Wayne, Illinois – August 24th
Sabine Schut-Kery was pleased to see so much of her work at home with Gorgeous Latino (Toto Jr.—Blackmanda, Rubiquil) translate to her performance at the 2024 U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions. Hex, an 8-year-old Dutch Warmblood stallion owned by Sandy Mancini, performed confidently in two tests in the USEF Developing Prix St. Georges division, resulting in an overall score of 70.63% and taking the championship title on Saturday.
“I want to improve so much, but I also have to remember that these are all young horses for their level,” Schut-Kery said. “So you have to let go of your perfectionism and just really appreciate how they present themselves in the ring and be able to transfer what you work on at home and during warm-ups to the ring. … And I have to say, he really presented himself.”
To get rid of this “perfectionist mindset,” Schut-Kery and Hex go on weekly trail rides at their home in San Diego. The young stallion is so confident that she has appointed Hex as her lead horse for group rides.
“I personally need this break and so do my horses,” she said of her rides. “I’m a big advocate of a balanced life anyway. No matter what job I have, but especially when I work with animals, I think it’s very important to feel really good. And of course I do this mainly for the horses.”
Sarah Mason-Beaty and Kanjer became runner-up (69.46%) and Kathryn Fleming-Kuhn and Franzsis HSR (68.95%) took third place.
Horses bred in the USA dominate the four-year-old championship
Willy Arts won the Markel/USEF Young Horse 4-Year-Old Championship on Pharaoh DG (Koning DG—Janda, Parcival) in a field that consisted primarily of American-bred horses. All six horses at the awards ceremony were U.S.-bred, including reserve champion Sonnenberg’s Paris under Michele Bondy (87.36%) and third-place finisher MW Virtuous under Charell Garcia (86.08%).
Arts said the Dutch Warmblood stallion he bred and who is owned by DG Bar Ranch has been special from the start, exceeding horse expectations at every stage of his development, and he continued that trend this week.
“He was right. It was one of those moments that you can’t prepare for, that just happen and go, and it just keeps getting better,” Arts said of her first test of the week. “Even after so many years, you can probably count the number of times you do a test like that on one or two hands.”
Although “Pharaoh” showed his age with a shock in the final test on Saturday, he took the win with a total score of 87.44%.
“Yes, he’s a young horse,” he said. “For me, it’s always the case that when I have a young horse, I find it a little sensitive or overreacting to have one that’s too boring.”
Bondy competed in the class with two four-year-old horses, Sonnenberg’s Paris and Sonnenberg’s PrimRosa, and took both first and second place in the final class on Saturday. Her strong rides also earned her and “Paris” the title of runner-up, an award she will cherish for the horse she competed.
“Before the first test he was always very reliable, but you could tell he was a bit nervous,” said Bondy. “He stayed with me during the test, but I was a bit hesitant to really push hard. And today he felt just incredible. He was so good, he’s so willing.”
Amy Bradley’s rollercoaster ride reaches its climax with Grand Prix victory
At the USEF Grand Prix Championship, Amy Bradley took home the winner’s ribbon with 67.21% on her own 14-year-old Oldenburg gelding Quileute CCW (Quaterback—Glueckslady, Glueckspilz). Karen Lipp and Infinity followed as reserve champion with 66.81% and Callie O’Connell on Eaton H took third place with 63.93%.
It’s been a long road for Bradley and her 14-year-old Oldenburg gelding “Quill,” who has overcome some serious health issues to get back into the show ring. Over the years, she’s had to put her home-bred gelding in and out of work while treating a large tumor that needed to be removed and a bout of laminitis that required a year off.
Bradley said there were times when she could only hope that one day he would be fit to graze again – so winning a national championship was more than she thought possible with her “heart horse.”
“The fact that he actually made a full recovery was a miracle in itself,” she said.
Simonson scores a hat trick and wins the Brentina Cup
Christian Simonson took first place in all three heats of the Adequan/USEF Brentina Cup to win the championship on the Danish warmblood gelding Son Of A Lady (Soreldo—Western Lady, Welt Hit II), owned by Christina Morgan and Clifton Simonson. His Blue Streak earned him the championship with a total score of 68.90%. Josh Albrecht on Goldenboy Vinckenburgh was Reserve Champion (66.34%) and Sophia Schults and Conocido HGF took third (66.12%).
Simonson said he and his trainer Adrienne Lyle, who recently returned from the 2024 Paris Olympics, are committed to providing confidence-inspiring rides for Sonny throughout the three-part championship.
“This is an inexperienced year – it’s his first year in the Grand Prix, so I expect us to try and give him the best rides I can and for him to trust me more and more,” he said. “I think we’ve really succeeded in doing that. He made me feel so good all three days this weekend and I’m just incredibly grateful to him.”
Albrecht has only been riding “G Boy” for a few months and is pleased with how quickly their relationship has developed.
“It’s the first year that I’ve shown this horse here,” said Albrecht. “I’ve only been riding since November, so we’re still pretty inexperienced—He is No, I am. So my goal was to be the best possible partner in the ring for him.”
Warlimont wins the champion title on her own horse
With a total score of 82.28%, Petra Warlimont won the Markel/USEF Championship for five-year-old young horses on her own Hanoverian gelding Deambulo PWD (Don Martillo – Franka, Fahrenheit). Madeleine Bendfeldt and Zapatero became reserve champions (80.12%) and Willy Arts on the stallion Serupgaards Cézanne took third place (71.96%).
In the preliminary test, “Dewey” was still a bit shy, said Warlimont, but in today’s final the gelding was “ready to get going”.
When she first heard about the young horse while shopping in Germany, she didn’t think she could buy it. But after trying it out, she immediately called her bank because she knew she had to have it. Warlimont likes that as the owner, she can develop the horse in the time frame she sets.
“The whole week has been about him gaining confidence and he gained a lot of it in this last test,” she said.
Mia Folk makes a good impression on ponies
Mia Folk finished her pony career with a win before retiring from the division this year due to her age. Borrowing a friend’s Welsh pony gelding, Coelenhage Parco (Vita Novas Celesto – Sonhofs Sabine), owned by Sage Chacon, Folk won the three-rider division with a total score of 63.58%.
“It was also quite difficult to build a partnership in such a short time,” Folk said of the pony she started riding two months ago. “But actually we worked really well together. We practiced and tried to do everything precisely and just get the best test possible.”
The full results can be found here.
