Lehua Custer (Wellington, Fla.) and F.J. Ramzes, Wendy Sasser’s 2010 Dutch Warmblood gelding, earned the top score in Saturday’s FEI Grand Prix Freestyle Test, earning a 76.350% with their freestyle to pop and dance music and moving into the reserve champion spot. Katie Duerrhammer (Greenwood Village, Colo.) and Kylee Lourie’s Paxton, a 2011 Westphalian gelding, had the second-highest score in the class with her freestyle set to retro pop music, scoring a 75.775% and moving into third place overall. Codi Harrison (Wellington, Fla.) and her own 2007 Danish Warmblood gelding, Katholt’s Bossco, scored a 75.675% in the freestyle, maintaining their top spot to win the national champion title.

Photo – Codi Harrison and Katholt’s Bossco. (©Leslie Potter/US Equestrian)

Class Results

Final Results:

1. Codi Harrison and Katholt’s Bossco
2. Lehua Custer and F.J. Ramzes
3. Katie Duerrhammer and Paxton

From the Mixed Zone:

Tell us about your freestyle.

Codi Harrison: The freestyle is my favorite. When I did the U25 here in 2018, I had borrowed a freestyle from Lars which was a mix of country and rock and I think it matched ‘Bossco’ so well. He loves the high-energy, rock part of it, so when I made my own for him, I think I’ve had it for a year and a half now, I went with rock. I think it’s so fun with the different changes of tempo. It lights him up, gives him a little more energy in there. So I picked it for him and it’s fun because I get to highlight his good things, his piaffe and passage, and do things I don’t like one time.

Lehua Custer: I’ve only done this freestyle twice now. I rode it one time at a CDI. Ramzes’s owner and I were on road trips all the time together, and the music we like is kind of upbeat. It keeps us awake while we’re driving. Some Beyonce, some Sia, it’s really positive and kind of that strong, empowering feeling. He’s a big guy that kind of likes to rock it, so we went with that. I’ve done tons of freestyles on other horses at lower levels for years and years and I’d never really done a Grand Prix one until this. I just smiled through it and tried my best for him, and he’s a trouper. He always says yes, so I knew if I rode well, he’d be there for me.

Katie Duerrhammer: I’ve had my freestyle about a year and a half. Last year here was the first time I rode it and then rode it one time to qualify to come here. Terry Gallo made it, and we really want the floorplan to be stuff that really showcases his highlights. He can usually handle a pretty high degree of technical difficulty because when things come up faster, we don’t get to go as fast, and he likes to go really fast. So I think we’re going to make a few tweaks and kind of change the way we do the flying changes. But the rest of it I was really happy with. For the music, I wanted something that was fun. It can’t be too heavy because he’s super light, but it’s elegant. Also, it can’t add too much energy. We need easy, peaceful and calculated music out there, and I think she did a really beautiful job with that and it’s still really fun in the moment. I was really happy with his rideability today. He was very rideable, and we were slowly over the week adding a little more energy and a little more impulsion, and I think he was really good today.

What were some of the highlights of your test today?

CH: I always love that extended canter to piaffe turn. I don’t always nail it, but today he did a pretty good job. I love that last line in both the Grand Prix Special and in my last line in the freestyle. I love that passage-piaffe-passage finisher. And he was great. I had a mistake in the twos, but other than that, he was right with me the whole way. The ones felt great. This drop in temperature helped him. He did great in the heat, but it was nice today to just be able to kind of sit back and relax and he took me around.

Full Schedule and Results

2023 U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions Livestream

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