The first champions of the 2025 U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions were crowned Wednesday at the HITS Chicago Lamplight Equestrian Center in the Adequan/USEF Para Dressage National Championships, with Kate Shoemaker winning the Adequan/USEF Grand Prix Para Dressage National Championship and Sienna Busking winning the inaugural Adequan/USEF Intermediaire I Para Dressage National Championship.

In the Adequan/USEF Grand Prix Para Dressage National Championship, Shoemaker, of Wellington, Florida, and Supreme earned the national title after putting in top performances in all three of their tests, concluding with a strong winning score of 74.425% in Wednesday’s freestyle. Though Shoemaker has owned Supreme, a 9-year-old Westphalian (Sezuan 2—Deja Vu, De Niro 6), for almost five years, the championship is their first together. 

“He’s only been with me full-time for about three weeks,” she said. “Every day has been about building trust and learning more about him. I just feel like I’m living a fairy tale every time I ride my big, beautiful black horse. Supreme has exceeded every expectation.”

Winning the national title has long since been a goal for Shoemaker, a Grade IV rider who already owns multiple Paralympic medals, but it was one she wasn’t sure would happen. 

“This is my first national championship title at this level, and I had to kind of let it go before it could happen,” she said. “For so many years I wanted it and sometimes I’d be in the lead, then something would go wrong. This year, to be able to add this title to my resume just feels so special.”

Watch their Grade IV Grand Prix B Test, courtesy of USEF Network:

Close behind, her Paralympic teammate, Grade I rider Roxanne Trunnell, of Wellington, Florida, and Rumour Has It secured the reserve championship with 73.98%. “Rumour,” a 13-year-old U.S.-bred Hanoverian gelding (Romancero H—Inkka, Ideal), owned and bred by Simone van der Schalk, is a new partner for Trunnell. 

“This is still a very new partnership,” she said. “Today was only our second time showing this freestyle. There are some tweaks I’d like to make, but overall, it went even better than I expected. I’m really pleased with him and excited to keep building this partnership.”

Rounding out the podium, Eleanor Brimmer, of Wellington, Florida, and My Moment, her own 15-year-old Hanoverian mare (Furst Romancier—High Sun, Blue Hors Hotline), produced a steady test to finish third with a 70.81%. 

“My mare, who we call ‘Minni,’ can get a little tense in the freestyle, so we deliberately chose soothing Enya music to help her relax,” said Brimmer, a Grade II rider. “It created such a nice, spa-like atmosphere. 

“I’m really happy with how she’s performed all week, and now I’m looking forward to getting her home for a well-deserved vacation,” she added

Adequan/USEF Intermediaire I Para Dressage National Championship

This year marks the debut of the Adequan/USEF Intermediaire I Para Dressage National Championship, which also concluded Wednesday with the FEI Para Intermediate Freestyle Test. The freestyles contributed 15% to the overall score, along with 40% from Monday’s Test A and 45% from Tuesday’s Test B, to determine national championship placings. The final overall results were less than a point apart, making for an exciting finish for the new division.

Busking, of Owasso, Oklahoma, and Divino, a 25-year-old Hanoverian gelding (De Niro—Hauptstutbusch Welle) owned by Roberta Clark, secured the championship title by winning Test B (63.96%) and notching solid scores of 62.93% in Test A and 63.47% in the freestyle.

Busking, a Grade III rider who trains with Clark, has been riding “D” for just over a year. 

“One of the highlights of this week was getting to show with other para riders, because I don’t have that in Oklahoma,” Busking said. “It was fun to get to compete with a bunch of people that I’m neck and neck with.”

In D’s younger days, he helped Clark earn her USDF gold medal. He was briefly retired, but the quiet life didn’t suit him, and a return to the arena as a para dressage horse turned out to be a good fit for his golden years.

“He loves having a job,” Busking said. “He’s forward and still super energetic and full of life. Being a pasture pony was not what he wanted to do. He lives outside, and he’s honestly a pretty healthy, easy 25-year-old.”

Busking and D performed an energetic freestyle to songs from the Austin Powers soundtrack that suited the bright chestnut gelding.

“I wanted something that would be fun and upbeat,” Busking said.

The reserve national champion title went to Victoria Yu, of Coatesville, Pennsylvania, and Carrera GH (Contucci—MS Mocha RH), a 20-year-old Hanoverian mare owned by Tami Glover. Yu, who competes in Grade III, is new to para dressage and started riding “Carrera”  last fall. The big atmosphere at Lamplight didn’t faze the Festival of Champions first-timers. 

“She was a pro. I think I was more nervous than she was, and I wasn’t sure how she’d handle it,” Yu said. “She’s never done anything like this before. This was her time doing more than a weekend away at a show and being in a stall all week. She lives outside 24/7, so that’s a huge difference for her, and she handled it like a pro.”

Carrera and Yu performed their freestyle to iconic, empowering pop songs including “Fight Song” and “Girl On Fire.”

“My freestyle was choreographed by Nicole Sweeney,” Yu said. “I wanted to do a girl power song, and I did ‘Fight Song’ because it’s kind of been my battle since I had my stroke and trying to get my power back to being independent and getting the horses back. It rang true to me a little bit.”

Winning second in the freestyle and third overall was Elizabeth Welch of Summerville, South Carolina, and her own 7-year-old PRE gelding Baltico BRH (Kabul BRH—Tibetana). Welch, a Grade V rider, has been developing “Bee” since he came to the U.S. from Spain.

“I purchased him as a 3-year-old stallion,” she said. “I imported him in the fall of 2022, and that’s when I started riding him. He is a very responsible young horse. He just turned 7, but he’s got a very good brain, and he’s been great with everything we do with him.”

The pair’s freestyle was set to cinematic music including pieces from the Moana soundtrack. 

“This was really my first time doing a freestyle,” Welch said. “That’s a new experience for me. It was fun. I thought the music suited him.”

For Welch and her fellow competitors, the Intermediaire I Para Dressage section was a welcome addition to the Festival of Champions.

“I knew Para Nationals existed, but when I realized this was the first year that they were offering Intermediaire I, that was great, especially for me,” Welch said. “I’m not new to riding, but I’m new to dressage, and I also have a very young horse who is new to dressage, and so we certainly weren’t ready for the Grade V Grand Prix test. It was a good goal and a good opportunity to be able to come and do a bigger show. If you’re not ready for the next level, for whatever reason, it still gives you a big goal to work towards.”

Busking agrees and sees this as an important bridge to the higher levels.

“It gives another level to work toward, and to get to show alongside people who have competed in the Paralympics—getting to learn and watch them ride,” she said. “And that’s my ultimate goal. But this made it a little more accessible versus doing my first big show at Grand Prix.”

“It’s a great steppingstone,” Yu said. “This was my first year actually competing in para-dressage and not just competing with able-bodied riders. So it’s the goal of being able to compete with other paras and on a level playing field, and to get here and compete alongside Olympic riders or people that have gone all the way, which is my ultimate goal as well.”

See complete scores here. The U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions continues through Sunday. Competition is streaming live on USEF Network, brought to you by Adequan. US Equestrian fans, subscribers and members can access the live stream, and subscribers and members will be able to watch replays on demand.