Mill Spring, NC – October 27, 2020 – Unprecedented, dressage riders rode down centerline in the state-of-the-art indoor arena at the Tryon International Equestrian Center (TIEC) in Mill Spring, NC. Para-Dressage riders competed in front of international judges Elke Ebert (GER), Carlos Lopes (POR) and Adrienne Pot (USA), October 22-25, 2020. After three days of competition top horse and rider combination Rebecca Hart (Wellington, Florida) and El Corona Texel, owned by Rowan O’Riley, earned the 2020 Adequan®/USEF Para Dressage National Championship Award ending the weekend with a 78.478% in her grade III freestyle test. Sydney Collier (Ann Arbor, Mich.) and All in One, owned by Going for Gold LLC, earned the reserve championship award. The pair finalized their competition with a top score of 78.711% in the Grade I freestyle test. Over three days thirteen horse and rider combinations vied for their best percentages in the CPEDI3*. Equestrians showcased many remarkable tests securing top percentages overall. With the rescheduling of the Tokyo Summer Paralympic Games in 2021, this show was an important step on the way to earning a spot on the Adequan® Paralympic Equestrian Team. During the CPEDI3* The Adequan®/USEF Team, led by Chef d’equipd Michele Assouline, included Sydney Collier on All in One, Rebecca Hart on El Corona Texel, Cynthia Screnci (Boca Raton, Florida) aboard Eragon VF and Kate Shoemaker (Wellington, Florida) on her new mount Gaborencio. For the emerging athletes including many young riders, this was an opportunity to show in front of international CPEDI judges while competing in the national para-dressage show. The 2020 Para Dressage Emerging Athlete Competition was sponsored by the U.S. Para Equestrian Association (USPEA).

Chef d’Equipe Michele Assouline was thrilled with the team’s results. He explained, “It was quite an exciting show. Our athletes scored in the 70’s showing the world that they are in the top of their game for European competition. We have two athletes in the league of European riders. If we compare last year to now all of our athletes are doing great. As for our future plans it’s even hard to plan short term. We are looking forward to Florida in January, and another show in March, and then I would like to come back to Tryon where Sharon Decker has extended the use of this amazing international facility to train more.”

Over the October 23-25, weekend team member Rebecca Hart went down centerline on El Corona Texel and Fortune 500, both owned by Rowan O’Riley. Hart had outstanding tests with each mount producing exciting results. The duo of Hart and El Corona Texel earned the 2020 Adequan®/USEF Para Dressage National Champion. Rebecca Hart has earned multiple National Championship Award over many years of competing in para-dressage.

Hart was thrilled, “Winning the championship was an amazing feeling. Tex gave me the absolute best birthday present ever. It’s been a long journey to have him come together the way he did this weekend. I am so thrilled with both of my guys (Fortune 500 and El Corona Texel) they rose to the occasion and I couldn’t be happier. I have to thank Rowan O’Riley for trusting me with them and for trusting my amazing trainer Melissa MacLaran-Velix who was unable to come with me on this trip. We laid a plan out how to handle everything and the results spoke for themselves.”

Hart was one member of Team USA that helped secure top international scores.”I loved being part of the team, everyone did fantastic on the team and truly every para-dressage rider at this show,” said Hart.”I would also like to thank the Tryon team of officials, show staff, volunteers, US Equestrian, and so many others that helped to produce this amazing show. We are all grateful for the hard work that each person has put in to create this.”

Hart was also proud of the emerging and young athletes that showed for the first time under international judges in the Para-Dressage national show. It was exciting for the brand new athletes when they saw Hart on the ground, lending her expertise and cheering them on when the emerging athletes entered at ‘A’. Following the competition Hart spoke to multiple young riders about their future in the sport. Hart remembered where she was in the beginning and where she is now on the international stage and spent time to talk to the new riders in the discipline.

Hart noted, “I enjoy helping out these young riders and emerging athletes. Veronica Gogan and I had been talking for a while about our disabilities since our bodies are similar. We talk about saddle fit, compensating aids, and much more. I want to give that knowledge that I have experienced to someone else so I can make their path a little less complicated.”

U.S. Team member Sydney Collier and 11 year-old gelding All in One earned the 2020 Adequan®/USEF Para Dressage National Reserve Champion award with scores over 75% or more. Collier was thankful her hard work paid off. She explained, “My rides went so well, they were awesome. I am very pleased how I made things come together and how Katie Robicheaux has helped me to learn a lot of things in a short amount of time. It’s so cool to be able to come here and have all of our hard work in quarantine pay off and work in the show ring. To get to go in there and have that partnership with Alle is exciting. Without my horse owner Georgina Bloomberg and without my trainer Katie none of this would be possible for me. They have made this success possible.”

