The Markel Arena saw its first competition today with 14 entries in the Markel/USEF Seven-Year-Old Dressage National Championship completing their FEI Seven-Year-Old Preliminary Tests. Ali Potasky (Versailles, Ky.) won first place in the class riding Courtney Lau’s 2016 Dutch Warmblood gelding, Lord Hennessey, with a score of 75.682%.

Photo:  Ali Potasky and Lord Hennessy. (Photo Credit: S. Stickle)

Class Results

Current Overall Standings:

• Ali Potasky and Lord Hennessy
• Caroline Hoerdum (DEN) and Lion King
• Sabine Schut-Kery and Gorgeous Latino

From the Mixed Zone:

Take us through your test.

Ali Potasky: Hennessey is really trainable, so I didn’t do too much warmup. I got some half-halts, and forward and back, and then just trust the training. One of his strengths is that he’s so willing and really easy in the changes, easy in the collection and the lateral work. So it was a short warmup because of the heat, and then went in there and tried to really focus on remembering that test because it’s a little herky jerky. So not go off course and just ride him.

What did you think of the judges’ feedback?

AP: I thought it was really good and right on the money. I was able to listen to some of the other horses and it was really interesting to listen to not only [the feedback from] my horse and my ride, but everyone else that was in the class. I always like learning from the judges.

Tell us about your horse’s background.

AP: I work for Kathy Priest in Lexington, and we got him from Europe as a 3-year-old. Shortly after that, we sold him to our client, Courtney Lau. Between all of us, we brought him up the levels. He dabbled in the 5-year-old and shown third level and fourth level. His owner shows him as well.

Full Schedule and Results

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