Chris Sorensen
Chris Sorensen of Caledon, ON, welcomed the new year by winning the CSI 2* competition in Opglabbeek, BEL, on Jan. 9. Piloting Sara McCloskey’s nine-year-old Belgian Warmblood, Lo Visto Van’t Hulgenrode (Diarado x Colman), he topped the two-phase competition with back-to-back clear rounds, the second of which had a winning time of 31.80 seconds. British combination Elli Guy and Ard Cluedo also earned double clears, but their second-phase time of 35.25 seconds wasn’t enough to catch the Canadian.
Jill Irving
Photo Credit: Susan J. Stickle
Jill Irving of Moncton, NB, and Degas 12 (De Niro 6 x Regazzoni) set the tone for a dominant 2020 show season during the first week of the Adequan Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) in Wellington, FL. In their first international appearance since contributing to Canada’s team gold medal at the Lima 2019 Pan American Games in Peru, they secured first place in the CDI-W Grand Prix, dancing to a score of 70.391% on Jan. 9. The next day, Irving and the 18-year-old Hanoverian gelding she owns with Windhaven Farm returned for a repeat performance in the CDI-W Grand Prix Freestyle, recording a personal best score of 76.060% to once again earn the blue ribbon.
Ariana Chia
Photo Credit: Susan J. Stickle
Irving’s big tour success was mirrored in the small tour at AGDF 1 by Ariana Chia of Winnipeg, MB. She earned consecutive wins partnered with Fiderflame (Fidertanz x Abanos), the 10-year-old Oldenburg gelding she has developed up the levels since foalhood. They first topped the CDI 3* Prix St. Georges on Jan. 9 (71.470%), followed by the next day’s CDI 3* Intermediate I (69.500%).
Lee Garrod
Photo Credit: Susan J. Stickle
Additionally, AGDF 1 featured the first CPEDI 3* competition of the year. After a successful debut FEI season in 2019, Canadian Lee Garrod, who resides in Kensington, NH, resumed her winning ways with her 12-year-old Oldenburg gelding, Question (Quaterback x Le Figaro). The talented duo started their Grade V hat trick with 67.325% in the Team Competition on Jan. 9, followed by 69.087% in Jan. 10’s Individual Competition. Garrod and Question rounded out their three-peat in the Freestyle on Jan. 11 with 71.833%.
Garrod and Question returned to Wellington Stadium for AGDF 3. There, they collected consecutive wins in Jan. 24’s Grade V Individual Test and Jan. 25’s Grade V Freestyle, scoring 66.151% and 71.208%, respectively.
Diane Creech
Photo Credit: Susan J. Stickle
In the second week of the AGDF, Diane Creech of Caistor Centre, ON, and Robbie W (sired by Rubin Royal), the 17-year-old Oldenburg gelding she co-owns with Louise Leatherdale, won the Intermediate I on Jan. 18 with 67.677% at AGDF 2 in Wellington, FL.
Vanessa Creech-Terauds
Completing the mother-daughter domination at AGDF 2, Vanessa Creech-Terauds of Caistor Centre, ON, secured back-to-back wins in the CDI-U25 division riding Hallmark (His Highness x Lancier). She rode the 16-year-old Hanoverian co-owned by Creech and Leatherdale to 67.824% in the Intermediate II on Jan. 17, followed by 67.564% on Jan. 18 in the Grand Prix.
Beatrice Boucher
Photo Credit: Susan J. Stickle
The next week, it was Beatrice Boucher’s time to shine at AGDF 3. The Saint-Dominique, QC, native emerged as the Canadian to watch in the small tour with Louxor de Lys (Licotus x Weltmeyer), a nine-year-old Hanoverian gelding owned by Lynda Tétreault. Then won the Jan. 25 CDI 3* Intermediate I with 68.059%, and the Jan. 26 CDI 3* Intermediate Freestyle with 69.800%.
Camille Carier Bergeron
Camille Carier Bergeron of Mascouche, QC, saw success in the AGDF 3 CDI-Y division. She rode Sound of Silence 4 (San Amour I x Limes), Gilles Bergeron’s 12-year-old Westphalian gelding, on Jan. 25 to claim first in the CDI-Y Individual Test (71.226%).
Sheri Doornekamp
In the CDI-Am division at AGDF 3, Sheri Doornekamp of Odessa, ON, debuted a new FEI level mount, her 15-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding named Axel (Sandreo x Vincent). They scored 65.882% for third in the Prix St. Georges on Jan. 25 and returned the next day to win the Intermediate I with 68.431%.
Corine Smith
To conclude the AGDF 3 weekend, Corine Smith, a Canadian residing in Chuluota, FL, leapt onto the scene, making a splash in her first FEI appearance showing Anne Gribbons’ Oldenburg gelding, Amperio (Ampere x Rotspon). The pair posted impressive scores in the CDI-YH division for six-year-old horses, earning 77.800% in the Preliminary Test on Jan. 25 and 81.000% in the Final Test on Jan. 26.
Lauren Barwick
Photo Credit: Susan J. Stickle
Lauren Barwick, a resident of Reddick, FL, made two trips to the CPEDI 3* Grade III winner’s circle at AGDF 3 with Lee Garrod’s Sandrino – a feat made doubly impressive considering the Canadian Paralympian has only had the ride on the eight-year-old gelding since late November 2019. On Jan. 22, Barwick and Sandrino started strong with 69.461% for first in the Team Test. They were back on top Jan. 25 in the Freestyle with their highest score yet, 75.133%.
Tiffany Foster
Photo Credit: Starting Gate Communications
Canadian Olympian Tiffany Foster of North Vancouver, BC, scored victory in the $37,000 CSI 3* Capital Advisors 1.50m Classic held on Jan. 26. Foster closed out week three of the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, FL, by topping a 66-horse starting field riding Northern Light, a nine-year-old Swedish Warmblood mare (Plot Blue x Contender) that she owns in partnership with Artisan Farms LLC. The pair posted a jump-off time of 42.47 seconds over the course set by Great Britain’s Kelvin Bywater to hold off Catherine Tyree of the United States who stopped the timers in 42.56 seconds riding BEC Lorenzo.