High Scores and Young Horses Headline Second Weekend of 2025 USDF Regional Championships Competition
September 24, 2025 - Lexington, KY
Photo by Una Schade Photography
Photo by Una Schade Photography
Photo by Terri Miller Photography
Photo by Terri Miller Photography
Photo by Darien Quinn Photography
Photo by Darien Quinn Photography
September 24, 2025 – Lexington, KY – Three United States Dressage Federation (USDF) Regional Championships shows of the nine held annually took place over the weekend of September 18-21, 2025. The championships serve as qualifiers for the 2025 US Dressage Finals presented by Adequan® at the World Equestrian Center in Wilmington, OH, running October 30-November 2.
Region 5
At the Great American Insurance Group/USDF Region 5 Dressage Championships in Parker, CO, Open rider Taryn Anderson was a triple champion on her mother Tammy Anderson’s horses Figardo and Kumami ADQ.
Kumami ADQ’s high-scoring double win at Intermediate I level — including a 77.725% in the freestyle — was backed up by a reserve finish in the Prix St. Georges. Figardo led the Third Level championship with 71.438% and Anderson scooped another reserve champion’s rosette in the Training Level class, piloting Aaron Lake’s four-year-old Royal Rivendale to 71.1%
“I had four horses there and was all over the map, so I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off,” said Anderson, who competed from Training Level through Grand Prix. “I felt a bit bad for ‘Kumi’ as he had two I-1 classes on the same day, but he was super. One judge even gave us a 79%, which is crazy. It was a super clean test and we even got our three-time changes on a circle, where we pretty much always have a mistake. I was so excited about that, and he was totally there for it.”
Both Kumami ADQ and Figardo were found by Jenny Wetterau in Europe. Figardo was bought for Anderson to ride, while Kumami ADQ was intended to be a schoolmaster for her mother.
“We got Kumi about a year and a half ago, and after two months, he injured his fetlock,” said Anderson. “When he was in rehab, he then gave himself a suspensory injury rearing in his stall. When he came back into work early this year, he was hot and a bit spooky, so I’m riding him at the moment. Hopefully, he becomes something my mom, who is an Adult Amateur, can ride one day.”
Anderson trains with Petra Warlimont in Colorado, and with George Williams and Lars Peterson in Florida, where she spends winters.
Dutch athlete Luuk Mourits settled for second behind Anderson with 70.294% in the Intermediate I on Harmony’s Astro, but he snuck ahead of her in the Open Prix St. Georges to take the title with 72.941% riding the 15-year-old gelding Harmony’s Sarotti, by De Niro. The rider, who works for Harmony Sporthorses, dominated the Grand Prix class, filling all three top spots. His champion with 66.141% was the 16-year-old Zenon gelding Harmony’s Eclectisch, a prominent horse on the international circuit under another Harmony rider, Great Britain’s Susan Pape.
Region 7
Rachel Wade and Christian Hartung both pulled off a double of high-scoring championship wins at the Great American Insurance Group/USDF Region 7 Dressage Championships in Rancho Murieta, CA.
Wade and Reminiscence, Elizabeth Banga’s four-year-old mare by the Bordeaux son L Primo DG, recorded 76.9% in the Open Training Level class to stand 6.4 percentage points clear of the reserve champions, Josh Albrecht and Rockefeller HF. Wade’s second title, at First Level, was hard-won; the top five all scored over 70%. On her own five-year-old Paradigm — another horse by one of DG Bar Ranch’s Bordeaux-sired stallions, Koning DG — Wade secured victory with 73.614%.
“I bred Paradigm myself, and his mother, Cambria, was my grand prix horse and my forever heart horse, so this is really special,” said Wade, who trains out of Pacific Equestrian Center in Wilton, CA. “He was overall high point on Thursday with 78% and Saturday with 77%, which is really cool. I also rode Reminiscence’s mother, Top Hit, and I was Training Level champion at Regionals with her six years ago while I was pregnant with my son.”
Reminiscence was bred by Wade’s vet and client, Sara Bartholomew, and bought by Banga as a foal. Wade has produced her thus far, with Banga riding her once or twice a week. The mare also won three non-championship classes at the show, including the Materiale class with 81.5%.
“She is unbelievable and took everything in stride with not a foot wrong all weekend,” enthused Wade. “She’s such a judge pleaser, and you barely even know you’re on a four-year-old. She’s got a lot of potential with a lot of ability to sit and collect, so she’s a fun horse to have in the program.
