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Kadlubek, Manhard, and Ots Take Top Spots Following Day One at the U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions

by Dana Riddlemoser & Kathleen Landwehr, US Equestrian Communications Department | Aug 21, 2019, 8:26 PM

Wayne, Ill. – The U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions began Wednesday at the Lamplight Equestrian Center. Combinations from three divisions headed down centerline in the Kay Arena for the first test of their respective divisions. Early leaders in the USEF Intermediaire I Dressage National Championship, USEF Young Adult ‘Brentina Cup’ Dressage National Championship, and USEF Young Rider Dressage National Championship began their quest for a title, while five other divisions will begin on Thursday.

 

USEF Intermediaire I Dressage National Championship

 

Endel Ots and Lucky Strike (SusanJStickle.com)

Endel Ots (Wellington, Fla.) and Lucky Strike took the early lead in the USEF Intermediaire I Dressage National Championship following the FEI Prix St. Georges Test. He and the nine-year-old Hanoverian gelding owned by Max Ots earned a score of 74.500 percent.

 

“The trot work was a really good highlight, and the canter pirouettes were really quite exceptional for him today, said Ots. “It was a nice feeling, and I was just really happy with my horse.”

 

Sara Hassler (Chesapeake, Md.) and Harmony’s Boitano, Leslie Malone’s 13-year-old KWPN gelding, placed second with a score of 71.206 percent, while Kristina Harrison (Burbank, Calif.) and Finley, her nine-year-old gelding, rounded out the top three with a score of 70.294 percent.

 

The FEI Prix St. Georges Test counts 40 percent towards their overall score. They will complete the FEI Intermediate I Test on Thursday, which will count 45 percent. The division will conclude on Saturday with the FEI Intermediate I Freestyle Test, counting 15 percent.

 

Complete division results

 

USEF Young Adult ‘Brentina Cup’ Dressage National Championship

 

Claire Manhard and Wilfonia (SusanJStickle.com)

Claire Manhard (Cardiff, Calif.) and Wilfonia lead the USEF Young Adult ‘Brentina Cup’ Dressage National Championship. Manhard and her 16-year-old KWPN mare had a forward, fluid performance in the FEI Intermediate II Test to earn a score of 68.912 percent. Their partnership has developed since it began in 2016, and they presented a lovely picture in their test.

 

“I think everything – the connection, self-carriage, her energy – was super. [Wilfonia] was coming and collecting in all the corners. She is usually super strong and powerful, so I focus a lot on keeping her together and collecting and making sure that she is balanced,” Manhard explained. “This was definitely the best beginning of the test that I have had. The piaffe and passage were really good. Today, we have the meter forward, so I let the piaffes move a little bit, and I was able to keep her active and moving really well behind, so I think we got good scores from that. The passage was super animated and lofty, so that was great. And then the walk, usually, she gets a little tense and nervous in this environment, but I felt like her medium walk was really nice and relaxed.”

 

Anna Buffini (San Diego, Calif.) and Wilton II, her 16-year-old KWPN gelding, had a smooth test to collect second-place honors with a score of 68.738 percent. Kerrigan Gluch (Wellington, Fla.) and Vaquero HGF, Hampton Green Farm’s 12-year-old Andalusian stallion, had an exciting test as the horse gains experience at the level, tallying a score of 68.706 percent.

 

Wednesday’s FEI Intermediate II Test counts for 40 percent of the overall score for the USEF Young Adult ‘Brentina Cup’ Dressage National Championship. Thursday’s FEI Grand Prix 16-25 Test counts for 45 percent and the championship concludes with Saturday’s FEI Grand Prix 16-25 Freestyle, which counts for 15 percent of the overall score.

 

Complete division results

 

From the Mixed Zone

 

On Wilfonia’s winning personality:

 

Manhard: “Her temperament is the best. She's the sweetest horse. She knows how to speak on command. She knows her left and right hoof. She knows kisses, she knows how to grab a sugar out of your lips. Yeah, she's hilarious. I love her.”

