Sunday, Jul. 13, 2025

Campbell Prepares And Wins At USEF Junior Dressage Medal Finals

Rachel Campbell of Wylie,Texas, didn't just have to deal with the pressure of competing in the U.S. Equestrian Federation Junior Dressage Medal Finals. She also had to quickly learn the nuances of riding a borrowed horse for the competition, held July 28-30 in Rancho Murieta, Calif.

But Campbell didn't let the challenges get in the way of claiming victory in the 14-18-year-old division in the Medal Finals, held during the Warm Up, Cool Down show, with a score of 80.66 percent.
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Rachel Campbell of Wylie,Texas, didn’t just have to deal with the pressure of competing in the U.S. Equestrian Federation Junior Dressage Medal Finals. She also had to quickly learn the nuances of riding a borrowed horse for the competition, held July 28-30 in Rancho Murieta, Calif.

But Campbell didn’t let the challenges get in the way of claiming victory in the 14-18-year-old division in the Medal Finals, held during the Warm Up, Cool Down show, with a score of 80.66 percent.

Campbell won Friday’s warm-up class and felt fairly confident going into the finals. To prepare for the finals, her trainer, Kai Handt of North Texas Equestrian Center, had her ride some of his sales horses. She also rode friends’ horses when they were out of town.

“I just got a variety of horses under my belt,” said Campbell. “That helped because I got to learn little tricks on how to ride all kinds of different horses–bumpy ones, smooth ones, ones that you can’t get on the bit–just all kinds of horses. I think that really helped me prepare.”

The riders had the option of bringing their own horses to the show, or riding a borrowed horse. Twelve of the 17 finalists rode borrowed horses.

Campbell borrowed Gib-raltar, a 9-year-old, 17-hand Hanoverian gelding owned by Lydia Scaife and trained by Chelsey Sibley of Sonora, Calif. Judy Hedreen of Sylvan Farm, in Snohomish, Wash., bred Gibraltar (Gold Luck–Pikante).

“He was really, really good,” said Campbell. “He was really sweet and smooth and he doesn’t spook at all. He just does his job. He was really good at the first level movements. It was kind of like you think about leg yielding and he just goes over.”

Riders performed in a group around the outside of the dressage ring, and then were called into the ring to ride an individual test that they were given ahead of time to memorize.

“It was hard to think about everything that you needed to do,” said Campbell of the individual test. “Like plan ahead, keep your horse in the right frame and going forward, all at the same time. It was really hot in the covered ring, and we rode for 30 to 45 minutes for the class. Overall, I had a good individual test, but there were also really good individual tests performed by the other competitors.”

Campbell thoroughly enjoyed her experience at the Medal Finals. “I was really lucky to have a borrowed horse and people willing to let me ride their horse–a strange person in a strange class,” she said. “My trainer was really supportive, and everyone back at home at North Texas Equestrian Center was cheering me on, so I felt very special to be included in this.”

Campbell, 17, has been riding for 31�2 years. She started riding hunters and jumpers and switched to dressage after a year.

After she qualified for the Medal Finals last fall, she moved her own horse Discoverer up to third and fourth level and qualified for the USEF National Junior Dressage Team Championships, where she was a member of the gold-medal team at Pebble Beach, Calif., in early July. Campbell also competed in the junior division at the North American Junior/Young Rider Championships in Lexington, Va.

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A Substitute Steps Up
Mackenzie Pooley, of Coto de Caza, Calif., had some tough decisions to make on her way to the win in the 13 and under division of the Medal Finals.

It was a tense week prior to the show, as the horse Pooley rode to qualify for the finals came up lame, and it was uncertain if he would be sound in time for the finals. Her trainer, Karen Ball, suggested that they also bring Pooley’s 7-year-old pinto Selle Fran�ais mare, Calypso’s Girl, to the show as a backup. It was a good decision, as Calypso’s Girl helped Pooley score an impressive 84.33 percent to win.

“I was really nervous!” said Pooley, 13. “Just sitting outside the arena waiting to start was nerve-wracking. I wasn’t nervous when I was riding though.

“The group part went really well. Everyone stayed out of everyone’s way. The individual test was a fun test, short but fun. My horse was very well behaved and just did what I asked.”

Pooley has owned Calypso’s Girl for three years and is currently showing her at first level. She has been riding dressage since she was 7, and has been riding with Ball for three years.

Pooley was returning home after the show to prepare her two mounts for the California Dressage Society Southern Junior Championships at the end of August.

