By Chelsey Burris
The US Dressage Finals presented by Adequan® gets its moniker, the Centerline of Champions, for good reason. Each fall, competitors from across the United States converge to compete head-to-head for honors from Training Level to Grand Prix, featuring Adult Amateur and Open divisions, as well as the recently expanded Junior/Young Rider division. Each edition of the show features new and spellbinding performances as the top riders and horses in the nation dance their way down centerline. From horses and riders overcoming the most unlikely odds to claim Finals crowns, unique breeds that had everyone on the showgrounds gawking, to such dramatic and close finishes that one class ended in a dead heat, here are ten moments from the 2024 Finals that we are sure to be talking about for years to come.
A Coma, a Special Connection, and a Finals Veteran in Tears Kicks Off Emotion-Packed First Day
James Koford is a familiar face at Finals, with many fond memories starring his previous mount, the wonder-mare Adiah HP, chiseled into the history books. However, this year, the Finals veteran was moved to tears after a win so improbable and inspiring that it felt straight out of a movie.
The story started back in the spring of this year, when Emily Brollier experienced a terrible fall, which left her in a coma and on a ventilator for two weeks. In the life-threatening fall, she fractured two vertebrae, broke some ribs, and required an emergency craniotomy. There were serious concerns about if the Region 2 rider would survive. When she woke up from her coma and called her good friend James Koford, he said it was almost like getting a call from beyond the grave. Her request? For him to take the reins of Secret Royal 3. While she would be spending the year rehabilitating from her injuries, she wanted someone to take care of the 6-year-old Oldenburg. Koford immediately agreed.
He shared, “It started out as altruistic to help a friend, but it turns out that I love this horse, and riding him is so fun.” Koford, who is used to competing at the highest levels, needed to purchase a new short jacket so that he could compete at Secret Royal 3’s current skill level. Together, they qualified for the US Dressage Finals with a big win in the Great American Insurance Group/USDF Region 3 Championships, punching their ticket for Finals.
Just months removed from her coma, Brollier’s horse was posing for a winner’s ceremony photo with a smiling but tearful James Koford aboard, cherishing this special victory in the Third Level Open Championship with a 72.375%.
This remarkable victory came to fruition on Day 1 of the US Dressage Finals, and it was a perfect bellwether for what a memorable competition was in store for dressage lovers.
Dressage Is For Every Horse – “Non-Traditional” Breeds Prove They Belong
When the top ten horses in each championship class make their way to the Alltech Arena for a victory lap, you might picture big warmbloods with floating trots and Friesians that look straight out of fairytales. But in a number of divisions, you’d see something else in 2024. Peppered among the more “traditional” looking dressage horses, ponies, paints, and other “non-traditional” dressage mounts proudly circled the renowned arena with their colorful neck sashes on. Perhaps the most remarkable example was The Chick Magnet with rider/owner Vasiliki Harvey of Region 3. The 16-year-old Gypsy Vanner was hard to miss, his mane in an impossibly long braid, his breed-characteristic black and white coat shining, and a heart pattern shaved into his hindquarters for good measure.
As Finals first-timers, Harvey was just hoping for a good ride after a stressful autumn that saw the Hurricane Helene floodwaters hit Tennessee, causing devastation very close to The Chick Magnet’s stable. It was so close to home that the gelding had to walk part of the way to board the trailer bound for Lexington because the road was too washed out for the large rig to make it to his farm.
When it came time to go down centerline, the eye-catching Gypsy Vanner stood out not just for his looks, but also for his performance. In a class of 13 in the First Level Adult Amateur Freestyle Championship, he and Harvey danced their way to a score of 69.148%. Harvey anxiously watched the scores come in, staring in disbelief when her beloved horse, who she’d nearly lost to a colic, laminitis, and sepsis episode in May 2021, finished as reserve champions!
Taking their lap in the Alltech Arena and then posing with USDF leadership and sponsors for a photo in a winner’s ceremony, Harvey beamed from the back of her flashy black and white dance partner; proving dressage is for every horse, and that “non-traditional” breeds belong at the highest levels, like the US Dressage Finals!
The Youngest Competitor is Back – And Even Better
Last year, we profiled the youngest competitor on the Finals grounds: Region 2’s Grace Christianson. At just 11 years old, she was a full six decades younger than the most veteran competitor at the 2023 championship show (you can read more about their story here).
Now, at age 12, Christianson was back, once again as one of the youngest competitors among more than 350 horses and rider pairs that converged in Lexington, Kentucky. With her mare, FHF Roulee, they improved on their previous inaugural appearance. Last year, Christianson placed second in both her “warm up” classes in the open show – this year, she nailed the performances in both, scoring two blue ribbons. This was a sign of good things to come for the 12-year-old equestrian from Indiana.
