Stacey Hastings and Fürst Aurum (Photo: John Borys Photography)

Adult amateur riders showing off their Third Level freestyles were first in the Alltech Arena early Sunday morning, but it was the final competitor down centerline who impressed the judges the most on the last day of national championship action at the US Dressage Finals presented by Adequan®, held November 5-8, 2015 at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY.

After finishing a close second in Saturday’s First Level Open Championship, Stacey Hastings of Mooresville, N.C. (Region 1) with hers and Ronald Woodcock’s five-year-old Oldenburg gelding Fürst Aurum (Fürst Romancier x Kapela by Rohdiamant), she returned to the ring determined to emerge the victor in today’s First Level Freestyle Open Championship. Despite an initial case of stage fright, the pair reached their goal with a winning score of 74.278%.

“At first my horse was pretty scared going in the ring today and I was a little concerned, but he pulled it together and we’re really proud of him. Hopefully we’ll be back again next year,” noted Hastings. Finishing in second with 73.556% was another youngster in the five-year-old Oldenburg mare Rae Sangria (Royal Prince x Ferrymore Lane by Fantastico, bred in the U.S. by Donna Mayne), ridden by Kristin Stein of Spencer, Ohio (qualified in Region 1). “We bred her ourselves so we’ve had her from the ground up,” said Stein. “We chose Lady GaGa music for her because it’s a little edgy. It’s our first time to the Finals and it’s been an absolutely wonderful experience.”

More information including final results, photo galleries, and news archives from the 2015 US Dressage Finals presented by Adequan® are available on the official event website www.usdressagefinals.com. Video on-demand from select championship performances is also available on the USEF Network at www.usefnetwork.com. A complete archive of each competition day’s results is listed at this direct link