Horse: Brentina – Chestnut mare, 16.2 hands, 11-year-old Hanoverian
Owner: Parry and Peggy Thomas of Hailey, Idaho
Home: Hailey, Idaho
McDonald qualified for the WEG after winning the USET Grand Prix championship at the selection trials at team headquarters in Gladstone, New Jersey, this spring. A former competitor in the hunter and jumper ranks, she became involved with dressage about 10 years ago.
This year, McDonald won the U.S. Freestyle Championship and the World Cup Dressage U.S. League Final in California with Brentina. At the 1999 Pan American Games, the pair took individual and team gold, giving the USET its first double-gold medalist in the sport at this competition since 1983. As a result of her accomplishments, McDonald was honored as the AHSA Equestrian of the Year and USOC Female Equestrian Athlete of the Year.
McDonald trains Brentina.. She has worked with Hilda Gurney and, most recently, Steffen Peters and Lilo Fore.
