Wayne, Ill. – Aug. 24, 2018 – The USEF Pony Rider Dressage National Championship was the first tricolor ribbon awarded of the U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions as the division came to a close on a misty Friday morning at Lamplight Equestrian Center. Twelve horse-and-rider combinations competed in the Pony Individual Test in the hopes of becoming the 2018 champion, but it was Ellanor Boehning and Kabam that held onto their lead to take home the blue ribbon and the championship title with an overall average of 69.996 percent.
Boehning and her 15-year-old German Riding Pony, Kabam, started their competition off strong on Thursday and was awarded an overall division score of 71.524 percent. Though they had a few uncharacteristic mistakes in their simple changes during Friday’s Pony Rider Individual Test, they continued their momentum to take home the day’s winning score of 68.468. The pair have been partnered together for four years and while the pony is described as being a hot and sensitive ride, Boehning and the former champion driving pony made a winning combination in the ring to earn the tricolor.
Holding on to their second-place finish during Thursday’s round, Abby Fodor and Slip and Slide, walked away with the reserve champion title with their overall score of 66.307 percent. Slip and Slide, a 15-year-old Quarter Horse/Haflinger gelding, was previously trained as a reining pony. The pony was re-trained for the dressage ring where he has had great success with Fodor over the past three years. The pair won the inaugural USEF Children Dressage National Championship in 2017 before switching to the Pony divisions.
Jordan Osborne and Cinderella received the third-place ribbon with a score of 67.297 percent in the Pony Individual Test and an overall score of 66.03 percent. Osborne and her 11-year-old German Riding Pony, Cinderella, have been partnered together for two years and have learned a great deal together. Despite Cinderella’s fatigue from the travel and the overall show atmosphere, Osborne thanked her pony for pushing forward and making improvements from their previous test, such as not breaking in their trot extensions.
Later in the day, the young riders rode down centerline to vie for the USEF Young Rider Dressage National Championship title. While Veronica West impressed the judges to win the Young Rider Individual Test on Nobleman with a 71.068 percent, the day one leader, Callie Jones, was able to maintain her lead to clinch the tricolor ribbon.
Earning an overall score of 71.201 percent on her 10-year-old Hanoverian gelding, Don Philippo, Jones fulfilled her goal of winning the national championship after her stand out summer competing in Europe and receiving the individual gold medal at the Adequan®/FEI North American Youth Championships (NAYC), presented by Gotham North, in Saugerties, New York, earlier this month.
Receiving the reserve championship title was West from Marina Del Rey, California, and her 19-year-old Hanoverian gelding, Nobleman. The imported schoolmaster has helped develop West from First Level to the Young Rider level over the past five years.
Nicole Scarpino and Lambada 224, a microbiology student at the University of Florida, finished in third place with an average score of 68.677 percent. Scarpino was happy with her 11-year-old Hanoverian mare’s improved energetic trot and canter work today that helped her secure such a high placing in the division.
Additionally, the junior riders made their debut in their first class of the USEF Junior Rider Dressage National Championship with Emma Asher dominating the division to take the first and second place positions with her two mounts. Asher secured the lead with Traneenggaards Akondo, a 16-year-old Danish Warmblood owned by Seeley Equestrian Ventures, with a score of 70.859 percent.
She also claimed second place with Don Fredo HD, an 11-year-old Oldenburg gelding also owned by Seeley Equestrian Ventures, with a 69.545 percent. Looking ahead, Asher plans to work on relaxation and suppleness with both of her mounts to improve their final test.
Third place in the Junior Team Test was captured by Melanie Doughty and Fascinata, her 10-year-old Rheinlander mare. Doughty, a senior in high school, participated in the USEF Dressage Seat Medal Finals in 2013, and earlier this year competed in the North American Youth Championships (NAYC) in New York. The pair scored a 68.788 percent today and Doughty plans to work on increasing her mare’s expression in the final test, which will take place for the USEF Junior Dressage National Championship on Saturday, Aug. 25 starting at 8:15 a.m.
FROM THE WINNER’S CIRCLE
Ellanor Boehning – USEF Pony Rider Dressage National Champion
On her win:
“I didn’t really expect to come here and do as well as I just did. Honestly, it feels like ‘What just happened?’ It’s very surreal and I’m so excited.”
On her test:
“When we first started the test, Kabam was super and he was throughout the test. When we got to the eight-meter circle, he hit his back leg on the fence and he decided to do a flying change, so we had to stop and re-do it. We also picked up the wrong canter lead when we went to do the second eight-meter circle. Other than that he was really amazing!”
On her experience competing at Lamplight:
“Lamplight is an amazing facility; it’s really nice. I love being here and I love that we can host [the championship] here. I’m also really happy that USEF and USDF sponsors all of this because it really makes it fun for everyone.”
On Kabam:
“I’ve had Kabam for about four years now and when I first got him, the salesperson would get on and he was definitely a little hot. My mom rode him and he was a little hot for her too. When I got on, he was perfect! We clicked from the start. He is the pony for me. He likes to be talkative and friendly and loves to take naps. He loves bananas too—he is just really fun.”
Abby Fodor – USEF Pony Rider Dressage National Championship reserve champion
On her test:
“Slide was very good today. He was less chatty and felt more focused. He had better lengthening today, he was listening really well.”
On her experience competing at Lamplight:
“I really like the show grounds and it’s really nice to come here. It’s so pretty and I’ve been able to make a lot of friends”
Jordan Osborne – USEF Pony Rider Dressage National Championship third place
On her test:
“Ella was really good. She tried her heart out for me but she was tired so basically the whole test I was pushing her to go. She was in a much better frame today and we didn’t break in any of our trot lengthenings.”
