Wellington, Fla. - Individual competition in the 2025 FEI Dressage Nations Cup USA CDIO3* began on Friday evening with the highlight “Friday Night Stars” competition hosted at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival in Wellington, Fla. The Dutta Corp. U.S. Dressage Team was represented in the Starpoint Dancesport FEI Nations Cup FEI Grand Prix Freestyle CDIO3* by two of the team combinations in Devon Kane with Vamos and Jennifer Williams and Joppe K. Their teammates, Erin Nichols and Kevin Kohmann, will ride in the Starpoint Dancesport FEI Grand Prix Special CDIO3* for individual medals tomorrow, Saturday, February 22.
Kane (Wellington, Fla.) and Vamos were the first U.S. combination to head down centerline in the evening’s highlight competition. Kane and the 2012 Westphalian gelding (Vivaldi x Imperia) owned by Diamante Farms, put on a performance which took the crowd back to the “Roaring Twenties.” The duo secured a podium finish and the bronze medal with a score of 75.125%, nearly maxing their personal best score together. Their freestyle includes a higher degree of difficulty in the floorplan, which was rewarded by the panel, and highlights extended canter to canter pirouette transitions, canter to passage transitions, and transitions from passage to piaffe and piaffe to passage.
"This was our third freestyle under the lights, and I have to say, when [Vamos] walks out at night, he’s different,” Kane remarked. “He knows we’re going to dance, and he really enjoys it.”
With techno swing music inspired by the popular film, The Great Gatsby, Kane explained she had originally planned on debuting new music with Vamos, but with their selection to the U.S. team this week, she decided to give it one more go.
“I think this was our best performance with this music,” she said. “He has really earned his own music now. Vamos is a special horse – he's hot, he’s intense, he’s needy – he's just special all around. I’m blessed to be his mom.”
Her third-place finish earned Kane more points on the leaderboard for the US Equestrian Open of Dressage. She explained making it to the Final in Thermal, Calif., has been her goal since she learned about the series.
“This series is huge for us U.S. riders,” she said. “From here, I’m going to step back, give my horse some time to rest, and plan for the rest of the year. [The US Equestrian Open Final] is a huge goal of mine for this year.”
Evelyn Eger (GER) and Tabledance 3 earned the gold medal with a personal best score of 77.235% and currently top the US Equestrian Open of Dressage leaderboard. Felicitas Hendricks (GER) and Drombusch OLD finished in silver-medal winning position with a score of 75.130%.
Jennifer Williams (Olympia, Wash.) produced a solid test to finish out Joppe K’s second Nations Cup CDIO3* appearance in fourth place at the conclusion of the event. She and the 2014 KWPN gelding (Rousseau x Dadina K) owned by Joppe Partners, LLC, had an exciting freestyle and earned high scores for their degree of difficulty. They finished with a score of 74.390%.
In the CDIO25, Ella Fruchterman and Hannah Montana W took the top honors in the FEI Grand Prix 16-25, finishing with a personal best score of 65.974%. Fruchterman (Woodbury, Minn.) and the 2009 Danish Warmblood mare (Blue Hors Doolittle x Sabina Kildegaard) owned by Todd Fruchterman, have continually improved throughout the season and their finish today was a significant milestone in their career together.
“I am so proud of Hannah,” said Fruchterman. “Yesterday, we were really focused on a nice, clean ride. Today, we wanted to add some more power and step up a little. This is our second year at this level and we’re still learning and growing, so we have been making improvements from day-to-day. I couldn’t be prouder of her.”
Sophia Schults (Ocala, Fla.) and her own, Conocido HGF, a 2012 PRE gelding (Cosaco XI x Luz de Luna HGF) finished in second place with a personal best score of 65.385%. Josh Albrecht (Oroville, Calif.) and Goldenboy Vinckenburgh, a 2011 KWPN gelding (Apache x Tandafanory) owned by Coalcyn Equestrian, LLC, rounded out the top three, earning a score of 65.308% from the judging panel.
Competition in the FEI Dressage Nations Cup USA CDIO3* will continue Saturday, February 22, with the Starpoint Dancesport FEI Grand Prix Special CDIO3* beginning at 1:30 PM ET.
For more information about the US Equestrian Open, click here.
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