Idaho's McDonald moves up to 4th in dressage

By KEVIN TRESOLINI

Gannett News Service

MARKOPOULO, Greece -- Debbie McDonald leaned down from the saddle and wrapped her arms around her horse Brentina's neck in a loving embrace. Then she gave her a couple affectionate pats, first on the neck, then on her right hip.

Had McDonald been standing on the ground, she might have felt compelled to high-five -- or high hoof -- her mount after their ride.

McDonald's satisfaction with Brentino's performance seemed boundless Monday afternoon at the Olympic Equestrian Center, and for good reason. In the second of three stages of individual dressage grand prix competition, McDonald moved from fifth to fourth place among the 25 entries in Monday's performance.

An Olympic medal is within the Hailey, Idaho, resident's reach in Wednesday's final round.

"I was very excited," McDonald said after competition held in bright sun but heavy wind, which kept the air cooler but noisily flapped the row of national flags atop the stands.

"It was too bad I had a little bobble in a couple of the transitions. But, you know, I wanted it to stay cool, so it was kind of a Catch 22. The flags affected her a little more than I thought they would. But that's OK. Coming into the first piaffe and walk, it was very difficult to keep her walking all the way to on point."

McDonald, who turns 50 this Friday, had sparked the United States to a team bronze with her first-round ride last Friday.

She has a 74.067 percent of score after judging for the various trots, canters, pirouettes and other movements that comprise dressage. Ahead of her are Germany's Ulla Salzgeber (76.524), defending gold medalist Anky van Grunsven (76.004) of the Netherlands and Spain's Beatriz Ferrer-Salat (75.213).

"If I can stay in the hunt, that's what I care about," McDonald said. "It is kind of a long shot to think about an individual (medal), but it's not over until it's over. I'm not going down without a fight."

Neither, she said, is Brentina, the brown Hanoverian mare who didn't have the size or countenance of some of the other horses Monday but was up to the task.

"She's not the biggest horse," McDonald said. "We just try to sell what we do."

However it turns out Wednesday, McDonald's first Olympic experience has been a delight.

"It's been everything I imagined, and more," she said. "It's been a wonderful experience to meet all the other athletes from other countries. My family is here and we're staying in a house with a pool, so it's been a vacation as well as a horse show."