<p dir="ltr">$250,000 is a big headline number for prize money in the US Equestrian Open of Dressage, but that cash isn't all waiting at the finish line. Rather than tying the entire purse to a single weekend in November, the series divides its prize money into a $200,000 Championship Final purse and a $50,000 Series Leaderboard Bonus.</p>
<p dir="ltr">This setup changes how riders approach the whole season. Traditional championships operate on an all-or-nothing model. If your horse has a rough test at the Final, or you just can&rsquo;t make the cross-country haul to Thermal, a dominant regular season yields zero financial return. By establishing a dedicated $50,000 regular-season pool, the series rewards consistent high-level performance, giving riders a reason to enter qualifiers across the country regardless of their November travel plans.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">How Points Accumulate</h2>
<p dir="ltr">The series spans 24 qualifying Grand Prix Freestyles across the United States. To keep horses fresh while still encouraging active competition, a combination&rsquo;s standing only counts their top 4 qualifier placings. Points are also weighted by class size, so beating a larger field earns a bigger bump on the leaderboard:</p>
<p><strong><img src="https://usef-admin.fly.dev/assets/8d1e23a5-9a92-490c-a741-e39b205a7498.png?width=1080&amp;height=1080" alt="2026 Scoring"><br></strong></p>
<h2 dir="ltr">The $50,000 Leaderboard Breakdown</h2>
<p dir="ltr">What makes the series leaderboard worth watching is how deep it actually pays out. Writing checks all the way down to 18th place gives mid-tier and developing Grand Prix pairs something tangible to shoot for all season. A top-five series finish pockets anywhere from $4,000 to $12,500 before ever stepping foot in California, while placings down through 18th still help take the sting out of expensive FEI entries.</p>
<p><strong><img src="https://usef-admin.fly.dev/assets/9aa5e868-e885-451e-a954-0d428a176046.png?width=1774&amp;height=1400" alt="Series Payout"><br></strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">Want to dive deeper into the series rules, venue locations, or current standings?&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong><a style="display: block;" href="https://www.usequestrianopen.org/categories/dressage" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img style="display: block; max-width: 100%; height: auto;" src="https://usef-admin.fly.dev/assets/df3afaab-1f25-4fab-a1dc-c46c608169fb" alt="Read more dressage" width="100%"></a></strong></p>
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How to Earn a Piece of the US Equestrian Open’s $250k Without Winning the Final

