Traverse City, Mich. – Dressage competition started with a bang at the 2023 FEI North American Youth Dressage Championships presented by USDF, with the Young Riders and U25 divisions completing their team tests.

In the Young Rider division, a total of 22 combinations representing six teams entered the arena for their first tests of this year’s NAYC. The Region 3 team proved dominant, earning a team total of 212.353 to take the gold medal. The combined team from Regions 4 and 7 won the silver medal with a team total of 203.118. The Regions 1/2/9 combined team finished in a close third-place position to take home bronze with a total score of 197.824.

Mary Claire Piller and Caterina, Emily Brollier’s 2011 Hanoverian mare, had the highest individual score of the day, posting a 71.706% for the Region 3 team. Piller was the last to go for her team and handled the pressure to turn in a clean test.

“I try not to think too much about the pressure or the medal, just going and putting down a clean test and doing as well with my horse as I can,” said Piller. “If you think too much about the pressure and the medal, it’ll all fall apart. But if you think about the overall and just being good to your horse, it all comes together.”

Piller was on the gold-medal-winning team at NAYC in 2022 and said the second consecutive victory felt vindicating.

“This is a very difficult sport, and you never know,” she said. “Some days you come out and it’s amazing, and some days you come out and you think, ‘Maybe I should not ride again.’ It’s nice to come in and see the work that you put in paying off. It feels very good.”

Piller’s Region 3 teammate, Kat Fuqua, had the day’s second-best score of 70.882% with her own 2008 KWPN mare, Dreamgirl. Fuqua and Dreamgirl earned junior bronze medals at their last NAYC outing in 2021, and their debut at the Young Rider level was a huge success.

“Today I was really focusing on everything being accurate,” said Fuqua. “I wasn’t going for too much power; I just really wanted everything to be clean and organized and to be really, really focused. My goal was to get a 70% today and it all worked out. My horse was really on my side, working with me really well today, so I was very happy.”

2023 NAYC Young Riders Dressage Team Results

Gold: Region 3
Kat Fuqua and Dreamgirl
Mary Claire Piller and Caterina
Acacia Tsamoutales and Santos
Celsiana William and Prima Ballerina

Silver: Regions 4/7
Josh Albrecht and Espresso
Averi Allen and Superman
Ella Fruchterman and Hannah Montana W
Josephine Hinneman and Copa Cabana MRF

Bronze: Regions 1/2/9
Alicia Berger and Floriano HB
Sydney Lipar and Zerragamo
Madison Manis and Roquefort
Quinn Ridgway and Dramatika V

See the full team results here.

This year marks the first NAYC that includes a U25 division for dressage, and a total of eight athletes from Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. came to compete, performing the FEI Intermediate II test for the team competition on Wednesday. Team Canada took home the inaugural team gold medal for the U25 division, while the U.S. Star-Spangled team won silver and the U.S. Stars & Stripes team took the bronze.

Canada’s Brooke Mancusi had the top individual score of the day on her way to winning team gold. She rode Arthur, a 2005 KWPN gelding owned by Windhaven, to a 67.853%.

“My horse was very, very good today. I’m really happy with him,” said Mancusi. “I really wanted to nail my piaffe and passage…he was really on my aids and really listening to me, so I think it was pretty good. I couldn’t have asked for more from him today. I’ve been riding him since January, so we’re a fairly new partnership. I’m really grateful to his owner, Jill Irving, for allowing me to ride him. We get along super well.”

Fellow Canadian Claire Robinson posted the second-best score of the day with Carol Robinson’s Glamour Boy, a 2011 KWPN gelding. The pair earned a 67.794% to help secure Canada’s win.

“I’ve had my horse for about four years now, and we’ve stepped up to this level together for the first time,” said Robinson. “He’s a big character. He’s hilarious in the stable and such a fighter in the ring, and is just a wonderful partner.”

Dennesy Rogers was the top-scoring U.S. athlete and ranked third overall with Chanel, Dorriah Rogers’s 2005 Danish Warmblood mare. The pair had previously competed at NAYC in the Junior division and had a successful debut in the U25.

“My horse was very amped up, which was really fun because the passage and the piaffe work felt great,” said Rogers. “I felt like I could really get her forward into those movements. We had a couple of mistakes, but overall, the highlight was able to create the trot and the passage.”

2023 NAYC U25 Dressage Team Results

Gold: Canada
Brooke Mancusi and Arthur
Claire Robinson and Glamour Boy

Silver: U.S. Star-Spangled
Alexander Dawson and Freedom
Dennesy Rogers and Chanel
Cameron Wyman and Thys

Bronze: U.S. Stars & Stripes
Emily Hewitt and Fidens
Jenaya Celina Olsen and Beach Boy