Sabine Schut-Kery could have benefited from a body double when her wins in both the Intermediaire 1 championship and the Developing Prix St. Georges required her to take two victory laps in close succession.

Her win on Sonnenberg’s Jersey, a 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood stallion (Vivaldi—Kebalia, Ferro), owned by Sonnenberg Farm, LLC, in the Intermediaire 1 freestyle also earned her the title in the USEF Intermediaire I Championship. She rode “Jersey” in last year’s U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions and returned with him this year as established partners.

“Last year that horse was a catch ride for me, so I worked with him this whole year, and it’s really exciting to see where the partnership is going and [that it’s] more reliable in the ring,” the Tokyo Olympic team silver medalist said. “Already last year, being a catch ride for me, I could feel how amazing he is not just in the sense of that he has good quality, but that he truly has a heart of gold. He really likes to work.”

After three days of competition, the pair’s freestyle won them the championship title with a 72.90%. Olivia LaGoy-Weltz and Fade to Black were second (71.70%) and Lauren Chumley and Leeloo Dallas claimed third (70.14%).

“I was super, super happy to feel that on day three he was actually the freshest,” Schut-Kery said. “I worked with him this whole year, and it’s really exciting to see where the partnership is going and [that it’s] more reliable in the ring.”

The rider also competed Gorgeous Latino (Toto Jr.—Black Manda, Rubiquil), an 8-year-old Dutch Warmblood stallion owned by Sandy Mancini, to the top of the Developing Prix St. Georges class with a 70%. Kathryn Fleming-Kuhn and Franzsis HSR (68.62%) claimed second. Sarah Mason-Beaty took the next two spots in the order, finishing third with Kanjer (68.52%) and fourth with Liang (67.59%).

Schut-Kery, who won the 7-year-old championship with the stallion last year, reflected on their test today to plan ahead for Saturday’s Markel/USEF Developing Prix St. Georges championship class.

“I actually was quite happy,” she said. “I think I need to be a little bit more on guard on the tempi changes, but, you know, I don’t warm up too long, so it’s always a choice. What do you pick?”

Warlimont And Deambulo PWD Channel Nerves Toward Winning Test

In the FEI 5-Year-Old preliminary test, Petra Warlimont took blue on her own Hanoverian gelding Deambulo PWD (Don Martillo—Franka, Fahrenheit) with an 81.20%. In the judges’ commentary, they noted that after some tension at the start, the young horse began to gather positive momentum.

“The more the horse went, the more the horse started to breathe and really kind of come out of its shell and started to show us who he really is,” the judges said.

Warlimont (Evergreen, Colorado) said that the judges accurately picked up on some of their shared nerves as she and “Dewey” entered arena.

“Dewey’s very sensitive, a little bit shy; I think it’s because of his size. I feel like those big horses sometimes get scared because they think they can’t get out of the way fast enough,” Warlimont said. “In the warm-up, I was a little bit nervous, and around the ring he was a little bit nervous, and I was just trying to give him confidence. Then as soon as I went in, he was just like, ‘OK, we’re in the ring, we’re safe.’ That’s an awesome feeling on a horse that size.”

What size is Dewey exactly?

“We gave up! Our stick is not long enough,” she said, laughing. “I don’t want to know. He grew another 3 inches in two months.”

Willy Arts landed second place with stallion Serupgaards Cézanne, also with a 81.20%; judges compared the average between the scores for the submission and perspective categories to break the tie. Charell Garcia took third with 78.80% on MW One More Dream.

Arts Lands A Perfect 10 In 4-Year-Old Class

In the 4-year-old developing horse class, Willy Arts made his test on Pharaoh DG (Koning DG—Janda, Parcival) hard to catch with a 90.80%. The judges called the Dutch Warmblood stallion’s test “a treat for all of us” and gave the duo a perfect perspective score—the first 10 in any category of this year’s Markel/USEF Young and Developing Horse Dressage National Championships.

“And perspective—this was a highlight for us—we were asking ourselves, ‘What more could you want for a 4-year-old?’ A 10,” the judges said.

Charell Garcia nearly closed in on Arts’ lead with an 89.20% on her Oldenburg stallion, MW Virtuous. Michelle Bondy followed in third on Sonnenberg’s Paris (81.60%). As the top six horses made their victory lap, the announcer noted that they were all American-bred.

Christian Simonson continued his lead in the campaign for the Brentina Cup, scoring 68.10% on Son Of A Lady (Soreldo—Western Lady, Welt Hit II), owned by Christina Morgan and Clifton Simonson. Sophia Shulz followed Simonson with a 66.38% on her gelding Conocido HGF while Josh Albrecht earned third with a 65.33% on Goldenboy Vinckenburgh. The U25 class will meet a final time in the Grand Prix Arena for Saturday’s freestyle to decide the Adequan/USEF Brentina Cup U25 title.

In Thursday morning’s Grand Prix Special, Amy Bradley claimed first on her own 14-year-old Oldenburg gelding Quileute CCW (Quaterback—Glueckslady, Glueckspilz) with a 66.06%. Karen Lipp and Infinity followed in second with a 65.08% and Callie O’Connell on Eaton H took third with a 64.53%. The three riders, who make up the entire Grand Prix division, will return to battle for the championship title in Saturday’s Grand Prix freestyle.

The Junior team riders were cheered by an enthusiastic crowd at the Grand Prix Arena. Virginia Woodcock clinched first on her own Danish Warmblood mare Mollegardens Sans-Souci (Sir Donnerhall—Sascha, Sam Sam), scoring 71.41%. Justine Boyer claimed second on Campanero HGF with a 67.47% and Claire Tucker and Finnur followed closely behind Boyer with a 67.22%, which earned her third.

See complete results here.