In its heyday, the U.S. Equestrian Federation Grand Prix National Championship attracted riders from all over the country to go head-to-head at historic Hamilton Farm in Gladstone, New Jersey, as part of the U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions. Now the Federation is hoping to turn the Grand Prix championship back into a prestigious, destination event for top U.S. riders.

The federation announced last week that it is looking for a venue to host the championship as a standalone event in 2026, ending an eight-year run of holding it as part of the summer U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions in Illinois, where it was one of more than a dozen titles awarded across a variety of levels. 

Laura Roberts, managing director of dressage at USEF, said that the idea for a standalone championship, to be held in April or May, came from the desire to host a championship at a more strategic time of year as top riders are gearing up for a European tour or winding down their winter CDI season.

“It really comes down to the time of year that the championship is held,” she said. “Being held in August conflicts with whatever major games or championship is happening that year. We’re trying to shift it earlier in the year, so we can go back to the format of it being part of the selection process. It’s not going to be a selection trial like it used to be, but it would be part of the consideration of the selectors before naming a championship team. There’s a desire from our athletes to compete against each other and be at the same shows, and I think there’s a big team building opportunity there when they’re all together.”

The Grand Prix championship last was held at Gladstone in May 2017 where Olympians Adrienne Lyle and Kasey Perry-Glass topped a field of eight riders. During its time at Gladstone, the event often served as a selection trial for team championships, including the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (France). 

In 2018, to address what officials then said was the splintered feel of having two championships in two different locations, the Grand Prix, Intermediaire I and Young Adult Brentina Cup championships were moved west and added to the August lineup for the Festival of Champions—alongside the Markel/USEF Young and Developing Horse Dressage National Championships, Dressage Seat Medal Finals and other classes—held at Lamplight Equestrian Center in Wayne, Illinois. Since then, Grand Prix entries have remained low, with last year’s competition attracting just four pairs. 

USEF hopes returning the Grand Prix championships to its former springtime slot and holding it on its own will draw bigger entries and the country’s best horses.

Qualifications for the 2026 championship would be from CDIs only, as opposed to the national and CDI qualifying scores that are in effect now, Roberts said.

It’s anticipated that the 2026 national championship will be the official observation event for the 2026 FEI World Dressage World Championship team. Those championships will be held at Aachen (Germany) from Aug. 11-15. Roberts said the 2026 championship will be a test run and hopes if it works, it will continue into 2027 and 2028.

With the Grand Prix championship removed from the annual Festival of Champions, which last year included 16 divisions, Roberts said USEF hopes to highlight the Developing Grand Prix championship as the featured class. 

For high performance rider Jennifer Williams, competing in a springtime national championship ahead of other big summer goals would work well for her schedule as she’s now based in Florida and targeting winter and spring CDIs there.

Williams competed at Gladstone in the Grand Prix in 2005 and 2006 and remembers the prestige of the competition. “It was extremely exciting, and we fought tooth and nail to make that top 15 for sure,” she said.

She also competed in the Grand Prix national championship at Lamplight in 2020, which she won on Millione.

“At that time, it was a great stepping-stone for me. He was just coming into some of the earlier CDIs, and I really wanted to have a big goal to shoot for,” said Williams, who was based in Washington at the time. “Festival felt like the next best thing for me.” 

She added that bringing her current Grand Prix partner Joppe K, who was competing in the 6-year-old championship at the time, helped make the long trip worth it.

Although she had good experiences competing in the Grand Prix championship at Lamplight, she’s excited about the idea of moving it to a new place on the schedule.

“I’m always sad when I can’t participate, but when you balance out the cost and the amount of competitions we’ve already done in the year and whether you’re trying to go forward and get more education and exposure by going to Europe, it’s a big decision on which venue to go,” she said. “It’s very hot during that time at Lamplight, so I’m excited to make it prestigious and really have the top-scoring individuals go head-to-head in a national championship and also piggyback that on to the next big event that’s coming up so they can really showcase the United States’ talent going forward.”

Anna Marek also competed in the championship at Lamplight in 2019 and 2023, and she felt like both times it was a huge accomplishment to go, despite the small entry fields.

“The first time I went with Dee Clair, that was a big accomplishment at that time for me and my career and for the horse. I just wanted to be there and do a good job, ride clean tests and look like I belonged,” she said. “In 2023, I had a lot more pressure because that was the observation event for me and Firefly ahead of the Pan Ams. When I went with Firefly I was going there with a very specific goal in mind. It was two very different experiences in my career, but looking back, of equal importance.”

She agreed with Williams and Roberts that bringing the top U.S. riders head-to-head would be a great idea.

“If it’s an event where they’re trying to gather the best combinations, and we’re up there on the list, and I’m invited, then absolutely,” she said. “The team leaders have made it clear to us that they’re looking at CDI [scores], so I think that qualifying through CDIs is definitely going to give them and give us a pretty good idea of where we’re at. I think it’s a really good move towards developing us as a team and picking the best combinations to go abroad and represent the U.S.”

The bidding period to host the new championship closes July 1. Click here for more information.