Karen Lipp Spans The Spectrum at Hampton Green Farms World Equestrian Center – Ocala’s July Dressage Show

World Equestrian Center – Ocala hosted its latest USEF/USDF-rated dressage competition on July 13-14, sponsored by Hampton Green Farms. The event featured classes from Training Level to FEI Grand Prix and served as an official qualifying competition for the 2024 Great American/USDF Regional Championships.

Karen Lipp took full advantage of the spectrum of classes on offer and won all four tests she entered. With her own 11-year-old gelding, Infinity, she won two classes at Grand Prix level and stepped out on the five-year-old mare Omnia (by Lord Ferragamo x Amsterdam) to capture two Training Level tests with impressive scores of 72.8% and 75.4% at the horse’s first ever show.

Lipp and Infinity topped Saturday’s FEI Grand Prix with 70.652% from penultimate draw, the only one of the 16 starting pairs to break the 70% barrier. They went on to win the FEI Grand Prix Special with 69.149%. She has developed Infinity since he was a youngster and brought him up through the developing horse ranks. The pair stepped up to CDI level in the spring of 2024 and already have an international big tour victory on their resumé. Infinity’s barn name is “Marty,” after the zebra in the movie “Madagascar,” as he is a rabicano roan and has stripes in his tail.

“I went to Holland to try horses for a client and happened to ride Marty,” said Lipp, whose long-time trainer Charlotte Bredahl got up at 6 a.m. to coach her remotely from California during the show. “He was owned by the people who co-own Dream Boy and went through the licensing in Holland, then was castrated. He had very natural balance that most young horses don’t have. I imported him as a four-year-old and have been showing him ever since.”

Although he wasn’t a spectacular young horse, Lipp always believed he had the temperament for top sport, just like his sire. The pair stood Fourth Level champions at the U.S. Dressage Finals in 2019 and finished third in the Markel/USEF Developing Grand Prix National Championship at the U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions in 2023, earning a spot on the USEF Dressage Development Program in the process.

“The best thing about Marty is his ability to go in there and do his job,” said Lipp, who has two of Infinity’s full siblings in her barn. “I have really high hopes for the horse and although he’s green at times, there were some moments of brilliance in his tests. I’d really like to go to Europe to compete for the season with him next year — I haven’t done that since 2005.”

Lipp’s other double winner is a fresh arrival, having only been with her for two months. “A few months ago when people were getting horses for the Olympics, I wrote on Facebook wondering about how to get a horse sponsored to you, and one lady, Valerie Swygert, contacted me about her home-bred mare, Omnia,” she explained.

“When I tried her, I clicked with her,” she continued. “She’s sensitive, and she’s forward; she checks all the boxes. She has learned so fast. I’m a mare fan and although going down centerline on a young one can be wiggly, she handled everything. I hope to have a really good future with her.”

Lipp’s coach Charlotte Bredahl, a team bronze medalist at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, added: “I have been working with Karen and Infinity for five years, and I am so proud of how far they’ve come. I’m thrilled for her wins at WEC. Karen does a great job with her horses and students. I haven’t met her young mare yet, but I will in two weeks when I give a clinic at Karen's place in Atlanta.”

New Arena Impresses

WEC – Ocala’s July show was held in the brand-new Arena 6, which was purpose-built for dressage. It offers another spacious, climate-controlled environment with ideal dressage footing, plus grandstand spectator seating, all located close to dedicated dressage stabling.

Lipp made the seven-hour trip from her base in Georgia to WEC – Ocala and raved about the venue.

“We love the facility even though I live in Atlanta,” she enthused. “And the air-conditioning is a god-send because it’s 100 degrees out. When you drive into the facility you never have to leave again, and my non-horse person husband Tony [Bordwell] loves it too. It’s a new arena, and they did a really good job. It’s worth going — I’d rather drive there than the venue two hours away from me.”

Unbeaten Combinations

Kassandra Barteau, who is the head trainer at Al Marah Arabians in Clermont, FL, took home three blue ribbons thanks to consistent, high-quality performances with Rebecca Mouras’s 12-year-old Fidertanz x Wolkentanz gelding, Fiorenzo MLW.

Their top score of 74.75% was achieved in Third Level test three, topping the class of 10 starters across the open and amateur divisions. They logged a second plus-70% score at the level and produced a 69.583% in Fourth Level test three. This was the pair’s second show together.

Prolific adult amateur rider Anartz Chanca brought two horses to WEC – Ocala and claimed three first places over a weekend in which he was unbeaten. He made his Prix St. Georges level debut on his own seven-year-old Dante Rubin MR, with whom he is the current USDF AA Third Level champion.

So far in 2024, Chanca has only competed Dante Rubin MR in young horse tests, but he stepped up to the challenge of small tour admirably, topping two Prix St. Georges classes, both of which attracted healthy entries. Dante Rubin MR, a leggy bay by Dante Weltino, scored wins on 68.824% and 70.147%, an impressive feat for his age.

Chanca’s third victory came in Sunday’s four-year-old young horse class. He rode Isa-Rosal LLC’s Don Fidermant MR — who is by Destacado out of a Fidertanz x Rohdiamant dam — to 74.8%. Chanca’s wife Marta Renilla rode Don Fidermant MR at his only two previous shows, and this was Chanca’s first competitive outing on him. At WEC – Ocala’s July show, Renilla clocked up four second places with her two horses, Donosti MR and Belissaro MR.

Adult amateur rider Christopher Palabe chalked up the top mark of 71.125% in the FEI pick-your-own freestyle. He rode his own 18-hand 15-year-old gelding Dow Jones 1, by Desperados, at Grand Prix level. He trains with Sarah Tubman, who also rode in the class, producing a 70.325% test on Jessica Friedrich’s 13-year-old Don Diamond gelding RS Damon to top the open division.

Dressage competition at World Equestrian Center – Ocala continues with a USEF/USDF-rated show on August 23-25 and the Great American Insurance Group/USDF Region 3 Dressage Championships taking place September 19-22. The next international CDI dressage show is November 14-17. For full horse show results for all World Equestrian Center dressage shows, visit www.foxvillage.com.