Wayne, Ill. – Aug. 20, 2020 – Fourteen young riders returned to the main arena at the Lamplight Equestrian Center on Thursday for their final chance to vie for the USEF Young Rider Dressage National Championship in the Young Rider Individual Test.
California rider Katherine Mathews led the division after Wednesday’s performance, and she and her approved Hanoverian stallion, Soliere, cantered away with the 2021 US Dressage Young Rider Reserve National Championship.
Katherine, who made the trip from San Marcos, California, and the 16-year-old stallion owned by Peridot Equestrian, LLC, who are trained by Olympian Guenter Seidel, came in first place in Wednesday’s Individual test with a huge score of 72.157, the only rider to score above 70% for the Team test. For the Individual, they made a few errors, and ended up in 3rd with a score of 69.461, and an overall score for the championships of 70.809% and the Reserve National Championship.
“I went into the ride today really excited because it went very well yesterday,” Mathews explained. “It went super well again today, he’s such a good boy. He’s been such a great horse for me to learn on and gain experience with. He himself is very experienced, but he also is challenging and I love that about him. Today was one of those days where I also had to work with him a little bit and I feel like that’s really special to have in a horse. Unfortunately we did have a mistake in our three tempis which I think cost us a little bit, but overall I’m very happy with how it went.”
“Next year I’m going to try to go for the European rider tour as well,” she said. “This is my second year in young riders, so I’m very excited to see how it will go. I’ll hopefully continue to move up the levels from there!”
Results: USEF Young Rider Dressage National Championship
Rider / Horse / Owner / Team Test / Individual Test 1. Hannah Irons / Scola Bella / Hannah Irons / 69.853 / 73.088 2. Katherine Mathews / Soliere / Peridot Equestrian LLC / 72.157 / 70.490 3. Kayla Kadlubek / Perfect Step / Kayla Kadlubeck / 69.117 / 69.461 4. Melanie Doughty / Fascinata / Melanie Doughty / 68.873 / 68.971 5. Meredith Talley / Romeo / Meredith Talley / 66.863 / 66.765