The Intermediate I Freestyle AA at this year’s US Dressage Finals was nail-bitingly close, with the top three all finishing within 0.1% of each other. Lyndsey Bailey eventually came out on top, riding her own 18.1-hand, 13-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding Kasparov Toja by Vivaldi to 69.858%. The reserve champion Phyllis Sumner scored 69.842% on her own nine-year-old Soprano 9, while third place went to Tonna Faxon on Flash (69.75%).

Photo – Lyndsey Bailey won the Intermediate I Freestyle AA by just 0.1% with Kasparov Toja. (SusanJStickle.com)

“My mom passed away in 2019. She was a dressage rider, and this is me carrying on her legacy,” said a tearful Bailey, who runs a feed and tack store in New York. “Although she’s not here in person I can feel that she’s here with us and this was for her. This is a dream come true.”

Reach the Stars

Bailey had spotted Kasparov Toja before she bought him, but he was out of her budget. She put the horse out of her mind, until one day he popped up on YouTube again, with a reduced price tag.

“I called immediately, and we went up to Vermont the next weekend,” she recalled. “I rode him, and I fell in love with him. The feeling you get when you’re on him is that you can reach the stars. He’s one in a million, and he put his full heart into this test today.”

Bailey credits much of her success to trainer Wendi Schnittjer, adding: “She’s been with me every step of this journey. At 5 a.m. we’re out there riding, and I’m on eastern Long Island so this time of year it’s cold and it’s brutal. She’s always there encouraging me and providing the path to enable me to do this.”

Three for Three

Bonnie Canter made it three Championship wins from three starts by adding the First Level AA Championship to her burgeoning haul. She rode Super Susie, her own five-year-old Oldenburg mare to an untouchable 73.657%. (Photo: SusanJStickle.com)

Bonnie Canter made it three Championship wins from three starts by adding the First Level AA Championship to her burgeoning haul. She rode Super Susie, her own five-year-old Oldenburg mare by Secret out of a Voice dam to an untouchable 73.657%. She will have a further chance to add to her trophy cabinet on Sunday when she rides her Fourth Level Champion Vitali in the Prix St. Georges AA Final.

In the Third Level Jr/YR division, the 2022 Second Level Champion Taylor Allen also made a return to winning ways, laying claim to a 2023 winner’s blanket with a 68.333% test on her own Fleur De Lis, a 13-year-old KWPN mare by Tuschinski.

Competition concludes on Sunday, November 12, with the final nine championship titles to be decided, from Training Level to Prix St. Georges. Follow the action via the USDF Facebook page and the US Dressage Finals website, plus live online streaming on the USEF Network. To learn more about the US Dressage Finals presented by Adequan®, view results and start lists, and read daily news releases, visit the official US Dressage Finals event website.