On her experience competing at Lamplight:
“I love the venue here. It’s really big and the landscaping is amazing. I’ve made so many new friends, like all of the pony riders. We all hung out last night—it just took one show and we got really close.”
Callie Jones – USEF Young Rider Dressage National Champion
On her test:
“I was super happy with my ride today. On Wednesday he was really fired up and today he was probably even more fired up. I did get a little nervous and I had to remind myself to stay calm and relaxed to give him the confidence. Our trot work was super. We did have one mistake in a canter transition. After that, we kept it together and it was a really nice ride so I couldn’t be more proud.”
On winning the championship:
“It feels amazing. This was another goal of mine and achieving that feels amazing. I could not have done it without my parents and my trainer, Angela Jackson, and of course, my horse. He gave me his all this year. I couldn’t have asked for more.”
On their future plans:
“My plans for the rest of this year is to take a break. This is my last show for the year so it was a good way to end the show season. Going into next year, I’m kind of undecided on what I want to do. We still need to sit down and figure that out.”
Veronica West – USEF Young Rider Dressage National Champion reserve champion
On her test:
“Overall, I was really happy with my ride. My horse was as fired up so we were able to put a more solid and clean ride in. There were a couple of things that could have been improved like tightening up the canter pirouettes a little bit. Overall I am really happy with him, he was really honest.”
On her future plans:
“This was my last show of the year. I actually start college on Monday and I’m excited about that. My horse will some well deserved time off. I think we’ll begin training again and make the move up to the U25 Grand Prix level so I’m really excited for that. I’ll be going to Loyola Marymount University and I’m studying Finance.”
Nicole Scarpino – USEF Young Rider Dressage National Champion third place
On her test:
“I was very happy with my ride today. I was really happy with my trot work because it felt more dynamic today. She got pretty fired up in the canter but I was really happy with how well she handled herself and she stayed with me well. I was really happy with the canter pirouettes because she let me set them up and she let me ride them. Overall I was so happy with how she handled the whole environment this whole week.”
On her future plans:
“This is also my last show of the season. I’m giving my horse some time off and I’m going to get caught up with school. I want to work on getting her stronger and fitter and moving her up through the levels. I’ll probably plan on doing Young Riders again next year. I’m studying microbiology at the University of Florida.”
Emma Asher – Junior Team Test winner and second place
On Traneenggaards Akondo’s win:
“I had a lot of highlights in my test. There were a lot of things that I’ve been working on that were a lot better today. We had a couple of bobbles in our canter tour and our first halt, but he was really fantastic. He is a really good boy. I got him almost two years ago from Denmark. He’s really spectacular and fun to ride. He’s been around the block so he really knows his job—he has been teaching me a ton and just really accelerating my learning. He has been great to have and learn from. He’s a unicorn!”
On Don Fredo HD:
“He was on fire today. In the warm-up, he was really tense and on the outside of the ring, he was very spicy. He was really good in the test until the last extension where he added a little pizzazz. I’m really happy with both of my horses today.”
On her plans for the next test:
“With Akondo, I want to get him more relaxed and supple. And with Fredo, the same thing with more relaxation and less tightness and anticipation.”
On the championships:
“It’s really great. I like watching the young horses because I just got a few in Europe and it’s nice to see what direction they are going in. Just being able to watch all of the different divisions have been really fun.”
Melanie Doughty – Junior Team Test third place
On Fascinata:
“My mare was really good today. She was really listening to me with everything that was going on so I was really proud of her for that. Her trot work was a lot better than it has been in a while. I was proud of her for listening to me the whole time.”
On her plans for the next test:
“We can get more expression and the walk pirouettes can be more forward. I’d definitely like to work on that.”
Results: USEF Pony Rider Dressage National Championship
Rider / Horse / Pony Team / Pony Individual / Total Score
1. Ellanor Boehning / Kabam / 71.524 / 68.468 / 69.996
2. Abby Fodor / Slip and Slide / 65.857 / 66.757 / 66.307
3. Jordan Osborne / Cinderella / 64.762 / 67.297 / 66.03
4. Ella Angelo / Here-be Seren Gwyn / 63.19 / 65.721 / 64.456
5. Olivia Massotti / Viktor / 62.667 / 66.171 / 64.419
6. Paige Hendrick / Otinio / 63.333 / 63.829 / 63.581
Results: USEF Young Rider Dressage National Championship
Rider / Horse / Young Rider Team / Young Rider Individual / Total Score
1. Callie Jones / Don Philippo / 72.255 / 70.147 / 71.201
2. Veronica West / Nobleman / 70.196 / 71.078 / 70.637
3. Nicole Scarpino / Lambada 224 / 69.559 / 67.794 / 68.677
4. Kayla Kadlubek / Perfect Step / 68.578 / 68.333 / 68.456
5. Lexy Donaldson / Power Play / 67.402 / 67.892 / 67.647
6. Kayla Kadlubek / Freewill / 66.569 / 66.912 / 66.741
Results: Junior Team Test
Rider / Horse / Owner / Total Score
1. Emma Asher / Traneenggards Akondo / Seeley Equestrian Ventures / 70.859
2. Emma Asher / Don Fredo HD / Seeley Equestrian Ventures / 69.545
3. Melanie Doughty / Fascinata / Melanie Doughty / 68.788
4. Mackenzie Peer / Daquan / Beth Nay / 67.778
5. Julia Lee Barton / Damore / Carol Krska / 67.323
6. Mackenzie Peer / Quantum MRF / Nicole Helland / 67.172
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: The above press release text is available for publication. These photos may only be used once in relation to this press release.