Illuster ridden by Maria Amaral. Photo Courtesy of Maria Amaral
Sept. 27, 2016
By KENNETH J. BRADDICK
Shannon Peters has been given the ride on an eight-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding Illuster, scheduled to arrive from Europe next week and that the California-based rider hopes to move up to Grand Prix in about a year.
Illuster, (Spielberg x Contango) that Shannon described as “the horse of a lifetime,” was bought by Sasha Cutter, a New York-based amateur rider, who already has a former hunter in training at Arroyo del Mar in San Diego, California operated by Shannon and her husband, Steffen Peters.
Shannon tried Illuster owned by Maria Alamar in Lisbon, Portugal as a prospective mount for Sasha on the recommendation of the Belgian-based dealer Jochen Arl.
Maria had trained the horse through Intermediate 1 with “certainly all the makings of Grand Prix”–six to seven one-tempi changes, and nice piaffe and passage.
Illuster, Shannon told dessage-news.com, was “17 hands, very leggy, super sensitive, very supple and light, super forward thinking; really a dream to ride. He probably has the easiest half passes of any horse I've ever sat on. Everything he does is easy for him.”
“I'm the lucky one to be able to compete him for a few years,” said Shannon whose last CDI Grand Prix mount was Weltino's Magic in 2015. Steffen won team and individual gold medals at small tour at the 2011 Pan American Games.
“I'm so grateful to Sasha for giving me the ride on this wonderful horse.”
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