 

On competing with a barnmate:

 

Buffini: “Claire Manhard, who won, is my training partner at home, so she trains with Gunter Seidel. We train, and we watch each other everyday, and we push each other. Basically, all year long we were like, ‘We don’t care who is one or we don’t care who is two, as long as we can try to be one and two we are going to be happy, so this is like a dream come true on top of all of it.”

 

On preparing for the U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions:

 

Gluch: “I was just talking to my groom about that earlier. This has been a goal of mine through the whole season – the Wellington season as well as this summer. I have stayed home, and focused, and worked hard every day to prepare and think of all the little things like harmony and just the overall picture because those little details do help throughout the test more than sometimes I think. I think I focused a lot on that and his attitude and him just enjoying what he is doing, and I think it paid off today.”

 

On their tests:

 

Rachel Chowanec: I was really, really thrilled with him. We've only been together three and a half months. This is still a new partnership; to even have qualified to get here with him is just unbelievable. And his breeder's here from Spain, so that's a lot of fun. And to go in and be able to get our tempis. He was solid, and he was in my hand, and I felt we were a partnership together.

 

Hope Cooper: “I really loved our ride. This is our first year doing I-2, Grand Prix, and my first year, so we are very new to this. I thought that he couldn’t have been more with me. Obviously there is a lot to improve on given that it is our first year. I think we have a long way to go until it feels really solid all the time, but I couldn’t be happier with how much he gave me. I feel like that was one of our better tests we have had this far at this level.”

 

Anna Weniger: “It was really good. This is my first year doing the U25. [Don] Derrick and I did Young Riders last year, and this is a really big step up, so just getting here was a big deal. I am super proud just to be able to compete here, so I went in the ring today and I told myself, ‘You know, it’s really hard and we are just going to do the best we can.’ And it turned out pretty well. There were lots of little things we need to improve, but I was thrilled, especially when I saw my score. I was ecstatic.”

 

From the Mixed Zone

 

On returning to competition:

 

Ots: “I love competing, and he really likes competing, and it's so much fun. I lived here for almost a decade, so there's a lot of old memories and a lot of old friends. It’s been really fun to go through the [US Equestrian] Young Horse [Dressage] Program with him and [U.S. Dressage Young Horse Coach] Christine Traurig and then now starting to work with [U.S. Dressage Development Coach] Charlotte Bredahl in the [U.S. Dressage Development Program]. I love it. It's been a wonderful journey.”

 

On plans for the FEI Intermediate I Test:

 

Ots: “I haven't been working on everything full force or full power because I really just wanted to [go in] and [complete] nice clean rides, so I’ll probably continue with that same process and that same plan. He was very good in the warm up and had a lot of energy.”

 

On what went well in the test:

 

Anna Marek: “My strong highlight was how relaxed my horse was because he's a pretty spooky horse, and so I've had some problems with flowerpots and clinking plates and [such]. He was really good. He had one little spook, but other than that, he was very relaxed. [I] probably [had] the best walk that I've been able to get in the ring in terms of the relaxation.”

 

Harrison: “Finley was very excited and very alert in the arena, and my goal was to just have a calm, smooth ride. Barnaby Wilde GCF was on his game. He's my little engine that could. I was most proud of Barnaby Wilde's GCF’s accuracy. He was just on my aids. Finley, I was happy with everything. He was super.”

 

Hassler: “We’re a really new pair. We've only started doing our first CDIs this year in Florida, and this was by far our cleanest test yet. I feel like he was just so with me; it was one of the best feelings I've ever had on him. I've never been [to Lamplight] before, so walking [into] that stadium, he and I both were kind of like, ‘Oh, we're here.’ I think just that confidence and pride going into it made it really, really special. I loved every single second of it.”

