Traverse City, Mich. – The 2023 edition of the FEI North American Youth Dressage Championships Presented by USDF came to a spectacular conclusion on Sunday, August 13, as the Juniors and Young Riders performed their freestyle tests.
Junior Freestyle Championship
After winning two silver medals in team and individual competition, Madison Sumner (Wellington, Fla.) and Briar, the 2007 KWPN gelding she co-owns with Wayne Sumner, struck gold in the freestyle. The pair posted a 73.540% to top the leaderboard in the FEI Freestyle Competition for Juniors.
“After my final centerline, I was very proud of my test,” said Sumner. “He was with me the whole time, and I was just so grateful.”
Sumner pointed to the changes on a circle as one of the high points of her test as a difficult movement that she and Briar execute well.
“His strengths are definitely in the canter work,” said Sumner. “Definitely his changes. He has some big, expressive changes. Also his trot work, some of the extendeds and half-passes were also really good.”
Sienna Rowe (Urbanna, Va.) and Lightfire Just Do It, a 2010 Westphalian gelding owned by Jason Rowe, won silver with a close second-place score of 73.320% for her freestyle to Michael Jackson’s music. In addition, Rowe and “Nike” were awarded the Amanda Johnson Award for their consistently excellent performances over the course of the week.
“We thought that [the music] fit Nike very well, because he’s a little mover,” said Rowe. “I was very glad we had a clean test because he can be a little bobble-y sometimes. I’m very happy that we won that award.”
Allison Berger (Chicago, Ill.) secured the bronze with her ride on Delacure, a 2014 Hanoverian gelding she co-owns with Marianne Berger. The pair scored a 72.915% from the judges.
“The whole freestyle was really fun,” said Berger. “I love riding to music. My favorite part was the extended canter. He’s so powerful, and I just laugh out loud every time. It’s so fun. I was really confident going in and going last in the order was nice because I had some time in the morning to prepare.”
2023 NAYC Dressage Juniors Freestyle Results
Gold: Madison Sumner and Briar (Region 3)
Silver: Sienna Rowe and Lightfire Just Do It (Region 1)
Bronze: Allison Berger and Delacure (Region 2)
Dressage Young Riders Freestyle Championship
The podium looked very familiar during the awards presentation for the FEI Young Riders Freestyle as three athletes received their third medals of the week. All three medalists were part of the gold medal-winning Region 3 team, and all three medaled in the individual final earlier in the week.
Mary Claire Piller (Oakdale, Tenn.) and Caterina, Emily Brollier’s 2011 Hanoverian mare, finished their hat trick, earning their third gold medal of this NAYC with a 73.540%.
“We set NAYC as kind of a light goal, just really trying to develop the mare properly, bring her up the levels in a good program, and just keep her as happy as possible bringing out as much excellence in her as we could,” said Piller. “We just tried to work on that over the last few months and just really honed in on it the past five or six months really thinking about the CDI in mind and just almost using every show we went to for qualification as a schooling, saying how can we make it better in the ring, how can we make things easier for her to do the job for me, and she has delivered 100%.”
Piller and Caterina have been building a partnership for several years to reach this point.
“We acquired ‘Karma’ back in 2020, and she had had kind of a rough start,” said Piller. “It took a while for me to get her trust. I started her on the longe line myself and we’ve just been trying to keep her as happy as possible to move her up the levels. We never had any expectation of her even showing. I got my [USDF Bronze, Silver, and Gold Medals] with her and now bringing me to Young Riders and winning three gold medals has been such a blessing, and I feel very honored to be able to work and prepare and grow from there.”
Kat Fuqua (Atlanta, Ga.) and her own Dreamgirl, a 2008 KWPN mare, added a silver medal to their team gold and individual bronze from earlier in the week. They scored a 72.390% with their new freestyle, which is set to music by Tears for Fears.
“After our European tour, we realized that in my old freestyle, the degree of difficulty wasn’t as high as it could be,” said Fuqua. “It was a little bit too slow moving and didn’t show off Dreamgirl’s ability enough. I’m a big fan of Tears for Fears and so is my whole family, so we thought that would be a good kind of neutral music to choose since everyone kind of knows it.”
Fuqua said that Dreamgirl is a steadfast partner who always tries her best.
“She doesn’t give up on you or ever try to be bad. She’s always on my side,” said Fuqua. “I think for next year we’re planning to do the Prix St. Georges I-1 small tour because she really shines in the I-1.”
Celsiana William (Ocala, Fla.) and her 2013 Oldenburg mare, Prima Ballerina, added a bronze medal to their collection with a 72.390% in the freestyle.
“I did the choreography myself, and I decided to start with the canter work because she tends to get hotter as the test goes on,” said William. “We’ve had some problems with that over the years, and I wanted to make sure that the canter work was nice and calm and controlled. Then, I could just let her shine in the trot work and be as fancy as she wants.”
2023 NAYC Dressage Young Riders Freestyle Results
Gold: Mary Claire Piller and Caterina (Region 3)
Silver: Kat Fuqua and Dreamgirl (Region 3)
Bronze: Celsiana William and Prima Ballerina (Region 3)
US Equestrian subscribers, and members can watch the reply of the 2023 FEI North American Youth Championships on-demand on USEF Network powered by ClipMyHorse.TV. Not a member? Join now!
Stay Connected
Keep up with the latest news and coverage from the 2023 FEI North American Youth Championships on USEF.org. Follow USA Dressage on Facebook and Instagram and US Equestrian on TikTok and YouTube.