Pony rider M.K. Connatser, children rider Autumn Vavrick, junior rider Ella Fruchtermann, and young rider Averi Allen captured the title and gold medal in their respective age divisions at the 2022 U.S. Dressage Championships held at Lamplight equestrian centre in Wayne, ILL, on 22 - 28 August 2022.
Pony Riders: M.K. Connatser
Fve youth athletes and their ponies rode their second test to determine the winning pair of the US Pony Championship.
M.K. Connatser and Blitz und Donner had a quality ride in the Individual Test to win the class with a score of 66.981%. Connatser (Dallas, Texas) and Linda Graves’s 2011 German Riding Pony gelding (by Black Horse x Playback) were second in the team test with 65.713%, and then moved into the top spot in the overall standings after round two to win the National Champion title with a score of 66.347%.
“Crazy. Crazy. I did not expect this at all,” said Connatser, who won her second title this week after winning the USEF Dressage Seat Medal Final 13 & Under division on Friday. “I am so happy that it happened, but I did not come in here thinking anything other than top half [of the division]. But I'm very, very happy and very grateful to Linda Graves, who has allowed me to ride this pony; my trainers, Allison Stai and Yvonne Kusserow; my parents; and my friends. It's been a wonderful experience with this pony and with all of them.”
Pony Blitz und Donner came from Germany and was previously shown by Conny and Geraldine Wiedemann, Christina Schöniger, Ivonne Kropf, and Anna Junghans until 2018. Connatser loves riding her grey pony.
"I'm the right size for it, so I still can," she said. "And I love riding them because they teach you a lot. Even though everyone thinks little ponies are so calm, they're not. They're quite onery and they’ve taught me a lot. Most of my time in riding them has taught me a lot of stuff, a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. So, I love this division that we still get to keep the ponies in the U.S. especially because we don't have a lot of [the classes] and so we get to represent them. Every other division is about horses, so it's great to represent them and show them off as well.
"I've been riding ponies for all my life, and they've definitely taught me pretty much everything I know," said Geck. "And they're just a really good breed. And I love them with all my heart. They can be a little sassy, but they definitely have a kind heart. I just love like the pony division and everything about it, and all the people in it are really kind.
Finley Peterson (Woodstock, Vt.) and Mystic Max, her 2006 German Riding Pony gelding (by Auheims Maximus x Kaiserjaeger xx), scored 65.314% in the FEI Pony Rider Individual Test and finished third overall with a score of 65.204%.
"I just love ponies so much," said Peterson. "They're just they teach you a lot of new things that you would not necessarily learn on a horse. They're definitely a little sassy, but they really try their hearts out and they're just really great.”
Children: Autumn Vavrick
Twelve Children combinations rode the second of two tests to determine the winner.
“Right when I got in the ring, he was just focused on my aids and listening to me,” said Vavrick of her test. “He just went around, tried to listen and do what I asked him. He was just really good. And yesterday was really good. It was one of my best tests, so I’m very, very happy.”
Vavrick only began riding Dante this spring. “I just bought my horse Dante in May, so that's four months and lots of training," she said. "My trainer, Laurie [Moore], all through the season, and my parents just helping me every step and I couldn’t have done it without my whole team. He's pretty sweet. He is kind of funny sometimes. He's pretty quiet though and keeps to himself. But he loves his outside time and grass and all the horse things.”
Virginia Woodcock (Atlanta, Ga.) and The Safari Party, the 2009 North American Sport Pony gelding (by Branstock's Ryujin x Rhoquest) owned by Virginia, Elizabeth, and Richard Woodcock, were second in the Individual Test with a score of 79.532% after winning the team test with 78.750%. They were named Reserve Champions with an overall score of 79.728%.
Korey Denny and the 10-year old KWPN gelding Hemingway HW (by Don Schufro x Sandrp Hit) were twice third. They got 75.575%% in the team test and 77.523% in the Individual Test. This landed them third place with an overall score of 76.549%.
“I started riding ‘Ollie’ in December," said Korey. "My sister actually was riding him before and she won the 14-18 dressage seat equitation on him. Then I took him over, so I've been riding him for seven months now. He's definitely a cuddle bug in his stall. He can get a little amped up sometimes, but he's pretty quiet most of the time. [My sister’s] been training me most of the way and my mom.”
Junior Riders: Ella Fruchterman
Ella Fruchterman and Holts Le’Mans took home the Junior Championship which concluded on Friday 26 August 2022.
