A Busy Fall for U.S. Dressage

By George Williams

This seems like it might be the busiest fall on record, especially if you’re like me and think fall basically starts with Labor Day weekend and goes into December. Fitting in nine GAIG/USDF Regional Championships, one CDI3*, one CDI5*, four CDI-Ws, the US Dressage Finals and the US Equestrian Open for Dressage and—I almost forgot— two World Cup qualifiers just across the U.S. borders, one to the north in Canada and one to the south in Mexico, makes for a full calendar. It’s a happenin’ time for dressage in the U.S.!

Overall, the USDF Regional Championships have had good turnout this year with some of the classes at a few of the championships being impressively large. It’s only natural that when you have students in a division, you pay particular attention to the level they’re competing at. Out of personal interest, I followed the Second Level Championship classes for Adult Amateurs. I was pleased to see how similar three of the regions were in the size of the class, with Regions 1, 3 and 8 having 30, 29 and 31 competitors, respectively.

The 2025 award for “most competitors in a class” goes to Region 8. Their First Level Adult Amateur Championship class had 68 competitors, which required it to be held over two days! No surprise that this has led to some suggestions that it is time to look at the scores required for qualifying to see if they need to be raised.

From the Mississippi east, there is a greater tendency for competitors to switch regions, which depends upon a variety of factors. These could include preferred venue, distance, date of the competition, coach’s availability, etc. The fact that you can earn a qualifying score in any region and the ability to change regions for the championship is a major reason why the qualifying process, including the scores needed to qualify for a level, must be set on a national level.

Many of the competitors will be moving forward from the Regional Championships to the US Dressage Finals, which is an “invitational” series final that is based on placings and wild-card scores earned at the GAIG/USDF Regional Championships. In response to the unpredictability of November weather in the Midwest, the US Dressage Finals have been moved from the Kentucky Horse Park and are being held entirely indoors for the first time at the WEC venue in Wilmington, Ohio.

Another series final, this one based on placings in the Grand Prix Freestyles at participating U.S. CDIs, will take place on the West Coast at Thermal in November. Debuted in 2025, the US Equestrian Open is a major initiative by the USEF to showcase the three Olympic disciplines of jumping, eventing and dressage. The series final for jumping was held earlier this year in Wellington, Florida. The US Equestrian Open of Eventing Final was held October 9–12 at Morven Park in Virginia, and the Dressage Final is being held November 13–16 with the Desert Dressage II CDI5*. As the series starts to wind down, riders attempting to move up on the leader board for the US Dressage Open competed at the Devon CDI-W, and with the Tryon CDI3* being the final qualifier, it’s highly likely several will be riding there as well. With $200,000 in prize money, the US Open promises to be an exciting competition.

Holding the FEI World Cup Finals in Ft. Worth in 2026 means it is on the radar for many North American riders. Due to the World Championships being held in Aachen in August of next year, strategically athletes are looking to earn North American League points early on in the qualifying season. This made the Devon CDI-W GP Freestyle class as close to a nail biter as a first qualifier can be. There’s something to be said for getting 20 points out of a maximum of 60 at the first qualifier of the new season. At Devon, there were several serious contenders going into the CDI-W Grand Prix. The Canadians were well represented by Olympians Britney Fraser-Beaulieu and Camille Carier Bergeron. For the U.S., previous FEI World Cup competitors Anna Marek, Ben Ebeling and two-time World Cup competitor Kevin Kohmann were hoping for a strong start to the qualifying season.

Ultimately, who would earn the 20 points boiled down to the two last rides of the traditional Saturday night freestyles. Kevin was the penultimate to go in the lineup, with his dynamic performance scoring a 77.005%. With one more to go, he certainly seemed like the sure winner. In the end, Ben stepped up to the challenge with what, in my mind, was his best ride to date. Ben and Bellena earned top honors with a 77.655%. As a side note, just to point out the power of mares, the top three scores ever earned in the Grand Prix Free Style at Devon were Bellena (77.655%) owned by Ann Romney, Rocher (77.850%) owned by Joann and Chuck Smith, and My Lady (77.875%) owned by Janne Rumbough and Mikala Munter. Interestingly, starting with Rocher, they were achieved with decades spacing—in 2005, 2015 and 2025. I always liked the number 5! You cannot deny that “Mares Rule.”

In addition to Devon, there are five more CDI-Ws—Toronto, Mexico City, TerraNova, Ocala and Thermal—all before January 1. As I am certain you have already guessed, I’ll be watching these competitions intently. Anyone want to guess who is going to be at the top come the New Year?

Photo:

This fall is busy with exciting competitions in U.S. dressage.

Photo by Melissa Fuller