1. Jumping

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Wellington CSI5* Grand Prix

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<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><strong style="color: #001c54; font-weight: bold;">Wolfert</strong> &amp; <strong style="color: #001c54; font-weight: bold;">SSH Playboy</strong> took The Event at Rebecca Farm on July 15, a first run in 15 months after a broken fetlock. Wolfert had spent the week laughing off suggestions she would win it. She won it. That result has stood as the last word on the Series for six weeks.</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Series picks up again at The Fork at Tryon, the 16th Qualifier and the first of five before the Final at Morven Park in October. Entries are still coming in but there are currently 22 names on the list. Wolfert is one of them, and on current form she will be up there on the Prediction Centre.</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Which puts a record in front of her that no combination in this Series has managed to achieve. Win at Tryon and she becomes the first horse and rider to take two Qualifiers back to back.</p>
<div style="font-size: 18px; font-weight: 800; color: #001c54; margin: 28px 0 12px 0; padding-bottom: 6px; border-bottom: 1px solid #eef0f5; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Winning once is the norm. Winning twice is not.</div>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Of the 30 horse and rider combinations who have won a Qualifier, 26 have won exactly one and have not won another. Four have won more than once. One has won three times. No combination has won two in succession.</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Part of that is the shape of the Series. Twenty Qualifiers spread across two coasts and nine months, with horses running to five-star targets and championship calendars. A winner at Stable View in April is realistically not entered at Twin Rivers a week later. But the pattern holds even where the geography lines up.</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The bigger reason is that horses do not run internationally at the rate the Qualifiers arrive. A four-star run takes something out of a horse. Riders space them by design, filling the weeks between with a national event, a schooling run, or nothing at all. Through spring the Qualifier calendar goes off every week or two. A four-star string does not.</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The repeat winners show the spacing plainly. <strong style="color: #001c54; font-weight: bold;">Dyri</strong> took his two wins five Qualifiers apart, across a winter. <strong style="color: #001c54; font-weight: bold;">Lillet 3</strong> left six Qualifiers between hers. <strong style="color: #001c54; font-weight: bold;">HSH Double Sixteen</strong> needed 14 Qualifiers to get from a first win to a second. Those are not horses being held back. That is a normal four-star programme, and a normal four-star programme does not produce two wins in a fortnight.</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><img src="https://usef-admin.fly.dev/assets/bd6d7c3e-4ed7-4266-b990-026bef4b0aba.jpg?width=4539&amp;height=3026" alt="Use F3127"></p>
<div style="font-size: 18px; font-weight: 800; color: #001c54; margin: 28px 0 4px 0; padding-bottom: 6px; border-bottom: 1px solid #eef0f5; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="display: inline-block; background: #001c54; color: #ffffff; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 9px; border-radius: 2px; margin-right: 10px; letter-spacing: 0.05em;">01</span>Caroline Pamukcu &amp; HSH Double Sixteen</div>
<div style="font-size: 11px; color: #6b7280; letter-spacing: 0.08em; text-transform: uppercase; margin-bottom: 14px; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 600;">3 Qualifier wins &nbsp;&middot;&nbsp; Bouckaert 2025, Stable View 2025, Fair Hill 2026 &nbsp;&middot;&nbsp; only combination with three</div>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><strong style="color: #001c54; font-weight: bold;">Caroline Pamukcu</strong> &amp; <strong style="color: #001c54; font-weight: bold;">HSH Double Sixteen</strong> are the only combination to win three Qualifiers. Bouckaert International in March 2025, Stable View in September 2025, Fair Hill in April 2026. Two of these were won by finishing on their dressage score, and they added only 4.4 time penalties cross-country in the third.</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Fourteen Qualifiers ran between the first win and the second. Nine ran between the second and the third. Three wins took 14 months and the best part of two Series to accumulate. That is what repeat winning has looked like at the top end.</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><img src="https://usef-admin.fly.dev/assets/beea11f0-9843-43cb-b25a-6aa8c6b21384.jpg?width=4751&amp;height=3692" alt="Iw 26 K3 De CC I4 Xc James Alliston Hmr Rolan 1"></p>
