United States Eventing Association

Rising Stars of U.S. Eventing Make Their Mark at 2024 USEF/USEA Developing Horse Championships

Leesburg, Va.—Oct. 11—Day 1 is a wrap at the 2024 USEF/USEA Developing Horse Championships at Morven Park International, and we saw a familiar face rise to the top in the CCI3*YH-S Championship, while the leading CCI2*YH-S competitor is making her international debut.

Top Carrera Tops the Field in CCI3*YH-S Championship

Gabby Dickerson and Top Carrera are no strangers to being the top-three in the young horse divisions.

“He’s kind of a poster child for the USEA young horse developing levels,” said Dickerson of the 7-year-old Hanoverian gelding (Carridam PJ x Cecil 16), whom Dickerson co-owns with Roland Millican. “I found him in Germany as a 4-year-old, and then we took him to the 5-year-old YEH East Coast Championships [Elkton, Maryland] where he placed third. And then he kind of ticked right along and found everything easy, so we moved him up to Prelim/two-star and did the 6-year-old Developing Horse Championships [Aiken, South Carolina] last year, where he was second.”

The pair scored a 26.2 to lead the six-horse division.

Dickerson and “Cappy” were second in line for the 2024 Holekamp/Turner Grant which helps fund a trip to the FEI Eventing World Breeding Championships for Young Horses in the 7-year-old CCIYH3*-L championship in Le Lion d’Angers, France, for the highest scoring horse from the USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) 5-year-old Championships each graduating year.

“I actually had the goal of getting him on track for qualification this year since he was in the running for the Holekamp/Turner Grant, and he did qualify early in the year [for Le Lion]. We would have loved to go, but [Tommy Greengard and] That’s Me Z was the overall 5-year-old champion, and he was this year’s grant recipient, but we were ready and waiting to go,” noted Dickerson.

Instead, she decided to reroute Cappy to this year’s Developing Horse Championships. They came into the event off of a recent win at the Intermediate level at The Fork at Tryon (Mill Spring, North Carolina) last month.

“I’ve been coming here for years,” Dickerson said of Morven Park. “We absolutely love it, and I wouldn’t want to miss it. We’re super thrilled to be here. It's beautiful weather and a beautiful place to be.”

She was quite pleased with Cappy’s performance in the dressage ring today.

“I'm always happy with him. He always tries really hard, and he’s really focused and with me. I actually felt like there were a couple mistakes and that there's a lot more to come, which is always a good feeling. I'm really happy that he's in the position he's in. That's kind of where I was hoping to be on day one, because it's his strong phase. I have to give credit to everyone who's helped me and my team!”

Allie Knowles and Katherine O’Brien’s Anglo-European gelding Montpellier Scais (Quasimodo Van De Molendreef x Arina), who finished fourth in last year’s 6-year-old championships, are sitting in second on a dressage score of 31.7. Full Gallop Syndicate’s Levino (Lint x R-Cora II), a new face to the Developing Horse Championships, claimed the third spot. Marc Grandia has the ride on the Holsteiner gelding, and the pair received a score of 32.1.

Cross-country for the 7-year-old championship gets underway at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow, Saturday, Oct. 12.

Starburst Makes Her FEI Debut A Big One in the CCI2*YH-S

In her first international start, Katherine O’Brien’s 6-year-old Irish Sport Horse mare of unrecorded breeding took hold of the lead in the CCI2*YH-S on a score of 24.8 with Allie Knowles in the tack.

Knowles found “Violet” in the Goresbridge Go For Gold sale in Ireland and bought her sight unseen.

While Violet’s been a little slow to produce due to being “a little bit on the difficult side,” Knowles says her talent is next-level.

“She's magical, but I have taken my time to try to make sure that I had her brain on my side, and it's all sort of coming to fruition this year,” she said. “Each time she comes out, she's a little bit more on my side and a little easier to ride. She’s a typical mare that you want to make sure that it's her idea. Now that it’s starting to be what she thinks is her idea, man, she and I have really become a team. I am genuinely excited.”

Knowles is excited for tomorrow’s cross-country, which she thinks is Violet’s best phase. She was thrilled with her dressage score today and said it was a bit unexpected.

“I just needed to be sure that I didn't try to press her too much, too fast, because she was a little bit stubborn there at the beginning, and now we're working together, and it showed today, and I was just absolutely ecstatic,” she said.

Will Coleman and Meg Pellegrini’s 6-year-old Swedish Warmblood gelding Box Como (Jaguar Mail x Box Compris) slotted into second place on 27.2, and Madison Temkin and Beth Brown’s 6-year-old Hanoverian gelding Fernhill Bertus (Balou Peggio x Celine) are third on 27.4.

​​Helpful Links

• Morven Park Website
• USEA Prize List
• Schedule
• USEA’s Coverage
• Results
• Live Stream

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