The depth of youth dressage talent in the U.S. is impressive, as seen at events such as the FEI North American Youth Championships and the U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions. But for youth dressage athletes who aspire to represent the U.S. on senior teams in the future, gaining experience competing overseas is still an essential part of preparation.

Every year, up-and-coming young dressage athletes and their horses are selected to travel to Hagen, Germany, for the Future Champions CDIOY competition where they compete against their peers from around the world. Participating athletes work with USEF Dressage High Performance Pathway Development Advisor and Youth Coach, George Williams, and get a firsthand glimpse into what it means to be an international elite dressage athlete.

“Future Champions is a youth nations cup competition—a CDIOY for us, and they also hold a CDIOJ [for juniors] and for pony riders and children,” said Williams. “There are usually approximately 24 nations that send teams, so it’s as close as you can get to a youth world championship, especially for dressage.”

This year, Alicia Berger (Chicago, Ill.) with Aqua Marin, her own and Marianne Berger’s 2011 Oldenburg gelding, Kat Fuqua (Atlanta, Ga.) with her own 2008 Dutch Warmblood mare, Dreamgirl, and Nash Gagnon (Gorham, Maine), with his own Happy Texas Moonlight, a 2007 Oldenburg gelding, were selected to travel to Europe for the tour. Fuqua and Dreamgirl, were also part of the tour in 2023. The other two athletes had their first overseas competition experience with this year’s tour.

“We call it a European tour, but Future Champions is really the primary purpose. We then try to add a CDIY as a warmup competition in Europe,” said Williams. “This year we did the CDIY in Le Mans. It gives the young riders a chance to sort of get their feet wet in Europe. I like to try to go to a competition in France where the language typically can be a little bit more of a barrier, but it’s really just to get them used to competing in another country so that they feel comfortable [before Future Champions]. We try to pick competitions where they’re not over faced, but I want it to be an international competition, so they have a chance to compete against their peers from other countries.”

The structure of Future Champions is a three-member team with a drop score, which makes it easier for more nations to field a team. Competitors complete the FEI Young Rider Team Test for team standings, followed by the Individual Test and Freestyle to Music. The U.S. team narrowly missed the podium in fifth place this year in a very close race; they were just over two points below the bronze-medal team’s score.

“I look at it in several different ways. Of course, we want to show the world that we have a good program, and being able to take three riders each year means that we must have a decent program to be able to do that,” said Williams. “But also, some of these athletes will go on to become senior competitors, and we want to make certain that when they go back over as a senior rider, they feel very comfortable in that environment. They’re comfortable with international travel; how to make flight arrangements for their horses. They know how the European shows work, how the transportation works, and then of course—the bane of our existence—how to do the paperwork for traveling internationally.”

Athletes are selected for the tour based criteria that includes a ranking list calculated from their results in CDIY competitions. Keeping with the goal to prepare upcoming youth athletes for future senior tours, the criteria for selection also includes factors such as consistency of scores, state of preparedness, trend in scores, and behavior of the athlete and people associated with the athlete. (All criteria are subject to annual review and may be modified each year.) There is a barrier to entry with a certain amount of FEI-level show experience required for the athlete-and-horse combinations, and that’s by design.

“It is really important that the athletes are comfortable competing and it’s going to be a positive experience for them,” said Williams. “We want to make sure they’re really prepared in that sense. The last thing we want is to have somebody go over and realize that maybe they weren’t quite ready for it.”

After this year’s Future Champions, both Fuqua and Berger had the opportunity to compete at CHIO Aachen, one of the sport’s most prestigious competitions.

“It's not technically part of the tour, but this is the third year we’ve done [Aachen],” said Williams. “It’s not a guarantee that if they’re on the tour we can get them into Aachen—they have pretty high standards. But for the right combinations, it’s a really nice addition to the tour.”

Reflecting on her time on the tour, Berger sees the team environment as one of the major highlights of her experience.

“Competing in Europe, especially Aachen, was an absolute dream of mine, and it was so much better than I ever really imagined,” said Berger. “From the moment we got there, it was such a feeling of community and of teamwork, not only between me and the other two wonderful young riders who were on my team, but everyone who was there to help us—the vets, everyone from USA Dressage. We also got the opportunity to make some connections and get a real sense of team and community with some of the senior riders.”

Berger added that meeting young riders from other countries was also a valuable part of the Future Champions outing, and it gave her a new perspective on her riding.

“The European tour was a really great place for me to start on the international stage in such a big way,” she said. “It really helped me learn some of the things I need to work on, and helped ignite more of a passion for the international stage and competing in the future.”

Berger’s experience matches what Williams has seen over the years of bringing young riders on the tour.

“One of the highlights that happens every year is when they do a welcome of nations at Future Champions,” said Williams. “With that, there comes a realization that they truly are representing the United States, competing in another country alongside athletes from 20 plus other countries. I think the significance of that really hits them, but also a certain respect for what it means to represent your country.”