Cesar Parra and Møllegårdens Fashion Victorious in the Markel/USEF Young Horse Six-Year-Old Dressage National Championship

Fourteen combinations in the Markel/USEF Young Horse Six-Year-Old Dressage National Championship started the day of competition in the Markel Arena. Cesar Parra and Møllegårdens Fashion led from start to finish in the division to win the title on an overall of 8.348. Parra (Whitehouse Station, N.J.) and his and Marcella Parra’s 2016 Danish Warmblood gelding secured the win by taking first place in the FEI Six-Year-Old Final Test with a score of 8.30, collecting scores of 8.5 for the trot and general impression, 8.2 for the walk, 8.3 for the canter, and 8.0 for submission.

Photo - Cesar Parra and Møllegårdens Fashion (SusanJStickle.com)

“It was great. Very relaxed. I didn't want to push for much more. He's a very powerful horse,” said Parra of his test. “We are a little bit new to each other. I've been riding him a few months, and I know how he can get really, really strong. So, I just wanted a loose and pleasant test. I'm very, very happy that he's getting so supple. He's learning every day, he's almost doing now the Grand Prix movements, so I'm very, very happy with that.”

Watch the full class.

Rebecca Rigdon (Cardiff by the Sea, Calif.) and Lionell VE, Lauren Fisher’s 2016 KWPN gelding, scored 8.14 in the FEI Six-Year-Old Final Test and claimed Reserve Champion honors with an overall score of 8.18. Alice Tarjan (Oldwick, N.J.) and Gjenganger, her 2016 Danish Warmblood mare, were third in the FEI Six-Year-Old Final Test with a score of 8.18 and third overall with a score of 8.084. Tarjan and Gjenganger are members of the Markel/USEF Dressage Young Horse Emerging Program.

Overall championship results

From the Mixed Zone:

Tell us about your tests.

Rigdon: “I'm very happy with my guy today. He was gelded last fall and needed some time to get strength and he's new to me as well since December. And I'm really, really happy with him. The one mistake he made was totally my fault, which I'm thrilled with. That I can fix easily! I'm super happy with that.”Tarjan: “I’m really pleased with my horse. She was a good girl. We got through the test and she did her job.”

What are your thoughts on coming to Festival of Champions?

Parra: “Obviously this is important to come here and win if you can, but is more important to follow the parameters that we need to bring [a horse] to Grand Prix. And I think that's why we keep coming with them here. We keep coming with the same horses doing the same thing. And I think ‘Fashion’ is a statement to that, that he's doing it. He's a very, very good. I mean, I love that guy since I started showing him.”

Special Awards

The top three combinations in all of the Young Horse and Developing Horse divisions had their names added to a lottery to win a custom saddle from N2 Saddlery. At the conclusion of the event and the subsequent drawing, Endel Ots won the prize.

Two Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation Best Turned Out Awards were presented on Sunday. Markel/USEF Young Horse Six-Year-Old Dressage National Championship competitors David Blake and Lion Heart and Markel/USEF Developing Horse Grand Prix Dressage National Championship competitors Nora Batchelder and Amillion FS collected the honors.

Watch the U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions on demand on USEF Network.

Complete Results