The Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Dressage Festival of Champions has been Kassandra Barteau and Gabriella’s stage for the past two years. While Gabriella didn’t reclaim her starring role in this year’s competition, Barteau had a well-qualified understudy, GP Raymeister, waiting in the wings, and when the final curtain fell they rode away with Barteau’s third consecutive young rider championship.
“He’s wonderful,” said Barteau, Maple Park, Ill. “He’s absolutely, totally opposite from ‘Gabby,’ but he’s a wonderful learning experience and a fabulous horse.”
While “Ray” is a much hotter horse than Gabby, Barteau, 20, said she enjoys his energy, and riding many horses at home prepared her for the challenge. They led the competition from start to finish, scoring 69.94 percent in the team test and 72.36 percent on Sunday morning in the individual test.
“I was crying during the national anthem,” Barteau said. “I felt so happy and fortunate that my horses have been so well-behaved in competition and for all the support that Cathy [Morelli] and my mother and Ginna [Frantz], Ray’s owner, have given me.”
Barteau is aging out of the young rider ranks this year, so she plans to go out with a bang by competing in the North American Junior and Young Rider Championships in Kentucky in July. She’s also aiming for the FEI Young Rider World Cup in Frankfurt, Germany, in December.
“I’ve been here for a long time,” she said about her storied young rider career. “I’m excited about taking the next step. It’s been a fun journey.”
Barteau hopes to compete Ray, a 9-year-old Holsteiner stallion (Rantares—Miss Nickel Annie), in the open small tour next year, as well as contesting the Brentina Cup with another horse.
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Meagan Davis and Bentley were the young rider reserve champions, and the 19-year-old from Stone Ridge, N.Y., couldn’t stop beaming. “I’m so excited to be here after only riding Bentley for seven months,” Davis said. “He’s an incredible horse, and as our relationship develops, we’ll be a really strong team. I learn from him every single day; I could not ask for a better teacher.”
The junior riders contested the worst of the weather at Gladstone, but Riana Porter and Romax Foldager put in a lovely ride in the pouring rain to win the junior individual test (70.36%) and the overall championship on Saturday, June 20.
“We benefited from the downpour because it drowned everything out, and I had to focus on the test more and be more aware of where he was going,” said Porter, Santa Rosa, Calif. “I thought, ‘Oh no, why me?’ but I didn’t think I couldn’t do it. I’ve done it before, so rain wasn’t really an excuse for us.”
Porter, 17, has owned Romax for about five years, and rehabilitated him from a suspensory injury before she bought him. He was a second level horse at the time, and they’ve moved up the levels together with the help of trainer Sue Curry Shaffer.
“I know every little detail that pertains to him,” she said. “We have a really strong connection.”
Lauren Knopp, 18, and Rho Dance won the junior team test on Friday (68.37%) and placed second in the individual test on Saturday to take home the junior rider reserve championship.
