Born: September 18, 1964
Residence: San Diego, California
Horse: Floriano (17-year-old Westphalian gelding; owned by Stephen and Laurelyn Browning)

2006 was an amazing year for Steffen Peters and the electric chestnut gelding Floriano. Peters and Floriano swept all three phases of competition at the 2006 Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF National Grand Prix Dressage Championship in Gladstone, New Jersey, landing them the anchor spot on the 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games team. Not only did they win all three classes with room to spare in their scores, they did it in style. Their scores got better as the competition progressed—74.50% the first day, 77.24% the second day and 83.25% in their final day freestyle. At the 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games in Aachen, the pair stepped up to the plate and was crucial in capturing the Team Bronze medal for the United States. In the freestyle, they put in a breathtaking performance in what was arguably the finest international dressage competition ever contested. The pair finished strong at fourth, missing Individual Bronze by just 1/10th of a point.

Floriano emerged as Peter's lead grand prix mount when he made an impressive performance in the 2004 Olympic Dressage Trials finishing fourth and showed clear signs of a bright future with international potential. The promising pair was named the alternate on the 2004 Athens Olympic team. Peters won his first Olympic medal, a Team Bronze, at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics aboard Udon. He has also won the grand prix freestyle at the Los Angeles Mid-Winter CDI-W. In 2003, Peters and Grandeur were part of the U.S. team to compete at CDIO Aachen, where they were an integral part of the Team Silver medal. They took the reserve championship title at the U.S. Freestyle Championship in March 2002. The pair went on to place eighth in the FEI World Cup Final in 's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands. In 1994, he won Individual and Team Gold medals at the U.S. Olympic Festival.

Peters and Floriano won the 2007 USEF Freestyle Championship and U.S League Final in Burbank, California, landing them in the 2007 Rolex FEI World Cup Dressage Final in Las Vegas. Reacting to that victory after securing his trip to Las Vegas, he said, "It is very, very special. It is an honor to represent the United States." Enthusiastic owner Laurelyn Browning adoringly refers to her equine star as "Florie." She and her son, Stephen, were proud recipients of his honor as finalist for the 2006 Farnam®/Platform™ USEF Horse of the Year Award.

Born in Germany, Peters has been in the United States since 1985 and became a United States citizen in 1992. Peters and his wife, Shannon Barnes, operate a training facility in the San Diego area. Barnes is also a noted dressage rider, competing at the 2005 National Intermediate I Dressage Championship in Gladstone, New Jersey, where the couple went head-to-head. Making it a family affair, Peters and Barnes finished one-two respectively.

Bio courtesy of USEF