Petra Warlimont (Evergreen, Colo.) and Deambulo PWD (Don Martillo x Franka), her own 2019 Hanoverian gelding, clinched the championship in the 5-Year-Old division with both their tests scoring in the 80s. Warlimont said that “Dewey” can be a bit timid, but his FOC experience was beneficial.

Photo – Petra Warlimont and Deambulo PWD. (©Leslie Potter/US Equestrian)

“Through the whole week, he just kept getting better and braver,” she said. “His first test was really good, but he was a little bit more timid. Today he came in and he was just ready to go. I made a mistake, but he was perfect.”

Warlimont has owned Dewey since he was a 3-year-old, thanks to her business partner in Germany who connected the two.

Couldn’t Resist

“Every time I was in Germany, my partner Hannes Baumgart put me on him to try him out,” she said, adding that she was hesitant about taking on the cost of a horse of her own, but ultimately she couldn’t resist. “His canter is phenomenal. I’d never felt anything like it.

“In a way, I feel more responsible for his brain and his future,” she said. “When you ride horses for other people, of course you do the same thing for those horses, but you don’t know how long they’ll be with you. Dewey is not such a brave soul, and he needs me so much in my life. I feel this whole week was about him gaining confidence, and I feel he did a lot in this last test.”

Warlimont was also the winner of a saddle from N2 Saddlery, the Official Saddle of the U.S. Dressage Team. She was one of the top three placing combinations from the young and developing horse classes who was entered in a raffle to win an N2 Saddle at this year’s FOC.

Madeleine Bendfeldt (GER) and her own and Cody Raub’s Zapatero (Zoom x Hauptstutbuch Fleur), a 2019 Hanoverian gelding, earned scores above 8.0 from the judges for their second test, with an impressive 8.4 for submission and 8.5 for perspective to move them into first place for the final test and reserve champion overall.

Playtime

“On Thursday [for the preliminary test], I totally underestimated how much of a difference it is,” she said in reference to the cool temperatures at Lamplight earlier in the week. “I train in South Florida, where it’s between 90 and 100 degrees every day. And then we showed at 8:10 in the morning, and ‘Zoom’ was cold, and we had a lot of what the judges called ‘playtime.’ I tried to still have a good experience for him in the test. But today we warmed up a bit longer, and it’s warmer today, and he was just himself. The horse I’m training at home, I had him today, but not on Thursday. And he was so phenomenal that he made it up from Thursday, and we became [reserve champion]. I’m very, very proud.”

Like Warlimont, Bendfeldt is the owner/trainer of her horse, which changes the dynamic a bit.

“I knew him since he was a foal,” she said. “I sat on him once when he was 3, and it was like coming home. It took a whole village to get him here, and every day I’m so proud that I’m his trainer. Zoom is a little bit shy and very careful. He’s so loving. There’s not a bad bone in this horse. He just always wants to please you; he wants to do it right. I’m over the moon happy.”

Willy Arts (Hanford, Calif.) and Serupgaards Cézanne (Torveslettens Sylvester x Serupgards Sangria), a 2019 Danish Warmblood gelding owned by Linda Nickerson. Arts has had the horse for his entire career after importing him to the U.S. from Germany as a 3-year-old.

“He’s a very fun horse. He has a good work ethic. He’s focused, and I think very talented in many ways for the higher levels,” said Arts. “Today our ride could have been more consistent, but other than that, he’s been pretty good. It’s all part of the development of the horse.”

Competition Information:

The 2024 FOC takes place Aug. 19-25, at HITS Chicago Lamplight Equestrian Center in Wayne, Ill. Competition takes place in two arenas and will be broadcast on USEF Network. Bookmark the FOC event page on USEF.org for the latest coverage of this year’s show.

Ring Schedule | Orders of Go and Results

2024 Festival of Champions Livestream

The U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions will be streamed live on USEF Network. US Equestrian members, subscribers, and fans can watch all classes live. Not a member? Sign up for a free fan account now!