 

Rebecca Rigdon: “In general, I was super happy with her because she sustained a bone bruise this past winter, and she had not shown since February, so I was very happy. She's a very hot mare, and for not having shown in that long, I could not have been more happy with her ... She's really turning a corner in her training, and that when she starts to get a little too amped up, I now have the training tools to bring her back down and ride the test. I was absolutely thrilled with that.”

 

On their partnership:

 

Marek: “I started riding him when he was four, and it's been an up and down road with us because he's taught me a lot. He's very spooky, and he's very sensitive. He always has been. I've worked with my coach Anne Gribbons since he was really young. She's helped me a lot, and I've tried to stay patient with him, let him grow up, and let him mature because he takes a little bit more time than the other [horses] I ride.”

 

USEF Young Rider Dressage National Championship

 

Caption

Kayla Kadlubek (Fairfax Station, Va.) continued her success from the Adequan® FEI North American Youth Championships presented by Gotham North (NAYC) by taking the lead in the USEF Young Rider Dressage National Championship. She and Perfect Step, her 18-year-old Hanoverian gelding, earned a score of 70.196 percent in the FEI Young Rider Team Test. 

 

We put in a nice, clean test, which I am very happy about. The changes are a little hit-and-miss sometimes, so I’m really happy I got them today,” said Kadlubek, who is a member of the Discover Dressage USEF/USDF Emerging Athlete Program with Perfect Step. “They were clean and uphill … I would like to add a little more power and energy, but I’m really happy with his performance today.”

 

Quinn Iverson (Wellington, Fla.) and Black Diamond CL, Billie Davidson’s 13-year-old KWPN gelding, followed in second with a 69.951 percent. Bianca Schmidt (Edina, Minn.) and Lou Heart, Eliana Schmidt’s 15-year-old Hanoverian gelding, placed third with a score of 68.676 percent.

 

The FEI Young Rider Team Test counts 50 percent towards their overall score. The division championship will be decided after completing the FEI Young Rider Individual Test, which counts for the remaining 50 percent, on Friday.

 

Complete division results

 

From the Mixed Zone

 

On continuing with success following the NAYC:

 

Kadlubek: “I’m feeling the pressure a little bit coming off doing so well at [NAYC], but it is good learning experience. It’s nice to know I can achieve those scores, [but I want ] to keep striving for more.”

 

On the progression since last year’s U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions:

 

Kadlubek: “I feel more comfortable and confident in myself. Going to Europe [as part of the U.S. Dressage European Young Rider Tour] was a huge help in that. The work feels more solid, and I feel stronger in our partnership. We are working more harmoniously.”

 

On today’s test:

 

Iverson: “I was so incredibly happy with him. He let me ride him, which is a big thing for us. With all of our traveling, he came off [the trailer] ready to go. It took us a second to get our feet under ourselves, but once we were there, I was very happy with him.”

 

Schmidt: “Before I went into my test, my reigns and gloves were wet. It started thunder storming. I thought ‘Will I not get to show now?’, but Lou [Heart] did his test fine and helped me through everything. He calmed me down when I got into the ring. It was a really smooth test. We had a couple mistakes, but I’m happy with the overall result.”

 

On competing at the U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions:

 

Iverson: “This is my second time here. I came with Adrienne [Lyle] as a groom when she brought Horizon, so I could see everything and watch from afar. Now, here I am getting to [compete] myself, which is cool because it has been quite the journey with this horse … but he’s worth it.”

 

Schmidt: “My horse is happy here. He likes Lamplight a lot. We [compete in] local shows here, but it is a different atmosphere compared to qualifying and then being here. There are a lot of great riders. It’s very exciting to feel like I should ride better, and I’m improving a lot just being here.”

 

Complete Schedule

 

Keep up with the 2019 U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions on USA Dressage Facebook where you can find winning rides and daily photo galleries, USEF Network Twitter, and USEF Network Instagram featuring Instagram Stories. Use #USADressage and #FestivalofChampions.