Despite the mare’s lack of competition experience, Phyllis Sumner’s 10-year-old “worker bee” Jonanta M led the AA Intermediate I Championship with 68.676%, edging out Christina Morin-Graham on Ici De La Vigne by 0.5 percentage points.

Photo – Phyllis Sumner and her lightly competed mare Jonanta M (by Negro) topped the AA Intermediate I with 68.676%. (Sue Stickle Photography)

Sumner bought the Negro x Gribaldi daughter two years ago in the Netherlands, and while the horse had never competed, she believes that Jonanta has what it takes to be her next grand prix horse.

Little Intense

“This was a lot from an atmosphere perspective, but ‘Moxie’ did fantastically,” said Sumner, who was making her Finals debut with the horse. “She was super attentive and took confidence from me even though she’d never even been in that arena before. She’s very big, very powerful, and hot, but in a good way. She loves to march me to the arena every day. Moxie can be a little intense and hot at times because she’s an overachiever, but never ugly or disobedient.”

Sumner works as a lawyer at the Atlanta-based King & Spalding, where she is a partner and chief privacy officer. She trains at Atlanta Dressage with Roel Theunissen and manages to fit horses around her job.

Therapy

“Riding is my physical and mental therapy, and I plan my work schedule so that I can do it regularly, which means I ride early in the mornings,” she explained. “It’s important for me to have that time with the horses and then my day is beautiful, and I can go and face my stressful job.”

On Saturday the pair will line out in the Intermediate I Freestyle using music made by Sumner’s brother — the Broadway star and producer Rob Evan — from his show Rocktopia, which features a vibrant blend of music from Vivaldi to Led Zeppelin.

Competition resumes on Saturday, November 8, with a bonanza of 14 championship titles up for grabs from First Level to Grand Prix. 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, visit the official US Dressage Finals event website. Start times and results can be found on www.horseshowoffice.com.