Last year, in the First Level Jr/YR Championship, Christianson and FHF Roulee finished out of the top 10, with a 62.593%. This year, they put together a more cohesive and beautiful ride, with their score improving to 68.796%, earning them 4th place honors in a big group of 17 eager youth riders.
Back in 2023, Christianson was still riding in Training Level tests, finishing 5th in the Training Level Jr/YR class with a 69.133%. This year, she was ready, willing, and able to jump up to the 2nd Level Jr/YR Championship, placing 5th of 16 aboard her American Warmblood mare. As the girl-power duo made a victory lap in the famous Alltech Arena, the excitement was clear on Christianson’s face.
“It felt so great to make it back to Finals again,” she told us. “It’s a challenge to get enough time off of school to put together a good competition schedule, but Roulee and I managed to do it this year thanks to the help of my mom going to bat for me, and keeping up with lots of studying going to and from horse shows. I really enjoy the Junior and Young Rider classes at Finals, but it’s also fun to enter the open classes and see where you stack up compared to riders who may have 40 years more experience than you. I was excited to see that Finals added more junior and young rider classes this year. It’s a great time to be a youth rider in dressage.”
Christianson was tied in age for youngest rider at the show this year. Another 12-year-old, Ramona Winters from Tulsa, OK, was technically the youngest, having a slightly later birth date than Christianson in 2012. Winters made her Finals debut in the Training Level Jr/YR class, finishing a respectable 10th place and earning a neck sash. Her mount, Basil the Great, a 12.2-hand pony owned by Marta Koenig, is 18 years old. He began his dressage career in recognized shows in 2013 – when Winters would have only been one year old.
The future looks bright for the many talented youth riders who traveled to Finals for the competition. This year, there were more classes for youth riders than ever before at the national championship show. And speaking of youth riders…
New Divisions Kick Off With a Bang…And a Dead Heat
Back in 2021, the US Dressage Finals added youth classes for the first time. They have become quite popular, attracting some of the top junior and young riders from across the nation. This year, there were two brand new divisions for youth competitors; Prix St. Georges and Intermediate I.
In the last class on the last day of the 2024 Finals, Taiwan Parrish put an exclamation point on the show when he took the inaugural Intermediate I Jr/YR division with style. The 19-year-old rider was aboard the 19-year-old horse Saracchi, owned by Lauren Chumley. Parrish described the horse as a, “12 out of 10 hard to ride — like riding a ballpoint pen — because the balance is so quick to go, but I’ve been with him since Training Level, and he’s got me so far. The journey has not been linear, but it’s been a lot of fun.” It was all worth it and everything clicked for them, when they scored a 65.980%, nearly 2.5% ahead of the reserve champion competitor.
In the other new division, the Jr/YR Prix St. Georges, the competitors were so evenly matched that even the judges couldn’t determine a winner. With 62.5% each, both Isabella Rucki aboard PSA Mohegan Sun (Region 2) and Londyn Pachota aboard Samurai V (also from Region 2), were declared the winners of the new division, with each of them receiving a championship SmartPak cooler.
There were plenty of divisions that ended in dramatic fashion, with the champion and reserve scoring closely together – like in the Adult Amateur First Level, where Emma Batchelder and Eminem narrowly edged out Katrina Heilbroner and Odanse GS by just 0.1 percentage points. But it’s extremely rare for it to be so close that the judges can’t determine a winner and have to call it a draw. This wild finish in the brand new division where we all got to witness the extremely rare feat of a dead heat notched a historic moment at Finals.
Overcoming Adversity, Injury, and Unlikely Beginnings to Become Champions
Every year, there is usually a feel-good story about a horse or rider overcoming a difficult obstacle and rising to the occasion on the big stage. But this year, there seemed to be more of these stories than ever.
In the Adult Amateur Prix St Georges, Denise Steele aboard Bon Chance was awarded the coveted championship cooler. This would have seemed like an impossible dream just two short years ago, when the mare broke her coffin bone shortly after being imported to the US. Steele and her husband spent the next six months caring for Bon Chance, through stall rest, hand grazing, and lots of hope. Her nickname is “the Honey Badger” due to her bombproof nature, and she showed that tenacious spirit when she and Steele won their class and snatched up the Janine Westmoreland Malone Perpetual Trophy. She also claimed the Lloyd Landkamer Perpetual Trophy, awarded to the highest-scoring FEI mare at the competition. Not too shabby for a mare fresh off rehabilitating a broken coffin bone.
