WEC February Dressage CDI3* Opens with Victories for Kelly-Baxley and Davis
Two grand prix classes were held on the opening day of the World Equestrian Center (WEC) February Dressage CDI3* presented by Hampton Green Farms at WEC – Ocala. Jodie Kelly-Baxley (USA) started the evening with victory in the Grand Prix for Special CDI3* on her own Grayton Beach. Riding Scott Durkin’s Toronto Lightfoot, Meagan Davis (USA) took the top spot in the Grand Prix for Freestyle CDI3*.
Kelly-Baxley has had an incredible 12-year partnership with Grayton Beach, and their FEI career together started at the Small Tour in 2021. They progressed to grand prix at the end of 2023 and have been building ever since. They scored a win in November of 2025 at WEC – Ocala as well.
While there were good scores for the pair at the grand prix level, Kelly-Baxley was feeling something different beneath her.
“Grayton is very sensitive and really worries when he makes a mistake or isn’t sure of the answer,” she explained. “He always tries his hardest and never says no, but putting the whole grand prix together for an over 18-hand horse has been very challenging.
“He has always loved showing, but when we started showing the grand prix, he slowly got more and more stressed in the show ring,” she continued. “We were getting decent scores, but the feeling was not my happy horse.”
Kelly-Baxley showed Grayton at the FEI level just once in February of 2024 and then turned to just trail riding by the end of the year. She knew that her horse’s mental health and happiness meant more than scores and ribbons in the ring.
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