Ocala, Fla. – The USEF Grand Prix Dressage National Championship opened with a morning of competition on Wednesday, May 13, 2026, featuring 16 entries vying for top scores in the Grand Prix test. The USEF Grand Prix Dressage National Championship is held at World Equestrian Center – Ocala in Ocala, Fla.
The national championship, which has traditionally been included in the annual USEF Festival of Champions hosted later in the summer, will be featured for the first time in more than ten years as a standalone championship, while also serving as a preparation event ahead of the 2026 FEI Dressage World Championship Aachen in August.
Christian Simonson (Ventura, Calif.) and Indian Rock, a 2013 KWPN stallion (Apache x Vivaldi) owned by Zen Elite Equestrian Center and cared for by Marina Lemay, led the field with a score of 75.196%. It was a return to the top for the pair that recently finished second in the Zen Elite FEI World Cup™ Dressage Final in Fort Worth, Texas, in April.
“I think the piaffe/passage tour is what I was really, really proud about today,” smiled Simonson. “Adrienne Lyle, my coach who guides me each step of the way, we had a specific game plan for today. Rocky really understood what exactly we were trying to do and just gave such an amazing feeling. To have Adrienne's guidance through each step, especially while we get ready for a championship like this one, feels so special. That was one part I was happy with.”
Of the pair’s building consistency, Simonson noted each time they experience a new competition environment together, they become more in sync and solid in their partnership, which only continues to strengthen.
“I feel like I get to be so present with him and each moment it feels like constant communication back and forth. I’m like, ‘Hey, let's do this,’ and he says, ‘Okay, I want to go here.’ We kind of talk back and forth to each other during the test. It does feel like when we compete, I don't have to really worry about anything else. I could just have an honest conversation and dance with him. He feels like a horse that would go through fire for me. I wouldn't ask him to, but that's how he feels. He’s just unbelievable.”
Ellesse Gundersen and Quintessential 4, a 2014 Hanoverian gelding (Quaterback x Cordoba) owned by Ellesse Gundersen, Marcia Radosevich, and Henrik Gundersen and cared for by Kelsi O’Hara, received 70.348% for second place.
Gundersen, of Wellington, Fla., and Quintessential 4 have been targeting the championship after a strong season together, and their performance today marked a new personal best for the combination in the Grand Prix.
“He's been a young Grand Prix horse, and we've really taken our time going through doing smaller CDIs, and we've had the opportunity here to kind of grow in different venues, especially here at WEC. We’ve been in the indoor, the purple stadium, and now the Grand Arena. It's really set him up nicely to be confident in the ring, and I think that's a big part of why he's successful today.”
Gundersen bred, raised, and trained Quintessential 4, and their progress this season is something she has been working towards as they plan for the future and map out their goals.
“No one has expectations, and I'll tell this story again and again, but when we first broke him in, the first thing my husband said to me was, ‘He'd make a really nice hunter.’ But it's such an amazing experience to be there from the start, and I did ride his mother in Young Riders. I see a lot of his mother in him every day, which is special,” she said. “Honestly, with this horse, I had big dreams and big goals, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to go all the way with him. But for it to come true, it's the main thing.”
As the first to break the 70% mark, Meagan Davis (Loxahatchee, Fla.) rode Scott Durkin’s Toronto Lightfoot, a 2013 Oldenburg gelding (Totilas x Onassis) cared for by Bill Davis, to third place with a score of 70.065%.
“I think it's great for the whole country to be at one competition together and see how we all sort of stack up against each other, head on,” said Davis of the competition this week. “I have to say, for me at this show, the camaraderie between all the riders has been special. We're all cheering for each other, and there's a special feeling when everyone supports each other.”
Ashley Holzer of Wellington, Fla., and Hawtins San Floriana, a 2012 Hanoverian mare (San Amour I x Florestan I) she owns with Dr. Diane Fellows and is cared for by Ali Conti, placed fourth on 69.957%. Jodie Kelly-Baxley (Destin, Fla.), with her own Grayton Beach, a 2011 KWPN gelding (Negro x UB 40) cared for by Sylvia Taylor, finished with a score of 68.804% for fifth place overall, ahead of Jordan LaPlaca (Ledyard, Conn.), and Gold Play, an 2015 Oldenburg gelding (Grey Flanell x Sir Donnerhall II) owned by Nancy Hutson and cared for by Caitlin LaPlaca, who finished the day in sixth.
Competition Information
The national championship features three days of top competition and continues Friday, May 15, at 8:00 a.m. ET with the Grand Prix Special. The highlight FEI Grand Prix Freestyle will start at 7:00 p.m. ET on Saturday evening under the lights in the WEC Grand Arena.
Event Website | Schedule | Results
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