A rider for whom everything aligned at the right moment was the young Ella Fruchterman, who at 20 years old already has her USDF bronze, silver, and gold medals. She rode her and her father Todd’s 15-year-old Danish mare Hannah Montana W, by Blue Hors Doolittle, to the Open Intermediate II title with 69.755%.

Photo – Ella Fruchterman described her Intermediate II Open Champion Hannah Montana W as a horse of a lifetime. (Sue Stickle Photography)

“I came in tonight as the only junior in the class, so I was really focused on just riding to the best of our ability,” said Fruchterman. “This is my first year at this level, so I wanted to take my time and set things up. To win is the cherry on the top, and we were not expecting it.

Going All the Way

“Hannah felt the best I’ve ever felt her in the ring. This is a personal best in a championship setting. We did some CDIs in Florida in the spring, and we were just finding our feet. It felt like it all clicked today, which is a great time for it to all come together. I started in Juniors with her, so she’s taken me all the way through. She’s a horse of a lifetime,” she added.

The family bought Hannah Montana sight unseen in 2021 from Denmark, where she had been competing at grand prix level with Sanne Svendsen. Trainer Angela Jackson flew over to try her and was convinced she was the one.

Beautiful Schoolmaster

Jackson said, “Hannah has her quirks and doesn’t give anything for free. If you do it right, she will do it right and if not, you have to try again — but she doesn’t get upset. That’s [the nature of] a beautiful schoolmaster, and we owe this horse a lot.”

Fruchterman concluded, “I put all my trust in Angela, and I couldn’t be more grateful to her for taking us both through this journey and teaching me the ropes.”

Competition resumes on Friday, November 8, with nine championship titles up for grabs from Training Level to Grand Prix. The full digital show program is available here. Follow the action via the USDF Facebook page and the US Dressage Finals website, plus live online streaming of all the action from the Alltech Arena on USEF Network. To learn more about the US Dressage Finals presented by Adequan® and read daily news releases, visit the official US Dressage Finals event website. Start times and results can be found on www.horseshowoffice.com.