United States Eventing Association

Lexington, Ky.—Aug. 27—Ariel Grald admits that she feels a lot of pressure riding Obalix—not because he’s not talented, but because she knows that if things don’t go right, it’s all on her.

While the 8-year-old Oldenburg gelding by Ogano is still young, he’s shown Grald and his owner, Annie Eldridge, that he’s got the talent to go as far as Grald wants.

Grald brought Obalix to the USEA American Eventing Championships presented by Nutrena Feeds (AEC) this week to go quick on cross-country and be competitive as she eyes a CCI3*-L this fall.

The pair were eighth after dressage in the USEA Open Intermediate Championship out of 50 pairs, and moved into first place after yesterday’s cross-country. A double-clear show jumping round tonight under the lights of the Rolex Stadium sealed their win on a score of 30.8.

“I really can't say enough good things about the horse,” said Grald. “This is his first season at Intermediate and three-star, but he's just a really special horse. I was very happy with him in the dressage. I think he put in about as good of a test as he can at the moment. There's a lot more in there, but we're just sort of building strength.”

Her goal for cross-country was to go quick and use the rolling hills at the Kentucky Horse Park for fitness, and the “gelding answered every question.”

“As long as I ride well, he's perfect,” she said. “And then today, show jumping's been a little bit of his weaker phase. He tries really hard, but he just gets a little distracted. He's a little green sometimes, so we've been working at that this summer and just spent a little bit of time show jumping at Culpeper [in Virginia], and that was really helpful. He jumped great in the warm up, and again, it's just on me to pilot him reasonably well and let him do the rest. So, I was really happy with him.”

Grald, Southern Pines, North Carolina, found Obalix through Kelli Temple in Virginia. She wasn’t too impressed when she first stopped by to see him as a 5-year-old, but Temple insisted, and after sitting on him for a minute, she was convinced.

Last year he lost a bit of competition time as Grald healed from a bad fall off another horse at Bromont, but she says a little more time is never a bad thing in a horse’s development, and Obalix has caught up on the time lost.

She’s hoping he could be her next five-star horse now that her long time partner Leamore Master Plan is retired.

“So far, he's showing me he's got it all,” she said. “He's quite different than [Leamore Master Plan], but I will say he has a lot of the same personality traits. He always makes me laugh. He's a really playful, like very cheeky, goofy horse. He's constantly playing games, and he's just a character, and he's very very confident in himself. And he tries really hard. He's clever. He's one of the smartest horses I've ever ridden, and he's got the talent. So, fingers crossed.”

Reserve Champion Will Coleman has been all around the globe lately. Having just returned home to the states from the FEI Eventing World Championship in Aachen, Germany, and with the five-star at Burghley on his to-do list next week, Coleman still decided to bring Meg Pellegrini’s 8-year-old Swedish Warmblood gelding Box Como (Jaguar Mail x Box Compri) to the AEC to compete.

“I think it’s always good to get them in this stadium and just let them see the Kentucky Horse Park,” Coleman reflected. “He was kind of just due for a run, to be honest. And everything was sort of pointing to this being a nice outing for him.”

Coleman has been producing the horse for the Pellegrini family since 2024.

“We really like him a lot,” Coleman shared. “He’s a lovely horse. He’s a good jumper and really becoming a very good cross-country horse. I had a pretty terrible test on him this week. We were just not on the same page in the dressage at all. But, in his defense, I have been gone a lot, and I probably didn’t have him quite schooled enough coming in here. He is really lovely, and I am so grateful to the Pellegrini’s for trusting me with him.”

Looking toward the fall, Coleman noted that Box Como is nearly ready to tackle an Advanced cross-country course, but firm plans have yet to be made.

“We’ll have to see what the future holds!”

The pair issued two double-clear jumping rounds to hold onto their dressage score of 31.4 to move them up from 19th after the first phase to second overall.

Rounding out the top three was Pellegrini and her own 13-year-old Zangersheide gelding Falcon Crown Z (Farfeulu de Muze x Lovely Lady).

“He’s a bit of a funny horse,” Pellegrini said of “Falcon.” “He and I have a really good relationship, but it's still always sort of in the works.”

Pellegrini has had Falcon for almost three years now but says they are finding something new about one another with every run they make.

“I'm still finding out things about him every run, and I feel like I'm in a great program to find those things out, so I came here with the intention of being competitive,” she said. “I wanted to come here and feel like everything we practice at home I could put into play, and I've had a really cool summer and was able to go overseas for a little bit and compete over there, and I feel like I kind of came back from that with a little bit of a different appreciation for this, and feel like I can go out there with a little bit more oomph in me. I feel a bit braver, I feel a bit more confident in myself, and that's all credit to the horse that I was riding [Dondante, who she competed with at the FEI Under 25 World Championship in Ireland].”

She says Falcon has taught her alot about riding on the flat, and she was happy with their test this week. On cross-country, while she still feels like she could be faster, she’s still learning about his balance and the way he likes to go.

“It feels like that is a work in progress, but he was still great to the jumps. It was a great course,” she said. "I actually had a lot of fun. And then the jumping today, that's probably our biggest strength. He's really great in the jumping. We do a lot of practice at home and go to a lot of jumper shows. I've done some meter-30s with him, and he just eats it up.

Coleman, who’s her trainer, had to leave early to catch a plane to Burghley, but she felt good warming up on her own, and to have it work out well tonight was a thrill.

“I'm really grateful that he has installed all those things in me; that I can come out here and feel confident in myself, but still the horse was amazing,” she said. “I was a little worried about the shadows and the ring, and I don't think I've ever jumped at 8 p.m. before. But he was awesome.”

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About the USEA American Eventing Championships (AEC)

The USEA American Eventing Championships (AEC) presented by Nutrena Feeds is the pinnacle of the sport at the national levels. Held annually, the best junior, adult amateur, and professional competitors gather to vie for national championship titles at every level from Starter to Advanced. This ultimate test of horse and rider draws hundreds of combinations from around the country to compete for fabulous prizes, a piece of the substantial prize money, and the chance to be named the National Champion at their respective levels. In fact, the 2021 AEC garnered over 1,000 entries and now stands as the largest eventing competition in North American history. The 2026 USEA American Eventing Championships presented by Nutrena Feeds will be held on Aug. 25-30 at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky. Click here to learn more about the USEA American Eventing Championships.

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