Gorgeous Latino and Nova Win Developing Horse Titles at 2024 U.S. Dressage Championships

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2024 U.S. Dressage Championships

The rising small tour horse Gorgeous Latino and the rising Grand Prix horse Nova became the winners of the Developing Prix St. Georges and Grand Prix Horse division at the 2024 U.S. Dressage Championships at Lamplight equestrian centre in Wayne, ILL, on 18 - 25 August 2024.

The National Championships in the USA are known as the Festival of Champions (FOC).

Developing PSG: Gorgeous Latino

Sabine Schut-Kery (Oceanside, Calif.) took Gorgeous Latino (by Toto Jr. x Rubiquil), a 2016 KWPN stallion owned by Sandy Mancini and bred by Leunus van Lieren, produced a winning in the second test for the Developing Prix St. Georges horses to secure the champion title.

“He came to me at the end of his 5-year-old year, and he’s been quite incredible,” said Schut-Kery. “As a 6-year-old, he got his scores right away for Ermelo [the FEI/WBFSH Dressage World Breeding Championship]. Last year, we did the 7-year-old [class at FOC] and he won that. It’s been really fun to see.

“Of course I had bobbles, and personally, there’s so much I want to improve,” said Schut-Kery about her tests at this year’s FOC. “But I also have to remember that these are young horses for the level they’re doing. You have to let your perfectionist mind go and just really appreciate how they show up in the ring and be able to transfer what you work on at home and in your warmup and carry that over into the ring. That’s one of my biggest goals, that the rideability and the adjustability stays, and I have to say, he really showed up.”

Schut-Kery describes the stallion as playful and confident. His demeanor shines through when she takes him on trail rides in the mountains near her Southern California base, which is a regular part of her training regimen for all her horses every week.

“We trail ride him in the mountains, and he’s the leading horse of all of them,” she said. “He has a good head on his shoulders. He’s the leader—that’s who he is, and that’s also what I have to work with [in the arena].”

Schut-Kery tries to get her horses out for a trail ride weekly, and says it’s a benefit to horses and human alike.

“I do it mostly for the horses, but I think even for us, it’s great to just let go and have a little fun,” she said. “We make sure not to do something drastic that they’re not used to, like climbing, but it’s really cool, and they’re all really good, especially when Latino leads and the others follow.”

Sarah Mason-Beaty (Danville, Calif.) earned the reserve champion title with her own, Kanjer (by Geniaal x Gouverneur), a 2015 Dutch Warmblood gelding bred by Tim Coomans and the Triemstra family.

“I’ve had Kanjer since he was 3, and he’s 9 this year,” said Mason-Beaty. “He was right there with me every stride. This is Kanjer’s first time here, and he blew me away with how he handled the environment and how he really stepped up when it mattered. I’m so proud of him.”

Mason-Beaty has taken her time with Kanjer’s training, and it’s paid off.

“He’s such a talented boy, and I feel like it’s been such a beautiful journey with him to lead to this point,” she said. “I wasn’t sure how he would handle the atmosphere. I wasn’t sure going into it what the judges here would think of him, and to have their positive feedback and to have the show go so well is reaffirming to the training that we’re trying to do every day at home.”

Like Schut-Kery, Mason-Beaty was one of many FOC competitors who traveled in from the West Coast, and the two took their lap of honor together.

“Sabine is someone I look up to, and someone who has offered me such incredible advice throughout the last several years,” said Mason-Beaty. “To be behind her in that class, and to have her invite me to ride next to her in the victory round, was an absolute dream come true.

Kate Fleming-Kuhn (New Berlin, Ill.) and Franzsis HSR (Franziskus x Sandro Hit), a U.S.-bred Oldenburg gelding owned by Fleming-Kuhn and Martin Kuhn, finished in third place. “Franzi” was also recognized as the highest-placed U.S.-bred horse in the class. He is bred by Anita Nardine out of her mare Simone HSR.

“I bought him when he was two weeks old from his breeder in California,” said Fleming-Kuhn. “I saw his video and was just really smitten with him, and so we’ve been together since the beginning and have built, I think, a very special personality.”

Fleming-Kuhn describes her horse as playful and sweet, but also says that he has a bit of a “Dennis the Menace streak.”

“He definitely has a sense of humor and is very, very sensitive to ride, which is a blessing, but then sometimes also a challenge for me to keep him really going with me.” She said. “But he’s a very kind horse and a generous partner.

“I was thrilled with him,” she said of his performances at FOC. “I had two clean tests, I had a lot of horse underneath me, and he was really with me every step of the way, in spite of being a bit charged with the environment.”

Developing GP: Nova

Nora Batchelder (Williston, Fla.) and Nova (by Grand Galaxy Win x Romanov), Carol Glover’s 2015 Oldenburg mare bred by Andreas Helgstrand, earned the overall Developing Grand Prix title after winning the Intermediaire II with 69.167% and the Short Grand Prix with 69.259%

“I was really happy with both of my rides,” said Batchelder. “Today was a bit cleaner than Friday. Nova is just getting more and more confident at Grand Prix, like Developing Grand Prix is all about. Today, everything felt easy in there, and I still could have asked for more power. She was right with me, and she tried supper hard. And the piaffe/passage felt really confident. I felt like I could ask for even more, but I was so happy with what we got that I took it.”

The 9-year-old mare is no stranger to the FOC atmosphere, and has earned good placings in the past two years leading up to her championship win this year.

“She’s a very special horse, and super talented, and I’m very lucky to ride her,” said Batchelder. “I’ve had her for a little over three years. She was 6, coming 7, when we got her, and this is her third time at Festival. We did 7-year-olds, I-1, and now Developing Grand Prix. She’s very special and I’m so grateful to her owner to let me ride her.”

Hannah Bressler Jaques (Mettawa, Ill.) and Jim (by Ferdeaux x Spielberg), her own 2014 Dutch Warmblood gelding won the reserve champion title after placing second twice with 66.765% and 68.425%.

Bressler said that in his younger days, Jim was a bit wild, but he’s grown into an incredible partner. “I was thrilled with my horse,” she said. “He was a bit of a cowboy starting out, so we didn’t do any of the young horse stuff, but he’s always had a ton of power. He hasn’t always had a lot of engagement, so I’m really happy to feel him with me and trying and feeling so happy in there, starting to learn his job. I’m over the moon.”

Jim, who is just Jim (“It’s on his passport—that’s the name he came with!” said Bressler), has been with Bressler since he was 5 years old, and has made great strides in the last five years with her.

“We spent years doing all kinds of interesting things to be creative and keep him happy,” she said. “But the more he learns and the more he shows, he just keeps getting better. In there now, he feels like he knows his job. If I put pressure on him, he tries, where as before he would crumble a bit. I did a lot of groundwork, spent a lot of time making friends with him. I just believed in him.”

Kathleen Raine (Murrieta, Calif) and Figaro (Furstenball x Show Star), a 2014 Westphalian gelding owned by Marti Foster and Kathleen Raine finished in third place overall. The pair was sixth in the Inter II (65.686%) and moved into third place in the short Grand Prix (68.425%).

“I was very happy with my horse,” she said. “I had a few costly mistakes in both tests, but I felt like today I had a little bit more power. He’s a really fun horse, and he’s my genius. He’s super fun, and he learns so quickly. He tries hard.”