“Paradigm has really come out of his shell this year, and we got amazing comments from the judges. Things are clicking for him, and he’s exceeded my expectations for this year. He’s a super powerful horse, and I’m excited for the future with him,” she concluded.
German-born Hartung brought just one horse to the championships, Christiane Noelting’s seven-year-old Velantis N. Hot off a third-place finish in the seven-year-old class at the 2025 US Equestrian Festival of Champions, the breeding stallion by Vitalis was unbeaten in all four of his Third Level starts. He won both championship classes at the level with scores of 73% and 79.3% (including 81.925% from the judge at B, Kristi Wysocki), the latter being the highest championship score of the show.
Region 8
Championship sashes rained down on Adult Amateur Christina Morin-Graham and Open rider Heather Mason at the Great American Insurance Group/USDF Region 8 Dressage Championships in Saugerties, NY.
Morin-Graham picked up five blue ribbons on three different horses. Both DSP Dauphin and Ici De La Vigne landed a double, while she also picked up the Intermediate II title on the 15-year-old Sarkozy mare, Mondlicht — who doubles as Morin-Graham’s favorite hacking horse. DSP Dauphin led the way in the Grand Prix and the freestyle at the level — in which Morin-Graham finished reserve on Mondlicht — with an impressive 75.113% bolstered by scores of eight and 8.5 from the judges for their music.
“I was so proud of all my horses,” said Morin-Graham, who is from Malvern, PA, and works full-time as a partner in a private equity firm. “I had a ride on each one of the three, where I came out beaming. They showed up, and I showed up, and we’re improving in a meaningful way. It was the dopamine rush of harmony.
“With Dauphin, she just lights up the space,” she continued. “That feeling of total partnership with your horse is so good. This is our third competitive season together, and she’s had a phenomenal year so far. We went to Festival [of Champions], and now we’re heading to Dressage at Devon before Finals. She’s a spectacular horse.”
Morin-Graham keeps her horses at home and pulls a lot of night shifts working to jam everything in. She bought Ici De La Vigne, a daughter of Jazz, five years ago in Europe. They won both Intermediate I championship classes with solid scores.
“She is the most fun horse to ride,” continued Morin-Graham of the now 12-year-old mare. “I call her my Covid baby. She was doing Second Level when she came, and we moved up pretty quickly to small tour. She’s hot and talented and absolutely beautiful — she has a face like a fawn. I’m an amateur, and I’m learning, but she’s always trying to answer the question and trying to figure it all out for me.”
Morin-Graham trains with Mason, who was on hand to help her and many other students at the show. Mason rode nine championship tests, winning six of them and landing two reserve spots. Her own four-year-old Rock It P, the 2024 Adequan®/USDF Materiale Horse of the Year (colt/gelding), produced three-plus 75% tests to land a triple at Training and First Levels.
The eight-year-old Manuskript SCF — 2024 Adequan®/USDF Horse of the Year at both Fourth Level and Prix St. Georges — also punched his ticket to the Finals, at which the Jazz gelding has been one of the standout horses in recent years. He qualified for Finals at Prix St. Georges — besting a class of 30 starters — and both Intermediate I classes, all with scores above 70%. Mason’s double reserve champion, Zhowie, is another of the rider’s own four-year-olds. Mason bought the mare by Zoom from breeder Mo Swanson as a three-year-old.
“I bought Rock It as a foal in Florida. He’s by Grand Galaxy Win, and he was not supposed to be so big; he’s 17.3 hands already, and I’m 5 feet, 2 inches,” said Mason, who has been one of the most prominent and successful riders at Finals during the past few years. “He’s my giant boy, and even though he got a little intimidated, he’s quality, uphill, and naturally balanced. I started him totally by myself, from when he was a baby, handling him once a week. Then I backed him as a three-year-old by myself with nobody on the ground. I was a little nervous, but he was perfect. I’ve never seen him do anything I can’t stay on.”
The 2025 US Dressage Finals presented by Adequan® takes place October 30-November 2 at the World Equestrian Center in Wilmington, OH. It is a national, head-to-head competition that showcases competitors in Adult Amateur, Open, and Junior/Young Rider divisions. Classes run from Training Level through Grand Prix, plus freestyle to music divisions, with Junior/YR sections at Training Level through Intermediate I. There is more than $125,000 in prize money on offer over the four days. Learn more at www.usdf.org/usdressagefinals/index.asp.