<div style="font-size: 18px; font-weight: 800; color: #001c54; margin: 28px 0 4px 0; padding-bottom: 6px; border-bottom: 1px solid #eef0f5; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="display: inline-block; background: #001c54; color: #ffffff; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 9px; border-radius: 2px; margin-right: 10px; letter-spacing: 0.05em;">02</span>James Alliston &amp; HMR Rolan</div>
<div style="font-size: 11px; color: #6b7280; letter-spacing: 0.08em; text-transform: uppercase; margin-bottom: 14px; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 600;">2 Qualifier wins &nbsp;&middot;&nbsp; 14 days apart &nbsp;&middot;&nbsp; closest anyone has come</div>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><strong style="color: #001c54; font-weight: bold;">James Alliston</strong> &amp; <strong style="color: #001c54; font-weight: bold;">HMR Rolan</strong> came closer than anyone. They won Twin Rivers Fall on September 19, 2025, then Woodside on October 3. Fourteen days, two wins, and a single Qualifier between them.</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">That Qualifier was Stable View Oktoberfest on September 26, three thousand miles east, and it went to Pamukcu. The West Coast run of Twin Rivers into Woodside is the one stretch of the calendar built to make a double possible, and even there the sequence broke.</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><img src="https://usef-admin.fly.dev/assets/37cf274e-a7c7-4166-bb0f-4a4ba64f06f6.jpg?width=null&amp;height=null" alt="Aw K3 De 1 2"></p>
<div style="font-size: 18px; font-weight: 800; color: #001c54; margin: 28px 0 4px 0; padding-bottom: 6px; border-bottom: 1px solid #eef0f5; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="display: inline-block; background: #001c54; color: #ffffff; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 9px; border-radius: 2px; margin-right: 10px; letter-spacing: 0.05em;">03</span>Tamie Smith &amp; Lillet 3</div>
<div style="font-size: 11px; color: #6b7280; letter-spacing: 0.08em; text-transform: uppercase; margin-bottom: 14px; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 600;">2 Qualifier wins &nbsp;&middot;&nbsp; Carolina 2026, Cosequin Lexington Kentucky 2026 &nbsp;&middot;&nbsp; the only 2026 repeat</div>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><strong style="color: #001c54; font-weight: bold;">Tamie Smith</strong> &amp; <strong style="color: #001c54; font-weight: bold;">Lillet 3</strong> are the only combination to win twice inside the 2026 calendar year. Carolina International on March 19 off a 29.7, then Cosequin Lexington Kentucky on April 22 off a 31.3. The Carolina performance rated at HPR 99, the second strongest single Qualifier performance in the Series behind <strong style="color: #001c54; font-weight: bold;">Phillip Dutton</strong> &amp; <strong style="color: #001c54; font-weight: bold;">Possante</strong> at Plantation Field.</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Six Qualifiers ran between the two. The mare was ten years old for both, which makes this the youngest of the repeat winners and the one most likely to add a third.</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><img src="https://usef-admin.fly.dev/assets/b2fe6481-41cf-4a88-8820-547e5cb21a6f.jpg?width=4858&amp;height=3239" alt="Z63 6666 (2)"></p>
<div style="font-size: 18px; font-weight: 800; color: #001c54; margin: 28px 0 4px 0; padding-bottom: 6px; border-bottom: 1px solid #eef0f5; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="display: inline-block; background: #001c54; color: #ffffff; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; padding: 2px 9px; border-radius: 2px; margin-right: 10px; letter-spacing: 0.05em;">04</span>Lucienne Bellissimo &amp; Dyri</div>
<div style="font-size: 11px; color: #6b7280; letter-spacing: 0.08em; text-transform: uppercase; margin-bottom: 14px; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: 600;">2 Qualifier wins &nbsp;&middot;&nbsp; Bouckaert 2025, Stable View 2026 &nbsp;&middot;&nbsp; five months apart</div>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><strong style="color: #001c54; font-weight: bold;">Lucienne Bellissimo</strong> &amp; <strong style="color: #001c54; font-weight: bold;">Dyri</strong> won Bouckaert International in October 2025 and Stable View Spring in April 2026, five Qualifiers apart across the winter break. The Stable View win came on a 27.7 finish, the second lowest winning score of the 2026 Qualifiers.</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Dyri is the only repeat winner to have won on both sides of a Series turn, which is a different kind of consistency to a fortnight double and arguably a harder one.</p>