Judge Jayne Ayers has judged at all four of the Medal Finals. She was very pleased with the California show.

“I thought the kids rode particularly well,” said Ayers. “I think the standard is moving up. The ones that made the effort to get here were very impressive with their skills. I think they are riders who will be able to go on and do a lot in the future.”

“We had exceptionally good borrowed horses here,” continued Ayers. “All reports that I got from show management and a couple of trainers said the borrowing of the horses process–trying them out, getting them matched up the kids–went very, very smoothly this year. Nobody suffered from a bad horse.”

Happy To Be In The Ring
Rachel Saavedra of San Ramon, Calif., dominated the FEI division of the Warm Up, Cool Down show. She rode the Oldenburg stallion Laitin to win his three Prix St. Georges classes and his Intermediaire I class, all with scores over 70 percent. She also rode her own Robello to wins in two of their three Grand Prix tests.

“He’s just a blast; he’s going so well,” said Saavedra of Laitin. “He’s loving it. He’s so genuinely happy to be in the ring. It’s just a kick.”

Laitin was laid up since last September with an injury and just returned to the show ring in July at the Pebble Beach Dressage Show where he also won all of his classes. Laitin was a little looky in the Murieta Equine Center’s main covered arena, but he stayed in control.

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“I wrapped my body around him and he got underneath me,” said Saavedra. “He went around and had a couple of looks at things in the corners. He’s better than ever, stronger and more elastic than ever. I could really feel the next year [at Grand Prix] in front of me. There’s a whole new layer of buoyancy and lightness and scope to his trot. It’s just really exciting.”

Laitin (Le Champion–Isabelle, Argus) is owned by Laura Dwyer of Walnut Creek, Calif. He was bred by Jay Timmons of Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.

Saavedra had her first Grand Prix score over 70 percent (70.41%) with her Swedish Warmblood gelding Robello. She thinks that the improvement has resulted from changes in her warm-up–she now rides Robello twice a day at the shows.

“Part of it is mentally for me,” explained Saavedra. “It’s playtime. We just come out in the morning and we do everything just for fun. I can kind of enjoy my horse and bounce around and he enjoys it too. There’s no knuckle down and push it. Then he has down time [in his stall]. Later we come out and do just a little bit before I go in the ring. I think there’s a lot less tension if he gets to go out twice and see the world and have some of it be just playtime.”

Willy Arts of DG Bar Ranch in Hanford, Calif., showed horses to 11 championships and reserves at the two Warm Up, Cool Down sport horse shows on July 29 and 30. And he owns, bred or imported the majority of those horses. Waterloo SE, a Dutch Warmblood stallion, won the 3-year-old colt class both days and was the colt champion on Friday and reserve champion on Saturday. DG Bar Ranch co-owns the colt with his breeder Siegi Belz-Fry of Stall Europa in Waterford, Va.

“He has a very good temperament,” said Arts. “The first day at the show he was a little bit more of a handful, but that’s something to expect with a 3-year-old stallion. The second day he was already much better.”

These were the first horse shows for Waterloo SE (00 Seven–Broere Jazz, Wanroij). Belz-Fry sent the colt to Arts last fall to prepare him for the Dutch inspection this fall and to start under saddle.

Accolade DG (Wanroij–Ultima DG), a yearling colt bred by DG Bar and owned by Sandy Harper of Hanford, Calif., won his colt classes and alternated placings with Waterloo SE in the colt championship classes.

DG Bar also owns the 3-year-old Dutch Warmblood filly Woodwind in partnership with her breeder, Natalie Bryant of Little Creek Farm, Mont. Woodwind (Contester–Music, Uniform). She won her filly class both days and brought home the USDF Breeders Championship filly championship. Arts has started her under saddle and plans to show her in the FEI 4-year-old classes next year. They plan to keep her as a broodmare, as she is the only filly out of Music, a very successful broodmare.

Contester II, a 4-year-old Holsteiner stallion owned by Josephine Walsh of Brookdale, Calif., won the stallion championship both days. Arts imported Contester II (Contender–Lancetto, Lakai) as a yearling from breeder Gestut Charlottenhof in Germany.

Contester II is being shown in dressage by trainer Allida Allen of Santa Cruz, Calif. He is in training with Arts in preparation for the stallion testings and breed shows. The day prior to the shows Contester II was approved for breeding by the ISR/Oldenburg NA. He will be presented to the Holsteiner Association later this year.

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