The competitors in the 2024 Adequan^®/USEF Para Dressage National Championship are all talented, dedicated athletes. Another thing they have in common? All three are mounted on mares as they vie for the national championship title, and their talented equine partners are proving that they have what it takes to succeed in this discipline.

Kimique: The Matriarch

Paige Schmidt (Lake Geneva, Wisc.), rides Kimique, a tri-color pinto 1998 American Warmblood mare. She leases Kimique from owner Stefanie Lenz, and the pair are contesting their first national championship competition this year.

“I started riding her about a year ago,” said Schmidt. “She actually turned me over to mares. I used to not be a mare girl, but now I love them because of her.”

Schmidt and “Mickey” were paired up through Schmidt’s trainer, Linda Sorenson.

“Stefanie was also a student of Linda’s,” said Schmidt. “Linda said, ‘My friend Stefanie might have a horse for you to try as a para dressage horse,’ and I said, ‘Okay,’ and now here we are!”

At home, Mickey lives outside and is the ruling matriarch of her herd, but she enjoys her human companions.

“She loves me, but she’s the head mare of her little herd. She’s the boss of everybody,” said Schmidt. “It’s been an adjustment being in a stall all the time [at the show], so we’ve been hand walking, grazing, anything to keep her moving and keep her mind active.”

In addition to being the boss and staying active, one of Mickey’s favorite hobbies is staying hydrated.

“She loves to drink out of the hose when I’m bathing her or just hosing her off after a lesson,” said Schmidt. “She’ll be like, ‘Give me some water!’”

Mickey is a steadfast soul who will take on any terrain. In her younger days, she was an event horse. Schmidt says that Mickey now loves dressage and loves to show, and she’s taken the big atmosphere at Festival of Champions all in stride.

“She’s handling it pretty well. She’s happy,” said Schmidt. “It’s more stressful on me than on her! This is my first national championship, and it’s been a good experience for me, and I hope for her too.”

My Moment: The Superstar

Ellie Brimmer (Wellington, Fla.) has been riding her current mount, My Moment, a 2010 Hanoverian mare owned by Annette Grant, for about six months, but their history goes back longer than that.

“She’s been in my barn for a very long time, and her owner also works with my trainer, Andrea Woodard,” said Brimmer. “Annette is in need of a double hip replacement, and my horse unfortunately was dealing with some lameness issues, so it was just a really good opportunity to pair us together. I could continue riding, and Annette’s horse could continue to be worked and stay in the same program.”

Prior to their partnership, “Minnie” was primarily a practice horse and didn’t have much show experience.

“This is her first show season, so it’s been unique,” said Brimmer. “She’s very well trained, so we’re introducing her to the show environment. She’s very forward and very sensitive, but she’s extremely safe. We always say that everybody needs a Minnie in their barn.”

Like Mickey, Minnie loves her people and takes charge of the other horses.

“She’s the smallest horse in the barn and she is the total Alpha,” said Brimmer. “We’ve even got two 18-hand-plus geldings, and she is totally in charge of them. She feels like she has to watch over the other horses and make sure they’re not getting in trouble. She’s a blast to ride and she’s very brave and bold and fun.”

Even though showing is new for Minnie, Brimmer says it seems to suit her well.

“She’s really taken to this program, and she really likes being a para horse,” she said. “She likes taking care of her rider. I think that’s one of the fabulous things about mares and why you’re seeing so many mares in this division, is that they really understand, ‘This is my job, to take care of my person.’”

Bell Bottoms: The Puppy Dog

Sydney Collier (Ann Arbor, Mich.) and her 2014 Oldenburg mare, Bell Bottoms, have been a partnership since last year. Collier and her trainer, Devon Kane, had been on the hunt for a horse well-suited for the Grade I tests, and “BB” fit the bill.

“Devon’s best friend, Micah Deligdish, had her in Wellington,” said Collier. “We had been searching high and low for a walk-only horse, and Micah and Devon were just kind of talking and said, ‘What about BB?’ I got on BB, and she just really stepped up to the task. She was like, ‘Huh, this is different, but I really think I can do this!’ We just clicked right away.”

BB, who also goes by “Beebs,” (“Because she has that Justin Bieber swagger,” said Collier), has schooled to the upper levels of dressage, which has had an impact on the way Collier approaches her riding.

“She is definitely the most highly trained horse I have ever had the honor of working with,” she said. “There’s a lot with Beebs that I’ve had to completely shift in how I ride, and it’s certainly been a learning curve to step up to how she needs me to be as a rider. She is so talented. My goal is to always make her look good and I think she has the same goal for me, to make me look good.”

Like the other mares at this year’s Para Dressage National Championship, BB is a people person, so to speak.

“I know people use this term a lot, but she really is like a big puppy dog. She is just a big, goofy girl,” said Collier. “She loves her Ritz crackers. She’s very much always game for anything. She loves her scritches and her grooming and her massages. I love to do groundwork with her, and she loves the bonding time out of the saddle as well, which is really special.

“She’s really very motherly in her energy,” said Collier. “She’s so tuned into me. When I get to the barn in the morning, she’s like, ‘All right, let’s get going on this job.’ It’s a really cool relationship. I’ve never had the opportunity to work with a mare like her so intensely. I’ve always been a gelding person, so I was iffy on that, and then I met BB and all the doubts went away. She’s so protective of me, and we’re so devoted to one another in a different way that I’d never really experienced until now.”

BB is a striking presence in the show ring, in part due to her gleaming red coat, which raises the subject of that old horsemen’s tale about chestnut mares.

“People have a lot of stereotypes against the chestnut mares, but she’s so chill,” said Collier. “She’s just out here shattering all those chestnut mare stereotypes. She’s like, ‘I’m just my goofy self with my gigantic ears,’ and once those ears are flapping, she’s got swagger, and we’re clicked in. I’m just always so proud of her and how she steps up to any challenge I throw at her.”