<div style="font-size: 18px; font-weight: 800; color: #001c54; margin: 36px 0 12px 0; padding-bottom: 6px; border-bottom: 1px solid #eef0f5; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The rider can do it. The horse is the problem.</div>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Back to back Qualifier wins have happened. Just not with the same horse.</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><strong style="color: #001c54; font-weight: bold;">Tamie Smith</strong> won three consecutive Qualifiers in spring 2026 on three different horses. Ocala International Festival on April 16 with <strong style="color: #001c54; font-weight: bold;">Jump To Day D</strong>. Cosequin Lexington Kentucky on April 22 with <strong style="color: #001c54; font-weight: bold;">Lillet 3</strong>. Tryon International on May 6 with <strong style="color: #001c54; font-weight: bold;">Danito</strong>. Three weeks, three wins, three horses, and HPRs of 88, 96 and 98.</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Smith has five Qualifier wins in total, level with Pamukcu on five, and between them they account for ten of the 35. Depth of string is what makes a run like that possible. The rider turns up every week. The horse cannot.</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">That is the whole difficulty in one line. Two Qualifiers in a row asks one horse to hit a winning performance twice inside a few weeks, at four star, with travel in between and no drop in the standard of the field. Nobody has been asked that question and answered it yet.</p>
<div style="font-size: 18px; font-weight: 800; color: #001c54; margin: 36px 0 12px 0; padding-bottom: 6px; border-bottom: 1px solid #eef0f5; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">What Tryon offers</div>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The timing is what makes this record live. The median gap between Qualifiers in the running season is eight days. Between Rebecca Farm on July 15 and The Fork at Tryon on September 10 there are 57. Only the winter shutdown is longer.</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The travel is the part that would normally rule it out. Wolfert went from Kansas to Kalispell, Montana for Rebecca Farm, and got there on a grant from the event. Tryon is another haul, this time to North Carolina. It is not a route many programmes would run in a season, let alone back to back.</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The pairing itself is new. The Fork only moved into its September slot in 2023, and across the three editions since, not one starter had run Rebecca Farm that July. When The Fork sat in the spring the traffic went the other way. Five horses ran it in April and went on to Rebecca Farm in the summer, among them <strong style="color: #001c54; font-weight: bold;">Tamie Smith</strong> with <strong style="color: #001c54; font-weight: bold;">Solaguayre California</strong> and <strong style="color: #001c54; font-weight: bold;">Maya Black</strong> with <strong style="color: #001c54; font-weight: bold;">Miks Master C</strong>. Montana in July into North Carolina in September is the direction nobody has taken.</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">What she does have is the ground. In the ten years Tryon has hosted four-star eventing, only twenty horses have also run one at Rebecca Farm, and <strong style="color: #001c54; font-weight: bold;">SSH Playboy</strong> is one of them. He won the Tryon International Three Day Event in November 2022, then came back to the same venue for The Fork at Tryon in September 2023 and finished fourth. Rebecca Farm in July was his first ever start at the venue. Tryon is the place he knows.</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">That 2023 run is also the measure of the task. He finished on 47.4 at The Fork and it was good enough for fourth. The winning scores at the last three September editions were 38.3, 38.5 and 40.4. The 47.9 that won Rebecca Farm would not have won any of them.</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">So the door is open. The horse has had the break a four-star horse needs, the rider has already made a longer journey than this one, and the venue is one they have both won at. The score has to come down. Read the full story of the comeback that got them <a style="color: #c8102e; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.usequestrianopen.org/stories/back-and-winning-three-qualifier-victories-built-on-a-comeback">here</a>.</p>
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<p style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.65; color: #374172; margin: 0;">Catch the latest insights and expert interviews on the <a style="color: #c8102e; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none;" href="https://sites.libsyn.com/559710">US Equestrian Open Podcast</a>.</p>
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<div style="font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.18em; text-transform: uppercase; color: #83b1d6; margin-bottom: 10px; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Mission of the Open</div>
<p style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.7; color: rgba(255,255,255,0.85); margin: 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The mission of the US Equestrian Open is to grow and foster a deeper connection to equestrian sport by delivering a premier, unified championship series that engages a broader fanbase through top-level competition, storytelling, and a dynamic, entertaining experience.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>

