Dressage Wraps Up at 2026 USEF Eventing Young Rider National Championships at Maryland International
Adamstown, Md.—June 26—Eleven teams of juniors and young riders from across the U.S. and Canada have flocked to Loch Moy Farm this week for the U.S. Equestrian Federation Eventing Young Rider National Championships, held alongside the Maryland International.
Friday was full of dressage for all three championship divisions. Read on to hear from the leaders.
A year ago, Kelsey Seidel and Chico’s Man VDF Z found themselves at the top of the leaderboard of the CCIU253*-S at the Young Rider Championships. While some time penalties in cross-country and a rail in show jumping dropped them to silver medal position, Seidel was just thrilled to make it to her first Young Riders.
This year, she’s found herself in a familiar position after dressage, scoring a 26.5 on Lexi Scovil’s 16-year-old Zangersheide gelding (Chico’s Boy x Chardonnay Z) to lead the three-star yet again. Their score also helped their Area III and V combined team to lead the standings after the first phase.
This weekend marks two years of partnership for Seidel and “Sprout.” The gelding was previously ridden by Scovil to the four-star level.
“He tries so hard,” Seidel said. “In the last few months, I do think we've like really solidified our partnership. I think a huge part of it is just time and hours spent in the saddle getting to know him and how he prefers to go, and, and because Lexi obviously did an incredible job producing him, he goes in the way he likes to go, and it's just been me figuring out how to how to ride that.”
Seidel changed her warmup a bit at their last outing at Bromont (Quebec, Canada), doing an early morning ride, then a 15-minute warmup before their test.
“That seems to keep his body and his mind a lot happier,” she said. “He's not a horse that you can just drill things 100 times. He really thrives off praise and the release.”
Karen O’Connor is coaching the team, and Seidel said she told her, “I think he just ages like fine wine; he's getting better with age. He feels fitter and stronger and happier.”
Seidel is thrilled to represent her home state of Texas with Area V, though she’s been based in Virginia with Sara Kozumplik in recent years.
“My entire life, Young Riders has been the goal, and it's just one of those things that all the pieces didn't align until last year,” she said. “To be able to come back for a second year in a row and feel more confident and stronger and have a better partnership with my horse, it's just…I don't know what the word is. It's satisfying to be able to show up for Area V and for Texas, and I'm so fortunate to have a lot of people rooting for me at home, and it really is just a privilege to be here.”
She’s looking forward to tackling Andrew Heffernan’s cross-country course tomorrow. “We're coming back for that gold medal!” she said.
Lauren Crabtree is making her return to Young Riders this weekend, and she started off on a positive note, leading the dressage in the CCI2YJ*-S with Derroon Diamond, a 10-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding (Carrick Diamond Lad x Dianes Cruse Clover) owned by Traci Crabtree.
The pair scored a 26.1 to help their combined team from Areas VI and I to the lead. This is the last show for Crabtree with Derroon Diamond, as she’s a nursing student at the University of Utah and will be giving the ride to a friend, Seth Chapman.
Crabtree is from California and has spent about five months on the East Coast preparing for the Championship.
“My horse is younger, so I think that going into today I just wanted to have a really confident ride,” she said. “I just really wanted to put it all out there, and if it goes well, it goes well, and if it doesn't, then whatever,. I think that he was really good. He was actually a lot better than he's been at some of the shows out east. He's young, so his confidence is not quite there, but this show, I'm feeling really good. He's being a grown up.”
In the CCIYJ1*-S, Kennedy Langmo took the lead on Knock Out, an 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding (Canabis Z AKZ x Upaleen) owned by Mike Dennis and Jennie Jarnstrom. Their score of 24.0 helped their Area III team to the lead.
Langmo said the gelding started out a bit tense in their test, but after the first couple of movements, he came back down. “That was definitely the highlight of my test, him coming back down, because that hasn't always been what's been happening,” she said. “We've been working really hard to get him relaxed through the test and not tense or tight in the neck.”
Lango is leasing Knock Out from her trainer, Jennie Jarnstrom, who’s she’s worked with since she was 8. She’s making her first appearance at Young Riders.
“It's been a lot of fun,” she said. “I love the open opening ceremonies and feeling more of like a team environment. I play volleyball, so that is like totally like team chemistry and the environment. Getting to do the young riders, I feel like it brings us together more and has us compete as a team, and not just individually.”
Cross-country for the Championships starts tomorrow at 11:09 a.m. with the three-star, followed by the two-star at 2 p.m., and the one-star at 3:55 p.m.
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