The debut year of the Adequan®/USEF Intermediaire I Para Dressage National Championship concluded on Wednesday with the FEI Para Intermediate Freestyle Test. The freestyles contributed 15% to the overall score, along with 40% from Monday’s Test A and 45% from Tuesday’s Test B, to determine national championship placings. The final overall results were less than a point apart, making for an exciting finish for the new division.

Photo – Divino and Sienna Busking. (©Leslie Potter/US Equestrian)

After their win in the Test B and solid scores in the Test A and Freestyle, Divino (De Niro x Hauptstutbusch Welle), a 2000 Hanoverian gelding owned by Roberta Clark and ridden by Sienna Busking (Owasso, Okla.), secured the overall championship title. Busking, who trains with Clark, has been riding “D” for just over a year.

Shared Experience

“One of the highlights of this week was getting to show with other para riders, because I don’t have that in Oklahoma,” said Busking. “It was fun to get to compete with a bunch of people that I’m neck and neck with.”

In D’s younger days, he helped his owner Clark earn her USDF gold medal. He was briefly retired, but the quiet life didn’t suit him, and a return to the arena as a para dressage horse turned out to be a good fit for his golden years.

“He loves having a job,” said Busking. “He’s forward and still super energetic and full of life. Being a pasture pony was not what he wanted to do. He lives outside, and he’s honestly a pretty healthy, easy 25-year-old.”

Busking and D performed an energetic freestyle to songs from the Austin Powers soundtrack that suited the bright chestnut gelding.

“We had an Austin Powers themed freestyle,” said Busking. “I wanted something that would be fun and upbeat.”

First Timers

The reserve national champion title went to Carrera GH (Contucci x MS Mocha RH), a 2005 Hanoverian mare owned by Tami Glover and ridden by Victoria Yu (Coatesville, Pa.) Yu is new to para dressage and started riding Carrera last fall. The big atmosphere at Lamplight didn’t phase the FOC first-timers.

“She was a pro. I think I was more nervous than she was, and I wasn’t sure how she’d handle it,” said Yu. “She’s never done anything like this before. This was her time doing more than a weekend away at a show and being in a stall all week. She lives outside 24/7, so that’s a huge difference for her, and she handled it like a pro.”

Carrera and Yu performed their freestyle to iconic, empowering pop songs including Fight Song and Girl on Fire.

“My freestyle was choreographed by Nicole Sweeney,” said Yu. “I wanted to do a girl power song, and I did Fight Song because it’s kind of been my battle since I had my stroke and trying to get my power back to being independent and getting the horses back. It rang true to me a little bit.”

Development

Winning second in the freestyle and third overall was Baltico BRH (Kabul BRH x Tibetana), a 2018 PRE (Pura Raza Española) gelding ridden and owned by Elizabeth Welch (Summerville, S.C.). Welch has been developing “Bee” since he came to the U.S. from Spain.

“I purchased him as a 3-year-old stallion,” she said. “I imported him in the fall of 2022, and that’s when I started riding him. He is a very responsible young horse. He just turned 7, but he’s got a very good brain, and he’s been great with everything we do with him.”

The pair’s freestyle was set to cinematic music including pieces from the Moana soundtrack.

“This was really my first time doing a freestyle,” said Welch. “That’s a new experience for me. It was fun. I thought the music suited him.”

For these athletes, the Intermediaire I Para Dressage section is a welcome addition to Festival of Champions and the Adequan®/USEF Para Dressage National Championships.

Opportunity

“I knew Para Nationals existed, but when I realized this was the first year that they were offering Intermediaire I, that was great, especially for me,” said Welch. “I’m not new to riding, but I’m new to dressage, and I also have a very young horse who is new to dressage, and so we certainly weren’t ready for the Grade V Grand Prix test. It was a good goal and a good opportunity to be able to come and do a bigger show. If you’re not ready for the next level, for whatever reason, it still gives you a big goal to work towards.”

Busking agrees and sees this as an important bridge to the higher levels.

“It gives another level to work toward, and to get to show alongside people who have competed in the Paralympics—getting to learn and watch them ride,” she said. “And that’s my ultimate goal. But this made it a little more accessible versus doing my first big show at Grand Prix.”

“It’s a great steppingstone,” said Yu. “This was my first year actually competing in para dressage and not just competing with able-bodied riders. So it’s the goal of being able to compete with other paras and on a level playing field, and to get here and compete alongside Olympic riders or people that have gone all the way, which is my ultimate goal as well.”

Schedule and Results

2025 U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions Live Stream

The 2025 U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions is streaming live on USEF Network, brought to you by Adequan^®. US Equestrian fans, subscribers, and members can access the live stream, and subscribers and members will be able to watch replays on demand. Learn more here.

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