No Combination Has Won Back-to-Back Qualifiers. Wolfert Will Go to Tryon With the Chance.

The Open Weekly: Five Qualifiers to Go, Fourth in Aachen, and the Freestyle Top Ten

<p dir="ltr">The smallest margin in the 2026 season wasn't a tenth of a point. It wasn't a hundredth either.</p>
<p dir="ltr">It was 0.005, the smallest non-zero gap the scoring system can produce at three decimal places. It came at AGDF 11, where Ali Potasky beat Devon Kane by five thousandths of a point for fourth. That essentially means they scored the same on every movement except one, where a single half point tipped it in Potasky's favor. <em>And that wasn't even for the win.</em></p>
<p dir="ltr">It also wasn't a fluke either. Seven of 23 qualifiers this season were won by under half a point, two of them by 0.080. Beyond just first and second, there are 19 separate instances of back-to-back riders finishing within 0.35 of each other. Those are some <em>tight</em> ribbons.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">How Close Was It Really?&nbsp;&nbsp;</h2>
<p dir="ltr">The season's 23 freestyle classes split into two camps with almost nothing between them. Nine were won by less than six tenths of a point, including the two 0.080 finishes at TerraNova and Del Mar. Ten more were won by over three points. Only four classes fell in between. The median, 2.220, sits right in the emptiest part of the range. Classes were either a photo finish or they weren't close at all.</p>
<div style="margin: 0 0 20px; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<h3 style="font-size: 20px; font-weight: 800; color: #001c54; margin-bottom: 4px;">2026 Winning Margins</h3>
<div style="font-size: 16px; color: #6b7280; margin-bottom: 18px;">9 of 23 classes decided by under a point</div>
<div style="position: relative; height: 74px;">
<div style="position: absolute; left: 0%; top: 0; bottom: 18px; width: 10%; background: #e6f1fb; border-radius: 6px 0 0 6px;">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 0.5%; top: 4px; font-size: 14px; color: #0c447c; font-weight: bold;">under 0.60</div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 37%; top: 0; bottom: 18px; width: 1px; background: #6b7280;">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 38%; top: 4px; font-size: 14px; color: #6b7280; white-space: nowrap;">median 2.220</div>
<div style="position: absolute; bottom: 18px; left: 0; right: 0; height: 1px; background: #dde1ea;">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 0.8%; bottom: 13px; width: 16px; height: 16px; border-radius: 50%; background: #A32D2D; border: 2px solid #ffffff; box-shadow: 0 0 0 1px #A32D2D;">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 1.8%; bottom: 13px; width: 16px; height: 16px; border-radius: 50%; background: #A32D2D; border: 2px solid #ffffff; box-shadow: 0 0 0 1px #A32D2D;">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 3.5%; bottom: 14px; width: 13px; height: 13px; border-radius: 50%; background: #378ADD;">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 3.9%; bottom: 14px; width: 13px; height: 13px; border-radius: 50%; background: #378ADD;">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 4.2%; bottom: 14px; width: 13px; height: 13px; border-radius: 50%; background: #378ADD;">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 5.2%; bottom: 14px; width: 13px; height: 13px; border-radius: 50%; background: #378ADD;">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 5.2%; bottom: 14px; width: 13px; height: 13px; border-radius: 50%; background: #378ADD;">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 8.7%; bottom: 14px; width: 13px; height: 13px; border-radius: 50%; background: #378ADD;">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 9.7%; bottom: 14px; width: 13px; height: 13px; border-radius: 50%; background: #378ADD;">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 19.8%; bottom: 14px; width: 13px; height: 13px; border-radius: 50%; background: #6b7280;">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 28.7%; bottom: 14px; width: 13px; height: 13px; border-radius: 50%; background: #6b7280;">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 37%; bottom: 14px; width: 13px; height: 13px; border-radius: 50%; background: #6b7280;">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 44.2%; bottom: 14px; width: 13px; height: 13px; border-radius: 50%; background: #6b7280;">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 53.8%; bottom: 14px; width: 13px; height: 13px; border-radius: 50%; background: #6b7280;">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 55.9%; bottom: 14px; width: 13px; height: 