When the U.S. Dressage Federation Region 6 show committee announced early this year that the championship location would move from its western Washington home of 12 years to southwestern Idaho, a virtual furor erupted in cyberspace. Despite this initial unrest, the Great American/USDF Region 6 Championships, Sept. 30-Oct. 2, drew more entries than before, and the Idaho Horse Park in Nampa received rave reviews.

Just as the venue did not disappoint, neither did the quality of the competition. The show boasted a record five Grand Prix entries, led by Jeremy Steinberg and Olson’s Parocco. The pair from Seattle, Wash., delivered a fluid and harmonious freestyle performance set to a classical score punctuated by Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf.”

The ride won both the Great American/USDF Region 6 and the Northwest Dressage Championship titles with a score of 71.56 percent from judges Gary Rockwell and Lilo Fore.

Even in cool, blustery conditions, the 16-year-old, Wurttemberg gelding turned in his best test–and best score–of the year. “He has just bloomed this year. He’s really come into his own,” said Steinberg. The pair also won the NWDC Grand Prix (69.37%) and the Region 6
Grand Prix Championship (67.91%).

Robert Dover found Parocco as a 3-year-old in Europe for owner Jennifer Smith to take up the levels. Smith campaigned her horse to Intermediaire I but has been unable to ride since a car accident seven years ago. During the past two years, Steinberg has ridden Parocco in between filling in for Dover in Florida while Dover was away at the Olympics.

“We’re quite surprised at how well he is doing at this level,” said Steinberg of Parocco’s first year at Grand Prix.

Parocco is the only horse Steinberg has shown this year. Because he claims he is “a better teacher than a rider,” Steinberg travels every weekend for clinics. Teaching during the week in the Seattle area leaves him little time to train, so he is selective of the horses he rides. And although the experience of riding as many as 13 horses a day for Dover last year was invaluable, he said, he found himself homesick for the Northwest and returned to the business he has developed over the past 10 years.

Funding and several other variables will determine whether Smith and Steinberg, 29, will campaign Parocco at Grand Prix next year in California. “He just keeps getting better, but what is most important is his soundness and his health,” Steinberg said.

Though Smith recalls soundness issues when Parocco was young, he has had no problems of late. Steinberg is quite careful to preserve the older horse: “I never overwork him; I try never to make him sweat. I treat him as if there is something wrong with him, so hopefully there won’t be anything wrong.”

This approach agrees with Smith, who insists that anyone who rides her horses treat them just as well as she would.  It also agrees with Parocco, who “isn’t the most coordinated horse in the world but is so quiet and kind about doing his job,” his rider said.

Worth The Drive
The distance to the championships didn’t deter Steinberg or Smith. Show secretary and Seattle-area resident Lothar Pinkers reported about 40 percent of the entries were from the “wet side of the mountains” and more riders from eastern Washington, Idaho and Montana entered than in past years.

Some Region 5 riders, like Margo Gogan of Heber City, Utah, opted to change their championship bids to Region 6, because the venue was closer to them. “We love our region,” Gogan said, “but the difference between an eleven-hour drive [to Parker, Colorado] and a six-hour drive made the decision for us. Plus, we always like to meet new people.”

Before declaring her intentions to USDF, however, Gogan brought her horses to the Idaho Horse Park for the Idaho Dressage Festival in May. “I was very impressed with the facility,” she said.

Her decision paid off. Multiple championships and reserve championships ranging from training level to Grand Prix headed back to Utah with Gogan and her enthusiastic troupe of six students. Their wins included the open first level championship, which Gogan won with a score of 69.44 percent on her 6-year-old Dutch Warmblood, Tristan.

Upon the recommendation of Bob McDonald, Gogan and an anonymous sponsor purchased Tristan as a green-broke 3-year-old from DG Bar Ranch in Hanford, Calif. With tutelage from Debbie McDonald, Gogan has successfully brought the gelding along and plans to move him up to second level, maybe even third, next year.

“He reeks FEI,” she said. “And he has a wonderful brain.” Working from her newly-built facility, Gogan plans to get a jump on the season by campaigning her string in southern California early in 2006.

The event’s proximity was also a factor for Kathy McClatchy. Although she had not competed in a regional championship in five years, she made qualifying a priority when she learned that the show would be held just three hours’ drive from her home in Hailey, Idaho.

McClatchy, who rides regularly with neighbor Debbie McDonald, claimed championships with all three of her horses. With Barb Hooper’s Weldon she won the open third and fourth level championship; with Corby Dibble’s Loch Ness she won the Prix St. Georges title and with Dibble’s Gino she won the Intermediaire II championship.

McClatchy’s five students, many riding in their first championships, were also successful. Joan Iannacone (Welthana), Leslie Hornocker (Woodstock RH) and Nadine McWilliams (Marabou) finished first, second and third, respectively, in the second level adult amateur championship.  “I was thrilled to see so many people who drove so far to come here,” said McClatchy.

Learning With Honors
Chelsea Pederson of Gig Harbor, Wash., won the second level and first level junior/young rider championships and the Hungarian High-Point Award on her 6-year-old gelding, With Honors. The long ride was the first big trip for “Baxter,” who shared a ride with 10 other horses on a commercial shipper. “He handled it very well,” said Pederson, 17.

Pederson found Baxter on the Internet as she was shopping for a horse to replace her outgrown pony. Bred by Jessica Wisdom of Spanaway, Wash., Baxter was an unshown 4-year-old when he moved to the Pedersons’ home.

“He’s a great learner,” Pederson said of the horse she has brought along herself with the help of coaches Jill Seely and Jennifer Schrader. Her goal is to ride Baxter at the North American Young Rider Championships in 2008.

Should Pederson qualify next year for the Region 6 Championships, the drive won’t be quite as far for her, however. According to Region 6 Director Gaye McCabe, the championships will begin a rotating schedule to benefit riders in all parts of the region. The 2006 event will be held at Devonwood in Oregon, followed by Donida Farm in Washington in 2007 and will return to the Idaho Horse Park in 2008.