Wayne, Ill. – Thursday marked the midway point of the 2024 U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions and brought the second national championship title as the Intermediaire I division wrapped up with their freestyle tests. A full day of competition in two rings at HITS Chicago Lamplight Equestrian Center saw a total of seven divisions contested.

Photo – Sabine Schut-Kery and Sonnenberg’s Jersey. (©Leslie Potter/US Equestrian)

Neue Schule/USEF Intermediaire I Dressage National Championship

A trio of talented black horses populated the top standings in the Neue Schule/USEF Intermediaire I Dressage National Championship, which concluded on Thursday with the freestyle tests. Sabine Schut-Kery (Oceanside, Calif.) and Sonnenberg’s Jersey (Vivaldi x Kebalia), a 2014 Dutch Warmblood stallion owned by Sonnenberg Farm, LLC, went three-for-three for the division, winning the freestyle test with a score of 72.905% to secure the national championship.

“Last year, this horse was a catch ride for me, so I worked with him this whole year, and it’s really exciting to see where the partnership is going and to be more reliable in the ring,” said Schut-Kery. “Already last year, I could feel how amazing he was, not just in the sense that he has good quality, but that he truly has a heart of gold. He really likes to work and is just a good citizen, and it’s fun to work with him!”

With three tests in four days, the Intermediaire I national championship requires a certain amount of endurance from competitors, but Schut-Kery said that he came out even more fresh for the third test than he had for the previous two.

Fresh

“I’m really excited to see how he was on the three days here, and especially on the last day, I really thought he would be tired,” she said. “And no, he was not. So it tells me also that he has a lot of gained a lot of strength, and it tells me that he likes his job if on day three, he still [has more energy] than the first two days.”

The upbeat soundtrack for the freestyle was created by Marie Medosi, who in addition to creating freestyle music is also a barn manager at Schut-Kery’s base of operations and knows Jersey well.

“She has a company, Rave Horse Productions. She’s super talented, and she’s doing a lot of freestyles,” said Schut-Kery. “We came across the song for one of Jersey’s stallion videos, and then his owner, Gina Ruediger, she really loved the song. She asked Marie, ‘Can you make a freestyle out of this?’ And so she did. She’s just amazing, and it’s super fun because she understands that you want to catch a little bit of the horse’s personality but not overpower the expression of the horse and the presence they have in the ring. So it’s nice that she knows him so well. She knows me well, and I think it fits him super nice. It’s my favorite music I’ve ever ridden to.”

Schut-Kery has ample praise for the young stallion, who she describes as “a real gentleman.”

“When you go into his stall, he’s just the sweetest guy,” she said. “He really wants to do his job. He’s such an amazing horse and so beautiful, and he’s really fun to work with because you always feel that, ‘Okay, what’s next? What do you want me to do?’ It’s super fun to work with a horse like that that’s so eager, but also quite easy, because he’s such a pleaser.”

Fade to Black

Olivia LaGoy-Weltz (Haymarket, Va.) with Fade to Black (Fantastic x Saphira), Mary Anne McPhail’s 2015 Hanoverian mare, clinched the reserve champion title with a freestyle score of 71.705%. The music is a mix of pop instrumentals designed by Marlene Whitaker that complements the mare’s flowing movement.

“It was a really interesting evolution,” said LaGoy-Weltz. “I told her that I wanted something energetic and modern, or Irish, and that’s not where we ended up at all. The canter is set to a really elegant piece of music that seemed to suit the mare really well. She sent me a couple of trots and said, ‘A little bit of this,’ and I said, ‘How about all of that? I want the entire thing to be that trot music!’ I can put on her music and listen to it over and over. I really love it.”

LaGoy-Weltz and ‘Sadie’ have been together for almost four years, and they’ve been gradually working their way up the levels.

“Sadie was a COVID baby—a COVID purchase off a video,” said LaGoy-Weltz. “She’s been a really interesting project. She showed up in Florida and knew a fair bit, but still needed a lot of basics, and it’s been a bit of a slow road building up.”

LaGoy-Weltz and Sadie competed at FOC in 2022 in the 7-year-old division, but took some downtime to sort out some health issues due to allergies while continuing to build the basics.

Beneficial Year

“It was a very beneficial year, I feel like, to take a pause and not drive her development, and it paid off,” she said.

Lauren Chumley (Pittstown, N.J.) and Leeloo Dallas (Gaspard De La Nuit DG x Voque), her own U.S.-bred 2016 Dutch Warmblood mare, earned the third-place spot with a 70.140%.

“My freestyle is done by a lady named Kristin Knutson. She’s done all of my freestyles for the past five years,” said Chumley. “This one was actually written for one of my other small tour horses who has since moved on to Grand Prix, but I really liked it, so she reworked it a little bit. It’s kind of all techno. It’s really fun, and I think it fits the horse.”

Chumley has had “Leeloo,” who is named after a character in the 1990s sci-fi film The Fifth Element, since she was a baby. She came from a breeder in Arizona to Chumley’s home base on the East Coast, and has been to a few previous FOCs. This year’s outing was her most successful yet.

“She also qualified for Developing Prix St. Georges, but I opted to do the I-1 because I wanted to ride the freestyle,” said Chumley. “I’m really glad I did it. She was super consistent all weekend. She was great.”

Competition Information:

The 2024 FOC takes place Aug. 19-25, at HITS Chicago Lamplight Equestrian Center in Wayne, Ill. Competition takes place in two arenas and will be broadcast on USEF Network. Bookmark the FOC event page on USEF.org for the latest coverage of this year’s show.

Ring Schedule | Orders of Go and Results

2024 Festival of Champions Livestream

The U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions will be streamed live on USEF Network. US Equestrian members, subscribers, and fans can watch all classes live. Not a member? Sign up for a free fan account now!