Ten combinations began their quest for the Markel/USEF Developing Horse Prix St. Georges Dressage National Championship with the FEI Prix St. Georges Test. Olivia LaGoy-Weltz and Johnny Be Goode had a lovely test to win the class. LaGoy-Weltz (Haymarket, Va.) and Fritz and Claudine Kundrun’s 2014 KWPN gelding impressed the judges and earned a score 74.558%.

Photo – Olivia LaGoy-Weltz and Johnny Be Goode (SusanJStickle.com)

“I thought [the test] was really good,” said LaGoy-Weltz. “He’s still quite young, doing all of this at this level, so I was super happy with him. I think that he actually even got just a hair impressed and just a hair tired as we were going in, so I think that we might tweak the warm-up just slightly and maybe have even a little bit more in store for the next test, which would be fun. I feel like he got an A for effort, and he was a super good boy.”

Watch the class.

Martin Kuhn (New Berlin, Ill.) and Ronin, his and Kathryn Fleming-Kuhn’s 2013 Hanoverian gelding, were second with a score of 71.029%. Katie Duerrhammer (Greenwood Village, Colo.) and Zaphira, Kylee Lourie’s 2013 Danish Warmblood mare, finished third with a score of 68.970%.

Results

The Markel/USEF Developing Horse Prix St. Georges Dressage National Championship concludes Saturday with the USEF Developing Horse Prix St. Georges Test.

From the Mixed Zone:

What were some of the highlights in your test?

LaGoy-Weltz: “He’s a very striking horse. He’s very elegant in his trot work and his extensions. He just kind of draws you in. I think he’s a horse that potentially has no weaknesses. He’s scored up to 10 on the walk, and I don’t know that we were able to show that today, but I think that he really has the ability to have no holes.

Did you expect this result today?

LaGoy-Weltz: “In our last show before coming here I felt like he really started to learn how to grow in the test. Sometimes I feel like he can be a little shy. He felt a tick shyer today. And with the last test we did before we came here, we got a 76 in the Developing Horse Prix St. Georges, so I know he has the abilities. This is for sure a personal best in the Prix St. Georges, so I couldn’t be happier with him.  I think he has lots in store.”

How long have you been riding this horse?

LaGoy-Weltz: “He came into my training program in December, so it’s been a little bit of a crash course. The changes were pretty green, and a bit inconsistent. And he’s not done so many away shows, and that kind of thing. We’re really still just developing a partnership, but he’s a wonderful guy.”

Competition continues Friday at 8 a.m. CT in the Markel Arena with the FEI Six-Year-Old Preliminary test of the Markel/USEF Young Horse Six-Year-Old Dressage National Championship, while the Grand Prix Arena starts at 8:30 a.m. CT with the FEI Pony Rider Team Test of the USEF Pony Rider Dressage National Championship.

Watch the U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions live stream this week on USEF Network.

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