Tokyo, Japan – August 30, 2021 – Roxanne Trunnell (Royal Palm Beach, Fla.) and Dolton, a nine-year-old Hanoverian gelding owned by Flintewoode Farms LLC & Karin Flint, secured their second gold medal of the Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020, winning the FEI Grade I Freestyle to Music by earning an 86.927%. Richards Snikus (LAT) and King of the Dance collected the silver medal with a score of 82.087%, while Sara Morganti (ITA) and Royal Delight earned the bronze with 81.100%. Trunnell and Dolton secured their first gold Friday, September 27, in the FEI Individual Test before helping the U.S. Para Dressage Team achieve their historic team bronze medal Sunday.
The duo was last in the evening’s order-of-go in Grade I competition and left the best for last to close out the equestrian competition at Equestrian Park in Tokyo, Japan. With the pressure on, Trunnell and Dolton delivered, securing a Paralympic record to remember.
“He was really with the music and marching today like we really wanted,” said Trunnell. “All of the little points were really there. This means a lot. We moved for Dolton and that was the right choice and this has always been one of my biggest goals.”
The pair, who debuted in 2017, have continued to build their partnership, and with Dolton still very early in his career, the future is incredibly bright. Trained by Andre
a Woodard in Wellington, Fla., Trunnell and Dolton significantly improved their score over the last two years and started to break the 80% mark consistently in the last few months. As for their music, the pair ride to a medley from the Forrest Gump soundtrack, which accentuates Dolton’s impressive walk gait.
“I love it. I didn’t pick the music, [Dolton] sort of did, and he really loves his freestyle,” she explained. “I thought the stretch down today was a highlight because he was really stretching.
The U.S. Para Dressage Team also saw Beatrice de Lavalette (Lake Worth Beach, Fla.) and Clarc, a 14-year-old KWPN gelding owned by Elizabeth and Nicholas de Lavalette finish in sixth place in the FEI Grade II Freestyle to Music with a score of 72.194%, while Kate Shoemaker (Wellington, Fla.) and Solitaer 40, a 14-year-old Hanoverian gelding owned by Deena, Craig, & Kate Shoemaker, earned fourth in the FEI Grade IV Freestyle to Music with a 74.910%.
Great Britain’s Lee Pearson and Breezer, an 11-year-old British Warmblood gelding owned by Pearson, won the gold medal in Grade II after earning a high score of 82.447%. Grade III saw Denmark’s Tobias Thorning Jorgensen and his mount Jolene Hill, a 13-year-old Danish Warmblood mare owned by Signe Kirk Kristiansen, Thomas Kirk Kristiansen and Line Thorning Jorgensen, emerge victorious with a score of 84.347%. Michele George (BEL) and Best Of 8, an 11-year-old Hanoverian mare owned by George, Wendy Laeremans and Camille Vangheluwe, took home the gold medal in Grade V with a score of 80.590%, while Netherlands Sanne Voets and Demantur, a 13-year-old KWPN gelding owned by RS2 Dressage Center de Horst, clinched the gold medal in Grade IV with a total score of 82.085%.
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