As the governing body for the sport of equestrian in the United States, the US Equestrian Federation (USEF) provides funding and training for the country’s best riders to compete in various national and international competitions, including the Olympic Games. During the first two months of 2023, American competitors and teams have enjoyed success in several different events. Let’s learn more.
National Champions Crowned in Combined Driving
The combined driving season began in February with the 2023 Spring Fling CDE at the Florida Horse Park in Ocala. Seven national champions were crowned for CAI3* Pair Horses, Advanced Pony, and Preliminary divisions. Bettina Scherer and her 2017 Westphalian mare SF Arendell won the event’s most coveted prize with a first-place result in the USEF Preliminary Single Horse National Championship. Scherer was in second place after the dressage test and moved into first following the marathon phase. She avoided time penalties in the cones phase to hold onto first and win the title.
Other winners included George Dickerson (USEF Preliminary Pair Horse), Suzanne Smith (USEF Preliminary Single Pony), Katie Whaley (USEF Advanced Pair Pony), and Dana Diemer (USEF Advanced Single Pony). Diemer, who won silver at last year’s event, recorded a personal best 53 in the advanced with her 2011 Welsh Pony gelding Clarwood Mack the Knife. Mack was also part of a bronze-medal-winning pair two years ago.
Jumping Team Finishes Fifth in Wellington
In its first team event of the 2023 season, the NetJets US Jumping Team finished fifth out of 11 teams in the $150,000 FEI Jumping Nations Cup Wellington CSIO4*. Chef d’Equipe Robert Ridland led the team, which consisted of Natalie Dean (Acota M), Mimi Gochman (Celina BH), Mavis Spencer (Carissimo 25), and Adrienne Sternlicht (Faquitol-S). Despite more than 15 faults each for both Spencer and Sternlicht in the first round, the team advanced to the second round with strong showings from Gochman and Dean, the youngest riders in the event. The US had just 12 team faults in the second round.
“Our plan has been set for months that we were going to use this home Nations Cup, this four-star Nations Cup, for basically our next generation of riders,” Ridland explained. “We’ve got a major priority this year in qualifying for [the Paris 2024 Olympics], so the five-stars will have more of the veteran riders. Here it was intentional to have the riders of the future and to give them the experience in the electric environment that exists [at Wellington International]. There’s no question we had the youngest team out there. Those riders all learned something under immense pressure, and I’m very proud of them.”
Dean kicked off the event for the US and had a clean run, finishing the course in 67.44 seconds. He had four faults in the second round. Gochman had just four faults in both rounds.
Second-Place Finish for Dressage
Before the $150,000 FEI Jumping Nations Cup Wellington CSIO4*, Wellington International hosted the FEI Dressage Nations Cup USA CDIO3*. Germany won the event with a final team score of 437.844, while the Dutta Corp. US Dressage Team finished in second place with a score of 427.285. Sweden finished third with 414.498 points. It was the first event of the year for the US team, which includes Christian Simonson (Son of a Lady), Susie Dutta (Don Design DC), Charlotte Jorst (Zhaplin Langholt), Anna Marek (Duvel). Simonson, in his first Nations Cup, was the top-performing American with a score of 72.706 percent.
First Place for U25 Dressage
The US Dressage U25 Stars and Stripes Team, consisting of Callie O’Connell (Eaton H) and Ben Ebeling (Status Royal OLD), finished atop the podium with a final team score of 139.736 at the FEI Dressage Nations Cup™ USA CDIO-U25 competition. Another American duo, the US Dressage U25 Star-Spangled Team, finished in second, while a Canadian team finished in third place.
Ebeling, who took over riding Status Royal OLD from his father Jan last spring, recorded the best individual score of the competition with a 70.647 percent. O’Connell and Eaton H, a 2009 KWPN gelding, scored the second-highest mark of the day at 69.089 percent in her first-ever Nations Cup. Emma Asher (Elegance N) and Kyle Dickinson (Ibanero van de Vogelzang) represented the U25 Star-Spangled Team.
Gold for the Para Dressage Team
The Adequan US Para Dressage Team has also enjoyed recent success. Led by Chef d’Equipe Michel Assouline, the team won the gold medal at the 2023 CHI Al Shaqab CPEDI3* in Ar-Rayyan, Qatar. Beatrice de Lavalette (Sixth Sense), Fiona Howard (Jagger), and Kate Shoemaker (Quiana) all registered multiple personal-best scores en route to the first place finish. Following two days of riding, the U.S team had a cumulative score of 446.852 percent. The Netherlands and Belgium won the silver and bronze medals with scores of 432.389 and 415.486 percent.