Lagoy-Weltz Rides Future Hope Ici Bria VCG to 2021 USDF Dressage Finals' Title

Dressage

U.S.A.

U.S. Olympic short listed Grand Prix rider Olivia LaGoy-Weltz rode her future FEI hopeful Ici Bria VCG to the title in the Fourth Level Open Championship at the 2021 USDF Dressage Finals in Lexington, Florida on 13 November 2021.

USDF Finals

Only few American elite High Performance Grand Prix riders choose to compete in the USDF Dressage Finals, as the event mainly caters to ambitious amateurs, professionals from across the country, and FEI level riders who do not necessarily take part in the elite high performance level game.

The Finals at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, however, provide an excellent opportunity for riders to compete their horses in good conditions and give them some last ring exposure at the end of the show year.

Never Say Never

Based at Mount Crest Farm in Haymarket, Va. (Region 1) Lagoy is no stranger to the biggest shows in the country and the world. So several years ago, she got to experience the USDF Dressage Finals for the first time when she attended with a client.

“It was so cold that year, I swore I would never come again,” LaGoy-Weltz laughed. “This fall I qualified at Regionals but of course I wasn’t planning on coming here until my coach suggested I do it to give my horse the experience.”

Ici Bria VCG

Despite her initial reluctance, LaGoy-Weltz’s decision to enter the Finals paid off as she claimed the Fourth Level Open Championship with her eight-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare ICI Bria VCG (by Chippendale x Weyden x Sultan) with 73.148%.

“Sure enough we were in the Rolex Arena and once again it was cold, but I did dress more appropriately this time and I have to say it was much more fun being here,” she admitted. “We came with the purpose of getting my mare more miles, and she did as we literally walked all over the Horse Park. She took everything in stride, but she is a little hot in a good way like a driving a finicky sportscar, with all this power she doesn’t quite know how to use yet. We hope that she will become an international-level horse, so being in this environment has been super for her.”

Ici Bria VCG was bred in The Netherlands out of the dam line of Dutch Olympic team horse Barbria (Tineke Bartels). She is also related to Danish Grand Prix stallion Blue Hors Don Olymbrio. She is an elite sport mare who was IBOP tested in The Netherlands in 2016. She was owned J. Hermeling and ridden by Jose van Haaren, before she sold to Lagoy in the U.SA..

Lagoy-Weltz was short listed for the Tokyo Olympics on her long-time partner Rassing's Lonoir, is already preparing her path for the future.