Earning the Lloyd Landkamer Memorial Sportsmanship Award was U.S. Team Para Dressage rider was Cynthia Screnci. One of her fellow riders said to her as she was given the trophy, “You deserve this Cynthia.” Screnci had a spectacular weekend with her horse Eragon VF and Riccione. Screnci stated, “Danny (Eragon VF) was phenomenal. He was really relaxed and perfect. I had a couple of small mistakes but they were really easy to fix. Riccione was really tense the first day so we have been working on relaxation at shows. She has so much talent and was magnificent in the individual test. We are super excited about Eragon VF. He is the full package. He has all the talent, he fills the ring, and over the next month we are going to get him into more competitions to get him back in shape. This was a fabulous experience and a dream come true being chosen for the team. I was crying and so happy.”

U.S. team member Kate Shoemaker brought her new mount Gaborencio to the international ring. She was very happy with their partnership. Shoemaker explained, “This is my horse’s first CPEDI3*. My goal for him was to gain a positive experience. I had wonderful warmups and really good schools on him and I wasn’t quite able to get the potential I know he is capable of in the ring but I know he is going to take away from this competition and become better for the future. That’s really what we were hoping for. I would have loved to have been higher on the score but the takeaway was my horse was happy and we did our best.”

Shoemaker was grateful, “Being part of the team is such an honor every time. It’s really the ultimate confidence to be named on the team. I also want to thank Tryon, the show managers, the volunteers, USEF and Laureen, Michele Assouline, and everyone that made this possible. This was a huge undertaking and to have this event put on, especially with Covid-19 restrictions and it came off wonderfully.”

Following the competition at the Tryon International Equestrian Center athletes will head home before the 2021 calendar year where they will show in the Adequan Global Dressage Festival CPEDI3* January 21-24. International riders will then show in the Wellington Para-Dressage Competition March 12-14, and athletes will head back to the TIEC for the Tryon CPEDI3* and Final Observation Event. Finally the top athletes chosen for the team will head to the Tokyo Paralympics August 24-September 5.

Results:

2020 Adequan®/USEF Para Dressage National Championship Award

RIDER and HORSE TEAM TEST(40%)   INDIV TEST (40%)   FREESTYLE TEST (20%) COMPOSITE

1. Rebecca Hart and El Corona Texel   76.372%   76.961%   78.478%   77.029%

2. Sydney Collier and All in One   75.119%   75.893%   78.711%   76.147%

3. Alanna Flax-Clark and El Paso   67.121%   67.598%   70.300%   67.948%

4. Laurietta Oakleaf and Comte du Baccara C 69.849%   69.951%   59.901%   67.900%

5. Debrorah Stanitski and Skovlunds de Nice   66.250%   67.738%   71.267%   67.849%

6. Meghan Benge and Zoey   66.078%   67.549%   70.256%   67.502%

7. Cynthia Screnci and Eragon VF   68.062%   65.437%   70.100%   67.420%

8. Eleanor Brimmer and Richelieu Stensvang   65.539%   65.981%   68.289%   66.266%

9. Kate Shoemaker and Gaborencio GER   64.917%   65.894%   68.883%   66.101%

Team Overall: 437.844

Sydney COLLIER – All In One 75.5% Total 151.011 (Grade I)

Rebecca HART – El Corona Texel 76.667% Total 153.333 (Grade III)

Cynthia SCRENCI and Eragon VF 68.062% Total 133.499 (Grade V)

Kate SHOEMAKER and Gaborencio GER 64.917% Total 130.811(Grade IV) Dropped score

CPEDI3* Grade Overall:

Placing, Name of rider and name of horse, TEAM TEST,INDIV TEST,FREESTYLE TEST

Grade I

1   Sydney Collier and All in One, 75.12%   , 75.89%, 78.71%

2   Debrorah Stanitski and Skovlunds de Nice 66.25%,67.74%,71.27%

Grade II

1   Alanna Flax-Clark and El Paso 67.12%, 67.60%, 70.30%

2   Laurietta Oakleaf andComte du Baccara C   69.85%, 69.95%, 59.90%

Grade III

1   Rebecca Hart   El Corona Texel   76.37%, 76.96%, 78.48%

2   Laurén Barwick   Sandrino   72.45%, 73.04%, 75.98%

3   Meghan Benge   Zoey   66.08%, 67.55%, 70.26%

4   Eleanor Brimmer   Richelieu Stensvang   65.54%, 65.98%, 68.29%

   Rebecca Hart   Fortune 500   72.60%, 72.99%

   Meghan Benge   Worth the Trip   63.14%, 68.43%

Grade IV

1   Kate Shoemaker   Gaborencio GER   64.92%, 65.89%, 68.88%

Grade V

1   Cynthia Screnci   Eragon VF   68.06%   65.44%, 70.10%

   Cynthia Screnci   Riccione   66.16%   66.39%

Please view https://results.equestrian-hub.com/tiec/376 for the complete results and to view each test and the judge’s scores.

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