13px; border-radius: 50%; background: #6b7280;">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 56.8%; bottom: 14px; width: 13px; height: 13px; border-radius: 50%; background: #6b7280;">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 60.2%; bottom: 14px; width: 13px; height: 13px; border-radius: 50%; background: #6b7280;">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 62.1%; bottom: 14px; width: 13px; height: 13px; border-radius: 50%; background: #6b7280;">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 65.4%; bottom: 14px; width: 13px; height: 13px; border-radius: 50%; background: #6b7280;">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 65.6%; bottom: 14px; width: 13px; height: 13px; border-radius: 50%; background: #6b7280;">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 83.8%; bottom: 14px; width: 13px; height: 13px; border-radius: 50%; background: #6b7280;">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 88.5%; bottom: 14px; width: 13px; height: 13px; border-radius: 50%; background: #6b7280;">&nbsp;</div>
<div style="position: absolute; left: 94.3%; bottom: 14px; width: 13px; height: 13px; border-radius: 50%; background: #6b7280;">&nbsp;</div>
</div>
<div style="display: flex; justify-content: space-between; font-size: 12px; color: #9a9a9a; margin-top: 2px;">0123456</div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; color: #6b7280; margin-top: 14px; line-height: 1.5;">Every dot is one competition. Its position left to right shows how much the winner won by.</div>
</div>
<p dir="ltr">That pattern goes beyond who wins each class. Across the season, 19 separate placings were decided by 0.35 or less between one rider and the one directly below. Since the leaderboard awards points by where you finish, those small gaps carry consequences. Under the field-size-based scoring system, the difference between third and fourth can be two or three points, and two or three points is exactly what separates a Final invite from missing it.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Take Pablo Gomez Molina. He sits 20th right now, just outside the cutoff, on 27 points. Susan Dutta and Kristina Harrison-Antell are tied for 18th on 29. Gomez Molina needs two points to tie them and expand the field, or three to pass them both and take a spot outright. Nineteen times this season, that two-or-three-point swing on the leaderboard came down to less than a third of a point in the actual score.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The two smallest winning margins of the season were both 0.080: Jackson over Schwartsman at Del Mar, and Kane over Camille Carier Bergeron at TerraNova. Opposite corners of the country, but same nailbiting finish. The venue data doesn't show a strong pattern for where tight margins happen. But one of the two remaining qualifiers is TerraNova, and TerraNova has already produced one of these finishes once this season&hellip; We'll leave you to do the guessing on this one.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">The Trouble with Winning Margins</h2>
<p dir="ltr">Looking only at the winning margin tells you how tight the top of a class was, but it doesn't tell you how competitive the class actually was. Take two shows, both at World Equestrian Center Ocala, five weeks apart.</p>
<p dir="ltr">At WEC January, Charlotte Osborne won on 70.775, with Claire Darnell at 70.560, a margin of only 0.215. Third place that day was nearly four points back. In a lot of ways, it was a two-horse race.</p>
<p dir="ltr">At WEC March, Darnell won on 74.315, nearly four points clear of second. But behind her, Leonardo Godoy and Osborne finished second and third separated by a mere 0.050, four times tighter than the finish that made January look close.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Both classes had only three horses. Both had two riders neck and neck while the other was off on their own. The only difference is whether that fight happened for first or for third. That&rsquo;s why winning margins can only take you so far in class competitiveness. For that, you have to look at where the rest of the field clusters. It&rsquo;s a fascinating puzzle of its own, but one to save for another article.</p>
<div style="border: 1px solid #dde1ea; border-top: 3px solid #83b1d6; border-radius: 0 0 2px 2px; padding: 18px; background: #f7f8fc; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<div style="font-size: 20px; font-weight: 800; color: #001c54; margin-bottom: 14px;">WEC's Close Calls</div>
<div style="font-size: 16px; color: #6b7280; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong>WEC January</strong></div>
