World Singles Championship (Italy), report from Karen Garrett:

Bob Koopman was the first American to drive and had a score of 79.10.  His major problem was being on the wrong canter lead in the first canter movement.  The best score of the morning in the first day of dressage was 46.97, driven by Christoph Dieker of Germany.  Bob drove immediately after Dieker and nearly missed the start bell; the chatter was that the ring steward wasn’t bringing competitors up from the warm-up ring on a timely basis. No one in the first group of nine competitors broke into the 50s; their scores ranged from 60.03 to 76.93.  Robin Groves drives at 3:10 this afternoon; Kim Stover, Donna Crookston, and Bill Peacock all go tomorrow.  The weather is warm and sunny with a nice breeze so not too bad for competitors or horses.  More after this afternoon!

Update: We (here in the office) have heard that Bob’s specialty is, in fact, the marathon phase and not dressage. Despite the wrong canter lead, his test showed great improvement and both he and the U.S. coach, Koos deRonde, were thrilled with his score!

Bob Koopman's dressage test; he was the first American to drive at the World Singles Championship in Italy (photo by Karen Garrett)