Final Champions Crowned During the Last Day of the 2024 U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions at HITS Chicago Lamplight Equestrian Center
Sunday, August 25, marked the final day of the 2024 U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions at HITS Chicago’s Lamplight Equestrian Center in Wayne, Illinois. The event celebrates the nation’s top dressage talent with champions crowned throughout the action-packed week of competition. In the FEI Young Rider Individual test, Alicia Berger and Aqua Marin reigned supreme, while Nora Batchelder and Nova strutted to victory in the USEF Developing Horse Grand Prix.
Berger and Aqua Marin were last to go of the 11 starting entries in the FEI Young Rider Individual test, but their consistent marks throughout from judges Janet Lee Foy at E, Kristi Wysocki at C, and Sarah Geikie at M propelled them right to the top of the leaderboard with a score of 69.559%. For Berger, it was the best final halt and salute to her time competing in the Young Riders classes.
“I’ve had a really great experience in the Young Riders classes, so to have it all culminate in this competition and this test, today I just really wanted to enjoy it, and I had a really good time,” she expressed. “Especially in my extended trot, I just felt like I was flying. To me that’s the coolest part of riding is I was just flying with my best friend, and we were having a great time.”
For Berger, who trains with U.S. Olympic rider Jan Ebeling, her partnership with “Aqua” has gone from strength to strength since they first met in Denmark in October 2023. Over the summer, they were named to represent the U.S. on the U.S. Dressage European Young Rider Tour, which concluded with impressive finishes in the CDIY competition at the prestigious CHIO Aachen. Now they have added 2024 U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions FEI Young Rider champion to their list of accomplishments.
“I fell in love with him right away,” said Berger of the 13-year-old Oldenburg gelding (Ampere x Stedinger) she owns with Marianne Berger. “He tries so hard, and he has such a puppy-dog personality. Through the experience of training and showing in Europe, we really got to build our relationship. He just trusts me, and he’s one of the most fun horses I’ve had the chance to ride. When we step into the ring, he just thinks we’re playing in there.”
Sophia Forsyth and Dimagico, her own 10-year-old Hanoverian gelding (Dimaggio x Jazz Time), were awarded the reserve championship after riding to second place in the individual test with a score of 69.167%.
The USEF Developing Horse Grand Prix combinations were the next to head down centerline. From the 10 starting entries, U.S. Pan American Games team silver medalist Nora Batchelder earned the blue-ribbon honors and overall championship title with Nova.
The whole test felt really easy and smooth,” noted Batchelder of her ride, which resulted in a score of 69.259%. “Maybe we could’ve powered up more, but it just felt like we were on the same page. The harmony aspect felt really amazing.”
That seamless partnership between Batchelder and the nine-year-old Oldenburg mare (Grand Galaxy Win T x Romanov Blue Hors) owned by Carol Glover is three and a half years in the making. On a shopping trip to Europe with Glover, Batchelder tried many horses, but it was Nova that instantly stood out.
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