<table style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 8px 0; margin-bottom: 4px;" border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="background: #ffffff; border: 1px solid #85b7eb; border-radius: 8px; padding: 14px 8px; text-align: center;" width="33%">
<div style="font-size: 13px; color: #0c447c; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1st</div>
<div style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; color: #0c447c; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 3px 0;">Osborne</div>
<div style="font-size: 13px; color: #0c447c; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">70.775</div>
</td>
<td style="background: #ffffff; border: 1px solid #85b7eb; border-radius: 8px; padding: 14px 8px; text-align: center;" width="33%">
<div style="font-size: 13px; color: #0c447c; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2nd</div>
<div style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; color: #0c447c; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 3px 0;">Darnell</div>
<div style="font-size: 13px; color: #0c447c; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">70.560</div>
</td>
<td style="background: #ffffff; border-radius: 8px; padding: 14px 8px; text-align: center; opacity: 0.6;" width="33%">
<div style="font-size: 13px; color: #6b7280; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">3rd</div>
<div style="font-size: 15px; color: #6b7280; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 3px 0;">Gugler</div>
<div style="font-size: 13px; color: #6b7280; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">66.600</div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div style="text-align: center; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; color: #0c447c; margin-bottom: 20px; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">0.215 separated 1st and 2nd</div>
<div style="font-size: 16px; color: #6b7280; margin-bottom: 8px;"><strong>WEC March</strong></div>
<table style="border-collapse: separate; border-spacing: 8px 0; margin-bottom: 4px;" border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="background: #ffffff; border-radius: 8px; padding: 14px 8px; text-align: center; opacity: 0.6;" width="33%">
<div style="font-size: 13px; color: #6b7280; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1st</div>
<div style="font-size: 15px; color: #6b7280; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 3px 0;">Darnell</div>
<div style="font-size: 13px; color: #6b7280; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">74.315</div>
</td>
<td style="background: #ffffff; border: 1px solid #85b7eb; border-radius: 8px; padding: 14px 8px; text-align: center;" width="33%">
<div style="font-size: 13px; color: #0c447c; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">2nd</div>
<div style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; color: #0c447c; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 3px 0;">Godoy</div>
<div style="font-size: 13px; color: #0c447c; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">70.390</div>
</td>
<td style="background: #ffffff; border: 1px solid #85b7eb; border-radius: 8px; padding: 14px 8px; text-align: center;" width="33%">
<div style="font-size: 13px; color: #0c447c; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">3rd</div>
<div style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; color: #0c447c; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; margin: 3px 0;">Osborne</div>
<div style="font-size: 13px; color: #0c447c; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">70.340</div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div style="text-align: center; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; color: #0c447c; margin-bottom: 4px; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">0.050 separated 2nd and 3rd</div>
</div>
<h2 dir="ltr">Living on the Edge</h2>
<p dir="ltr">Three riders keep turning up in these margins. Devon Kane holds four of the season's 19 tightest gaps. Guess how many qualifiers she's ridden. Four. Every single one was a fight.</p>
<div style="margin: 0 0 20px; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<h3 style="font-size: 20px; font-weight: 800; color: #001c54; margin-bottom: 8px;">Devon Kane's Four Photo Finishes</h3>
<div style="border: 1px solid #dde1ea; border-radius: 2px; overflow: hidden;">
<table style="border-collapse: collapse;" border="0" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 8px 12px; background: #001c54; font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.1em; text-transform: uppercase; color: #ffffff;">Class</td>
