competition please visit https://www.rio2016.com/en/paralympics/equestrian

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The United States Para-Equestrian Association (USPEA) includes every recognized equestrian discipline that is practiced by athletes with an eligible physical impairment with a focus on Paralympic Equestrian Sports. . The USPEA is a network of current and past athletes, owners, officials, event organizers, and equestrian enthusiasts. The Association assists athletes to get involved and expand their knowledge and experience in the Disciplines of Para-Equestrian.

USPEA was created to fill a need to assist Para Equestrian disciplines when they came under the governance of the FEI.  While Para Equestrian disciplines were originally segregated, they now are integrated in international sport.  As each individual Para Equestrian discipline develops, it is USPEA’s mission to always serve as an advisory resource with the ultimate goal that the established able-bodied discipline affiliate will integrate within their organization.

In 2010, the USPEA earned its 501 (c)(3) status and became a recognized International affiliate association of the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) working together to grow the FEI recognized disciplines by helping to provide press, educational information, symposiums and competition opportunities for athletes with eligible physical impairments.
 

For more information about the USPEA please visit www.USPEA.org or contact USPEA President: Hope Hand by e-mail: hope@uspea.org or by phone: (610)356-6481.

To view an online version of this press release please visit: https://uspea.org/category/recent-uspea-press-news/

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