Santo Domingo, DR- August 10, 2003- The U.S. Dressage riders finished fifth, sixth and seventh in the Individual Dressage Competition at the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic after the conclusion of the freestyle competition.

Jan Ebeling of Moorpark, CA riding Feleciano, owned by New Horizons Dressage LLC, remained in fifth place, to finish as the top scorer for the United States, with a combined score of 206.750 after the Prix St. Georges, Intermediaire I, and Intermediaire Freestyle. Pierre St. Jacques of Boscawen, NH on Lucky Tiger, owned by St. Jacques and Lisa Belcastro, took sixth scoring 203.700. The biggest jump in the freestyle was by Carol Lavell of Loxahatchee, FL, riding her Much Ado, who moved up from tenth to sixth with a combined score of 202.900.

Leslie Reid of Canada, riding Mark, owned by Marie Andrews, wowed the crowd and captured the gold medal with a combined score of 222.100. Reid never saw anything but the top spot throughout the three phases of the competition and continued her winning ways with a flawless performance in the Freestyle, scoring 76.250%. Bernadette Pujals of Mexico and Vincent moved up from the third spot with an outstanding test to win the Silver medal with a combined score of 213.400. The bronze went to the hometown favorite, Yvonne Losos de Muniz of the Dominican Republic, riding Inatana Las Marismas with 212.000.

Ebeling and Feleciano put in a respectable test scoring 68.600 for the Freestyle, which he considered good.

"I had one little mistake, but I thought my horse did really well," said Ebeling. "Our degree of difficulty was not as high as the others, but he is a young horse and I was very pleased with his consistency. My horse came through when it counted in the Prix St. Georges, and going last and helping the team win the gold was really, really good. Our goal for the competition was to win the gold for the team and we achieved that goal. This whole experience was wonderful and very, very rewarding."

Pierre St. Jacques had a few minor problems and finished tenth in the Freestyle with a score of 65.900% but was able to keep his sixth overall placing. St. Jacques agrees with Ebeling and considers the Pan Ams a wonderful experience.

"I needed fifteen more minutes to warm up," said St. Jacques. "He saw the crowd and really was on the muscle. This has been so wonderful, though. I was even supposed to be here, and to win the gold medal was super."

Carol Lavell had a great test finishing third in the Freestyle with a score of 71.150% moving her up three spots in the final overall standings. She was pleased with her finish and wants to celebrate her experience in Santo Domingo.

"I am going to open a big bottle of Champagne and toast my horse," said Lavell. "I was so happy with him. I wanted to go home with at least one good ride and he gave me more. He was very proud of himself today."

Show Jumping begins on Wednesday, August 13, with the first Individual qualifier. The U.S. squad has a big job ahead of them since they are using the Pan Ams for a qualifier for next year's Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. The gold and silver team medalists at the Pan Ams will earn a spot in Athens, while the country with the best score counting all four team member performances will also qualify.

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