WEG’s Shining Moments
The FEI World Equestrian Games overall produced glorious sport with a bonus for the home fans who dominated the stands at the Tryon International Equestrian Center in Mill Spring, North Carolina, in September. The spectators were thrilled to see so many U.S. competitors claim a slew of team medals—gold in show jumping, driving and reining and silver in dressage. There also were several individual U.S. medals, including silver for dressage rider Laura Graves and America’s first three WEG para-dressage medals (see page 92 for more), along with silver in driving and silver and bronze in reining.
Another first was the only tie-breaker in WEG team showjumping history, pitting the United States against Sweden. The American squad, anchored by McLain Ward, claimed the top prize by a mere 2.06-second margin in the jump-off.
Two days later Ward just missed the individual medals, finishing fourth on Clinta. But as he pointed out, all four team members, including Laura Kraut and rookies Devin Ryan and Adrienne Sternlicht, finished in the top 16 out of 124 starters from 25 countries.
By virtue of their medals, U.S. show jumping and dressage
