Ots and Hassler Lead After Day One at 2020 U.S. Dressage Championships

Shows

2020 U.S. Dressage Championships

Horse-and-rider combinations have been doing their homework in preparation for the 14 national championships held at the 2020 U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions, and it was evident in the first two classes of the show. In the first day of competition at HITS Chicago at Lamplight Equestrian Center, Endel Ots and Sonnenberg’s Everdance won the FEI Prix St. Georges Test, while Sara Hassler and Harmony’s Boitano took top honors in the FEI Intermediate II Test.

Ots in Charge of USEF Intermediaire I Championship

Twelve combinations in the USEF Intermediaire I Dressage National Championship were the first ones to head down centerline for the 2020 event and they did not disappoint in the FEI Prix St. Georges Test. Endel Ots (Wellington, Fla.) and Sonnenberg’s Everdance had an excellent test to earn a score of 74.941%. As the reigning champion with Lucky Strike, Ots has an exciting partner in Sonnenberg Farm LLC’s 11-year-old KWPN mare. They produced a powerful yet relaxed test to win the class.

“I was very happy with her. She is always very solid in the ring and tries very hard for me,” Ots said. “I basically just have to pilot her around. Her canter work is always really nice, very clear trot, very nice walk. It’s really fun; I don’t have to think too much just plan and try to stay as accurate as I can. She really does all the work. I just think a little bit; it’s nice.”

Callie Jones (Henderson, Ky.) and Don Philippo, her 12-year-old Hanoverian gelding, were second with a score of 71.824%. David Blake (Cardiff by the Sea, Calif.) and Heide Spirit, his 10-year-old Oldenburg mare, finished in third place with a score of 71.324%.

The FEI Prix St. Georges Test counts for 40 percent of the overall score while the FEI Intermediate I Test on Wednesday counts for 45 percent. The division will conclude on Friday with the FEI Intermediate I Freestyle Test, which counts for 15 percent.

From the Mixed Zone

Is there anything you want to improve upon for your next test?

Ots: “No. I would just go for a nice clean test. With that mare, she always scores really well. She has been super consistent all year. I have had clean tests in every test that I have shown. I’m just looking for a nice, clean harmonious test with her.

What have you done in preparation for the event?

Ots: “We keep things really playful, so not a lot of test things—lots of transitions, keeping her in balance, playing before movements. Especially with the coronavirus and not being sure if this was going to happen or not, we just kind of toned down the work a bit. I was always planning on showing here, so I kept the idea that I wanted her to do well here and peak here, but I always want her happy with her work, so that was my main focus for her.”

Hassler Leads Under 25 Championship

Seven horse-and-rider combinations completed their FEI Intermediate II Test for the Adequan®/USEF Young Adult ‘Brentina Cup’ Dressage National Championship on Tuesday. With a score of 69.853%, Sara Hassler (Chesapeake City, Md.) and Harmony’s Boitano, a 14-year-old KWPN gelding owned by Leslie Malone, took first place.

“This is actually our very first time in front of five judges with no whip, everything, we’ve only done each test twice,” said Hassler. “He only started learning it this season in Florida in February, so I don’t even care where I’m wrong; I’m so happy!”

Kerrigan Gluch (Wellington, Fla.) and Hampton Green Farm’s 13-year-old Andalusian stallion, Vaquero HGF, finished in second place with a score of 68.147%. Emily Smith (West Palm Beach, Fla.) rode her own 11-year-old Oldenburg gelding, Quantum Jazz, to a 65.588% and a third-place finish.

The FEI Intermediate II Test counts for 40 percent of the overall score. ‘Brentina Cup’ competitors will return to the arena for the FEI Grand Prix 16-25 Test on Wednesday at 8 a.m. CDT, which counts for 45 percent, and the FEI Grand Prix Freestyle on Friday at 4:35 p.m., which counts for the final 15 percent.

From the Mixed Zone

How long have you been working with Harmony’s Boitano?

Hassler: “I was his groom for a long, long time, and I’ve been riding him for about four years.”

What are your goals with him?

Hassler: “We’re really lucky and grateful to be in the [Kundrun USEF Dressage Development Program] and we’re hoping that we can make it for [the CDI-U25] Aachen next year. That’s our plan. It’s looking pretty good with how green he is. He’s such a willing, strong horse. He loves his job. He gets ready to go [in the ring] and his ears go straight up. He’s like, ‘Yeah, let’s do it!’ I feel like the sky is the limit for him, so Aachen is the big goal and then we’ll see what happens after that.”

For the rest of this week here at Festival, do you have anything in particular you’ll be working on with him?

Hassler: “He gets pretty nervous in the piaffe, so just getting him to kind of stay with me where he can lift without being frantic, we kind of go, ‘Steady,’ and slow and steady wins the race type of deal. We’re just focusing on a clean test because I don’t want to push him too hard since he’s so new at this. I don’t want him to overexert himself. We’re just kind of trying to take it easy and clean, is the goal.”

What do you think he’s improved upon this year from last year?

Hassler: “I have to say his big thing is his walk. Last year it was really difficult just getting him to breathe in the test. Like I said, slow and steady for him because he’s just, there’s so much horse in there, he’s got so much talent, you almost have to just say, ‘Okay, we know you’re special. Now just take it easy.’ So I was really proud of him today because he actually…I was a little like, ‘Hey, come on, let’s walk a little more!’ Which for him, his tendency is to jig or get a little nervous when you pick up the canter, so I was really proud of him with that and I think that has to be probably our biggest transformation from last year at Festival. In all three tests last year he had a couple of moments in the walk, so I’m really proud of him for that. It’s really nice when your homework pays off in the ring.”

How does it feel to be back in the ring after some time off? What did you work on at home?

Hassler: “We actually didn’t start putting movements in for a really long time. We just were doing strength training, trying to get him strong enough to handle the workload. His health and happiness come first for us. So we were kind of like, ‘All right, this is very last minute, but let’s see if he can do it.’ First and foremost, focus on just making him feel good and happy in the work so what we were really just focusing on was kind of a blessing for us not to have the shows, to have to go out and push him and show because we really like to make sure that he’s good. So it’s a lot of homework at home making sure that we understood each movement, understood the way his body had to do it, making sure he felt good within it. So we took it really, really slow. And it paid off because he’s just so happy now when he does it. It actually, it feels, my dad and I were saying in the warm-up, this is so nice, to see people! And horses! And it’s magical! It puts us in the best mood. For me in particular, it picks me up so much in the sport of dressage seeing other people succeed and do well. It makes me want to stay the mark. Especially a place like this, you see the USA flags everywhere, you see the best of what came here, it’s so inspiring. So we’re really, really happy to be here. COVID and all.”

Twelve horses for the Intermediaire I division and 14 horses for the FEI Young Rider division were presented to the veterinary panel on Tuesday afternoon. All horses passed the inspection and are set to compete on Wednesday.