Mackenzie Peer (Overland Park, Kan.) capped off a successful week by winning the USEF Dressage Seat Medal Final 14-18 gold medal with Quantum MRF, Nicole Helland’s 10-year-old Hanoverian stallion. The combination, who won the USEF Junior Dressage Reserve National Championship on Saturday, finished with a score of 90.000%.

Photo – Mackenzie Peer and Quantum MRF (SusanJStickle.com)

“To go from being reserve champion and then end as champion, it just feels like the icing on the top,” reflected Peer. “He tried so hard, and it was a long week for us, but he continued to give me his all at the end. It was really unbelievable. I can’t thank him enough, my coach David Wightman, and [Quantum MRF’s] owner, Nicki. It’s been a team [effort], and I’m really grateful.”

Erin Nichols (Yorba Linda, Calif.) and Jagger DG, DG Bar Ranch’s five-year-old KWPN gelding, earned the bronze medal with a score of 88.000%, while Averi Allen (Pleasant Hill, Mo.) and Superman, Jonni Allen’s six-year-old Hanoverian gelding, followed with a 86.000% for the bronze medal.

Complete Results

On the importance of this class:
Peer: “This is an important class. This is a sport where it’s a partnership, and … this is a class that shows can you actually ride your horse. I want to become a trainer, so to continue in this sport, I think that showing how well you can ride and that you can keep your horse listening to you is a good thing for people to see and for you to know if you’re on the right track with what you’re doing.”

On what they have been working on with their equitation:
Allen: “I have been working on equitation every day. I’m making sure my shoulders are back and my head up … This past week we’ve been working on keeping my hands down and staying relaxed.”

Nichols: “I’ve been doing a lot of equitation. I also do show jumping. Most of what we’ve been working on is keeping my leg long and my toes in, and then moving my hands with the horse.”

Relive the 2019 U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions on USA Dressage Facebook where you can find winning rides and daily photo galleries. Watch on demand content from the U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions on USEF Network with promo code FESTIVAL19.