Meanwhile, preparing for the Open First Level Championship, Jeremy Steinberg wasn’t sure if he would be able to ride. Just two weeks before Finals, he re-aggravated a nagging groin injury, leaving him in so much pain he couldn’t even canter in his first ride aboard Henry when he arrived at the Kentucky Horse Park. “I didn’t think I was going to be able to ride this weekend, so the expectations were pretty low because I haven’t ridden the last two weeks,” Steinberg shared candidly. However, when it mattered most, he rode on, pulling off a surprising victory with a 74.583%. “It was such a rough couple of weeks building up to Finals that I couldn’t be happier with what he did today,” Steinberg said after the ride, crediting the five-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding he co-owns with Carolyn and James McMullen for their win.
Meanwhile, Adult Amateur First Level Freestyle champion Ryann, ridden by Susan Morrison and owned by Kathy Mathers, had an unlikely beginning as a dressage star. The plucky 14-hand pony spent the first eight years of her life as a pasture ornament. She took to dressage like a duck to water. “She’s an awesome pony, and we’ve really just started showing her the last couple of years,” Susan enthused, emphasizing how much fun she’s having in the sandbox with the pint-sized mare.
Even two of the horses mentioned above in this article, The Chick Magnet (who overcame a life-threatening colic, laminitis, and sepsis episode in May 2021) and Saracchi (who was injured the first 3 months of this year, putting his show season in serious doubt), conquered their adversities to find success at Finals. The ‘Centerline of Champions’ is where dreams, no matter how unlikely, come true.
A Heart Horse With the Dance of a Lifetime
Saturday night’s Grand Prix Freestyle is the most prestigious class at Finals and is always a fan favorite to watch, with the beautifully choreographed dances of some of the top horses and riders in the United States coming down centerline under the bright lights of the Alltech Arena. The first rider in the ring for this marquee class, Nora Batchelder aboard Faro SQF, set the bar so high no one could catch her the rest of the evening. It was a special victory – not only was Faro SQF Batchelder’s first-ever Finals mount back in 2017 (at the Prix St. Georges level at the time), but they’ve now been to the Pan Am Games together. And the cherry on top was notching the ultimate Finals victory. “I love him so much; he’s my heart horse,” she proudly shared.
In an exceptionally complex freestyle, which featured two-tempi changes on a circle then morphed into one-tempis and included a piaffe pirouette to boot, the pair, who had driven 12 hours from Florida for the show, danced their way to a scintillating 74.208%. It might be their last dance together, as Batchelder has a lot of young horses coming up the ranks, and she doesn’t think her heart horse has anything else to prove after earning the coveted Jazzman Perpetual Trophy together this year. You can watch their impressive freestyle in the video below.
A couple of years ago, Batchelder shared why she loves Finals in this YourDressage exclusive article.
All That Shimmers Can Be Gold
They say a good horse comes in any color. That being said, sometimes you can’t help but fall for a horse because of their appearance – a blue eye, lots of chrome, or a gorgeous paint or pinto pattern. One horse at the 2024 Finals was as good as gold – literally. Cali is a 15-year-old American Warmblood. Due to his breeding, which sees the blending of a cremello stallion with Akhal-Teke blood, Cali’s palomino coat shimmers.
Until the golden gelding came into her life, Nicole Acosta of Region 9 had never dabbled in dressage. They began their competitive career together in 2021, making their Finals debut that fall. The pair have grown tremendously since then, and on November 9, they added their first Finals victory to their awards shelf, taking the Third Level Adult Amateur title, outclassing a huge field of 25 riders.
“It was a really fun test,” Acosta said afterward. “He’s so obedient and always there for you.” The pair hope to advance to the Prix St Georges division next year. You won’t be able to miss the shimmering golden horse and his beaming rider if they return for next year’s Finals at WEC Ohio.
The Reign of Double Champs
Even qualifying for Finals is a huge accomplishment – so to win a championship class is a dream come true. For several riders at the 2024 Finals, they managed to make lightning strike twice, winning two classes each. Region 1’s Madison Rezaei and Maximus, her first Grand Prix horse, came away with wins in both the Adult Amateur Grand Prix and Adult Amateur Grand Prix Freestyle, taking the Calaveras County Perpetual Trophy along the way. “This is the sweetest horse with so much try,” Madison said about her 13-year-old Polish Warmblood dance partner that she’s been with the last two seasons. The pair were also awarded the George W. Wagner Jr. Perpetual Trophy.
