For Immediate Release
Alice Collins for Jennifer Wood Media, Inc.
Wellington, FL – February 13, 2022 – Week five of the 2022 Adequan® Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) in Wellington, Florida, wrapped up on Sunday, February 13, with the third qualifying round of both the Lövsta Future Challenge Young Horse Grand Prix Series and the Summit Farm Future Challenge Young Horse Prix St. Georges Series.
These classes aim to identify and nurture talented, up-and-coming young FEI horses, giving them exposure to benefit their development for the biggest of stages. Grand finals for both classes take place during AGDF 11. The AGDF circuit hosts seven weeks of CDI competition and runs through March 27.
In the Prix St. Georges class, it was 27-year-old Genay Vaughn who staked her claim to a ticket for the final, scheduled for March 25. Riding her own and her mother Michele Vaughn’s Fleur Noir WSHS, an eight-year-old American-bred mare by Fürstenball, she posted 69.97% to head up the seven-strong class on an unseasonably rainy day.
Vaughn, who is based at Starr Vaughn Equestrian in California and has owned the mare since she was five, said: “I didn’t really know if we should compete or not, but the ring dried out throughout the day. We just did a nice short warm-up and went right in, and I think that was the best way to tackle it. When I first got her she was really behind for her age, but I could tell right from the first ride that she was really trainable, really willing. And I love mares — I have a lot. When you get them on your side, they work so hard for you.
“We’ve gone up the levels together, so it’s been exciting. I was really happy with Fleur’s trot tour today. She felt rideable and I loved the half-passes and shoulder-in,” continued Vaughn, who was awarded over 72% from two judges. “She’s in season, so you just never know with mares, but she was great. She always tries no matter the time of year, and there’s no better feeling than growing together and being successful together.”
Vaughn praised the series and what it offers future FEI horses, saying: “This was Fleur’s first time in a big ring like this. This series is a great opportunity to get your young horse in big surroundings, get great feedback from the top judges to know what you need to work on, and give them exposure to what you hope to be in the future.”
Second-placed Pablo Gómez Molina (ESP) also secured a starting berth in the final riding Baltasar De Ymas to 69.587%, as two tickets are on offer in each Prix St. Georges qualifier. Susanne Benne (USA) finished third with 68.588% on Liebling.
In the big tour class — depleted of entries thanks to a morning of heavy rain — Nicole Levy (USA) rode her own Imposant MC to a 67.352% victory. The nine-year-old KWPN gelding by Bretton Woods was competing at only his second CDI show, having stepped in for the first time at AGDF 2021. Levy has also produced her horse since he was five and last year was sixth in the country in developing grand prix.
“We just started the national grands prix in the middle of January,” said the 39-year-old, “so he’s pretty new to this stuff, but he’s trying really hard. He has big gaits, so sometimes he gets tired with the compression required of the collection and can lose stamina, but that’s normal for a young horse.”
Levy was surprised by the number of spectators and the hubbub around the main arena.
“It was raining, and I thought, ‘Nobody will be here. It’s Sunday afternoon, and it’ll be really quiet’. But because of the rain everybody decided to go eat and watch. I could feel that he was scared of the people walking on the bleachers and the people eating in the tent, and he still said ‘Okay, I’ll try.’”
It’s the horse’s generous nature that made Levy decide to keep him, rather than sell him when he hit Intermediate II, like she does with most. She is just five feet, two inches tall, and Imposant is 17.2 hands high, so he has to be willing to listen to her.
“He’s really special. He just kind of has that ‘It factor,’” added Levy. “He has the collection work; he has the piaffe, the passage. Sometimes it’s hard for him strength-wise to sustain it throughout the whole test, but it’s not hard for him. Once I found it, I felt really lucky and wanted to hold on to him.
“It’s fantastic that this series gives us the chance to go into the CDI ring and maybe not get squashed by the older, more experienced horses,” she continued. “I am very grateful to Lövsta that they give us that chance to get our young horses out there and get that exposure, so when it’s their turn to shine, they really get a fair chance to do it.”
The next rounds of both the Summit Farm Future Challenge and the Lövsta Future Challenge take place on February 27 in week seven of AGDF, with the finals on March 25.
Jennifer Williams (USA) saved her best performance with Joppe K for the end of the week. The pair laid down a new personal best of 73.865% to top the Intermediate I Freestyle CDI2*. At just eight years old, The Joppe Partners’s gelding was the youngest in the class.
Williams showed Joppe K, who is by Harmony’s Rousseau, very successfully in young horse six- and seven-year-old FEI classes, but this was their first senior CDI win. Fellow American riders joined Williams on the podium. Ali Potasky finished second with Inxs on 72.570%, with Bianca Berktold just a whisker behind in third, riding Imperial to 72.430%.
It had been four years since Eliane Cordia Van Reesema’s ride Codiak had set foot in a CDI ring, but the American rider made a triumphant return with Jewel Court Stud’s jumping-bred 13-year-old by Cristallo. Last to go in the Intermediate II CDI2*, they delivered a 70.265% to clinch the class. They edged out Portugal’s Tiago Ernesto and the Lusitano stallion Hobbit Interagro, whose 70.077% marked a new personal best. Barbara Bertschinger (SUI) finished third, riding Sonnenbergs Solisco CH to 67.441%.
Sunday’s action wraps up week five of the 12-week 2022 AGDF. International competition resumes in week seven (February 23-27) with a jam-packed five-star show starting on Wednesday, as well as competition in the national arenas. For more information and results, visit www.globaldressagefestival.com.