<td style="padding: 8px 12px; background: #001c54; font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.1em; text-transform: uppercase; color: #ffffff;">Result</td>
<td style="padding: 8px 12px; background: #001c54; font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.1em; text-transform: uppercase; color: #ffffff;">Decided By</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 10px 12px; background: #ffffff; border-bottom: 1px solid #dde1ea; font-size: 13px; color: #1a1a2e; border-left: 3px solid #e24b4a;">AGDF 5</td>
<td style="padding: 10px 12px; background: #ffffff; border-bottom: 1px solid #dde1ea; font-size: 13px; color: #1a1a2e;">2nd of 4</td>
<td style="padding: 10px 12px; background: #ffffff; border-bottom: 1px solid #dde1ea; font-size: 13px; color: #1a1a2e;">Lost by <span style="color: #e24b4a; font-weight: bold;">0.255</span> to Gomez Molina</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 10px 12px; background: #f7f8fc; border-bottom: 1px solid #dde1ea; font-size: 13px; color: #1a1a2e; border-left: 3px solid #378ADD;">AGDF 7</td>
<td style="padding: 10px 12px; background: #f7f8fc; border-bottom: 1px solid #dde1ea; font-size: 13px; color: #1a1a2e;">8th of 11</td>
<td style="padding: 10px 12px; background: #f7f8fc; border-bottom: 1px solid #dde1ea; font-size: 13px; color: #1a1a2e;">Held off Ashker by <span style="color: #378add; font-weight: bold;">0.210</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 10px 12px; background: #ffffff; border-bottom: 1px solid #dde1ea; font-size: 13px; color: #1a1a2e; border-left: 3px solid #e24b4a;">AGDF 11</td>
<td style="padding: 10px 12px; background: #ffffff; border-bottom: 1px solid #dde1ea; font-size: 13px; color: #1a1a2e;">5th of 7</td>
<td style="padding: 10px 12px; background: #ffffff; border-bottom: 1px solid #dde1ea; font-size: 13px; color: #1a1a2e;">Behind Potasky by <span style="color: #e24b4a; font-weight: bold;">0.005</span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="padding: 10px 12px; background: #f7f8fc; font-size: 13px; color: #1a1a2e; border-left: 3px solid #378ADD;">TerraNova 1</td>
<td style="padding: 10px 12px; background: #f7f8fc; font-size: 13px; color: #1a1a2e;">1st of 6</td>
<td style="padding: 10px 12px; background: #f7f8fc; font-size: 13px; color: #1a1a2e;">Won by <span style="color: #378add; font-weight: bold;">0.080</span> over Carier Bergeron</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</div>
<p dir="ltr">Cyndi Jackson and Nadine Schwartsman met three times this season, always at Del Mar, always in a field of four. At the Del Mar Opener, Jackson took third, Schwartsman fourth, 0.150 behind. Three weeks later at the Del Mar Affaire, the same two finished first and second, with Jackson ahead again, this time separated by 0.080.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Then in May, it flipped. At the Del Mar National, Schwartsman won on 73.675 and Jackson finished last of the four on 68.700, a swing of 4.975 points. The reversal had been building. Schwartsman and Royal Flash R improved at every start, 69.315 to 70.835 to 73.675, one of only three horses in the series with a clean upward trajectory. Those narrow losses were a horse climbing steadily through the level. Florisson moved up and down instead, and by the third meeting, the two trajectories had crossed. What had twice been a photo finish became a five-point gap. (Jackson did bounce back a month later at the Ginny Rattner Memorial, posting her season best of 72.160, though Schwartsman wasn't there to challenge her.)</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">One More Round at TerraNova</h2>
<p dir="ltr">Two events are left: Devon and TerraNova.</p>
<p dir="ltr">TerraNova has already produced a 0.080 finish and the widest non-AGDF spread of the season, 14.555. There's no telling which one shows up again. Nailbiter or runaway.</p>

Too Close? Inside the Tightest Scoring Margins of the Dressage Season

The United States Take Bronze at Aachen and Diabolo Finishes Fourth in the World

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How to Earn a Piece of the US Equestrian Open’s $250k Without Winning the Final

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How to Earn a Piece of the US Equestrian Open’s $250k Without Winning the Final

No Combination Has Won Back-to-Back Qualifiers. Wolfert Will Go to Tryon With the Chance.

The Open Weekly: Five Qualifiers to Go, Fourth in Aachen, and the Freestyle Top Ten

Too Close? Inside the Tightest Scoring Margins of the Dressage Season

The United States Take Bronze at Aachen and Diabolo Finishes Fourth in the World

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