Meanwhile, Phyllis Sumner won both the Adult Amateur Intermediate I and Adult Amateur Intermediate I Freestyle with her mare Jonanta M. Sumner refers to the 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood as a “worker bee”. The Region 3 equestrian has a unique backstory, dancing to music inspired by her brother’s Broadway show Rocktopia. 2024 was both horse and rider’s Finals debut, and it’s definitely something they’ll never forget.
Brittany Burson and Opportunity Knocks also took two championships: the Open Training Level and the Open First Level Freestyle, both with soaring scores, earning them the Top Hat Perpetual Trophy, which is awarded to the horse and rider with the highest freestyle and non-freestyle average score at the same level. Opportunity Knocks is a youngster, just five years old and in his first year of competition, so it was clear to everyone watching that we were witnessing a star being born right in front of our eyes in the bay Dutch Warmblood owned by Patricia Joy.
Finals veteran Kathryn Fleming-Kuhn was also crowned champion in two divisions this year: the Intermediate I Open (which she dominated by almost 5 percentage points over the reserve champion) and the Prix St Georges Open, both with US-bred Franzsis HSR. The Region 2-based rider describes the Oldenburg gelding as “a bit of an imp” at home, but on the big stage, he put in the work where it counted, claiming the Miki Christophersen Perpetual Trophy. As a US-bred horse, Franzsis HSR also earned the Verne Batchelder Memorial Trophy, being the highest-scoring US-bred horse at the FEI Levels. Fleming-Kuhn has sat down with us before to tell us why Finals is such an important show on her calendar and why she loves it so much – check it out here.
After Three Decades Away…But They Don’t Miss A Beat
Region 3’s Susan McLean was a horse-crazy kid, but as life began to get in the way, she stopped riding…for 29 years. However, when her daughter Bailey began taking riding lessons, she was bitten by the horse bug yet again, and soon acquired Bob Marlin, a Weser-Ems gelding. Originally intended for her daughter, he quickly became her mount when he wound up being a little too complicated for Bailey. It was only three years ago that he was imported…and now the pair are US Dressage Finals champions after winning the Fourth Level Adult Amateur division.
In a big class of 23 horses, McLean and Bob Marlin were the second pair down centerline. The agonizing wait to see how their score would fare against much bigger horses (Bob Marlin stands 15.2 hands) was too much for McLean, who stopped looking at the scores back at her stall and told her family not to give her any updates. She hoped it would be a top-ten finish. When she went to the awards booth to see if she collected a neck sash, she found out she had actually won the class and broke down in happy tears. “Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would get to do this again!” she said, referring to her decades-long break out of the saddle. “But then I had a kid who restarted it all. We’re making the best memories together.”
And McLean wasn’t the only one! Also on the showgrounds at the Kentucky Horse Park was Rebecca Lord, back to defend her title in the Intermediate II Adult Amateur Championship. However, before she and her 15-year-old Hanoverian Demetrius were Finals champs, she had also taken a three-decade break from riding. Dusting off a saddle again 10 years ago, the Region 3 rider has made leaps and bounds of progress during that time. They successfully defended their championship title, and she also finished 5th in the same class with the Oldenburg gelding Luke Skywalker.
“They’re glorious horses,” she said after the rides. “It’s exciting to love doing something so much.”
“He’s Not Adult Amateur Friendly – You Should Sell Him…”
Fursten Vino, aka Vinny, is a big, black Oldenburg gelding. His owner Amy Richwine fell in love with him when he was a three-week-old baby and purchased him as a weanling. Once he was started under saddle at age three, Richwine had a tough decision to make. She was advised to sell the gorgeous young horse because he wouldn’t be an “amateur friendly” mount.
Richwine didn’t heed this advice though, believing there was something special about him and that it would be worth the wait to see how he developed. Over time, Fursten Vino (she has a theme of naming her horses after wine, thanks to her last name), matured, and now at eight years old, he makes the perfect adult amateur partner. The shiny red bow on top of this partnership certainly came in the form of a win in the Second Level Adult Amateur Championship. He truly aged like a fine wine!
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Did you miss any of the 2024 US Dressage Finals or want to learn more about any of the above stories? You can find everything from our daily recaps to behind-the-scenes photo galleries, perpetual trophy winners, LeMieux Regions Cup winners, and much more here.
These were just a few of the moments that made the 2024 edition of the US Dressage Finals so memorable, but there were many other amazing riders, inspiring stories, unique horses, and unforgettable rides at the show. What was your favorite moment from the 2024 Finals? Let us know in the comments below.
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