“Overall, I think it was a fairly balanced (ride)," Ella said of her individual test. "I don’t think there were too many highs or lows. I was very focused on riding a clean test. I think some of the highlights were his trot work. I tried to keep more cadence and engagement in it today. His canter work I wanted to keep very uphill by keeping his ears up, nose out, and overall, I think we were very successful in that.”
Fruchterman (West Lakeland, Minn.) and her and Todd Fruchterman’s 2011 Danish Warmblood gelding have had an exciting month of August, being triple-gold medalists at the FEI North American Youth Championships.
“Right now, I’m on cloud nine, especially coming off of [the FEI North American Youth Championships],” said Fruchterman. “I really wasn’t expecting this, so I’m just feeling overwhelmed with the support of my parents, my trainer Angela Jackson, and my friends, who have been so helpful and so supportive this week and coming off of [NAYC]. I’m just really glad to have had fun yesterday and today. I had a lot of fun, then I became the National Champion, so that was the cherry on top.”
Madison Sumner (Wellington, Fla.) and Briar, her and Wayne Sumner’s 2007 KWPN- Friesian cross bred gelding (pedigree unknown), scored 68.725% in the test and 69.463% overall for the Reserve Champion title.
“I was really happy with my test. I had a couple bobbles," said Sumner. "I was really happy with the movements of the test because it is a little trickier for Briar. I was really happy with it.”
Josephine Hinnemann (Murrieta, Calif.) and Copa Cabana MRF, Natalie Hamilton-Hinnemann’s 2009 Hanoverian gelding by Contucci x Bordeaux, collected scores of 69.313% in the test and 69.176% overall for third place.
“I think throughout these last few shows, including NAYC, it was just consistently getting better," Hinnemann commented. "And today was one of our best tests that we have had, so I was really happy with it."
Young Riders: Averi Allen
Nine combinations rode their final test in the Young Rider Championship.
“My goal with the test was to make Superman a little more alive. We definitely accomplished that because I kind of felt like we were running,” said Allen. “But he was very good, and he was listening to me still, even though I made him more alive. And I'm very happy with myself for riding the test and not just going on autopilot and then him listening to all the half-halts and everything. So, I'm very happy with it.”
“I've had him since he was four or five," Averi added. "He's nine now, so we've really just done everything together and I think that plays a big part in us. I think we basically know whenever the other one's anxious or we can feel like the slightest bit different from each other and then we know what to do and I think our partnership is very spot on with each other."
Ellanor Boehning (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.) and Sir Junior, her own and Ann Boehning’s 2011 Hanoverian gelding (by Sir Stauffenberg x Grosso Z), won the team test with 70.000% but were fourth in the individual with 68.137%. They became the Reserve Champion with and overall score of 69.069%.
“I think today I just really tried to push the trot again and the trot work definitely paid off," said Ellanor. "Every test I keep on seeing improvements. There's little bits where we can still pick up the pieces and hopefully get higher scores. But for now, I'm just super happy with how he's been going and performing."
Sir Junior was a surprise gift to Boehning, a gift that keeps on giving. "I got him as a surprise in September, and I was still training with Patricia Becker in Chicago at the time," she said. "So I started consistently riding him in January in Florida, and he started off as like a really timid horse. And now it's to the point where he'll do stuff for me that he won't do for trainers and my mom, so it's really interesting to see that he's willing to perform and it's always nice to kind of see that bond growing."
Sydney Lipar (The Woodlands, Texas) and Zerragamo, Denise Lipar’s 2012 Westphalian gelding (by Zonik x Ferragamo), were third in the team test with 69.118% and finished third in the Individual with a score of 68.823%. This resulted in a third place in the overall standings with a score of 68.970%.
“My goal today was just to have a clean test, so it was mostly clean," said Sydney. "I'm really happy that he just went in there calm and steady because the past few weeks we've been making mistakes. And so today I took the power down a little and made it confidence-boosting for both of us."
Lipar makes a fairly new combination with the German bred Zerragamo. "I've only had my horse since late January, early February, so I'm really proud of how far we've come in such a short time. At the beginning, when I got him in late January, he'd never shown before, so it was a process getting him in the show arena, showing him that it's okay. He was a little nervous at first, so I'm really proud of how our partnership has developed.”
Text USEF Press Release, edited by Eurodressage - Photos © Sue Stickle and US Equestrian
Scores: 2022 U.S Dressage Championships
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