<p dir="ltr">You've seen the number: a rider halts at the end of a test, salutes, and something like 74 percent goes up on the board. But why that number? How does everything you just watched get distilled into a single percentage, and why does one test score so much higher than the next?</p>
<p dir="ltr">In <a href="https://www.usequestrianopen.org/stories/piaffe-passage-and-pirouette-a-beginners-guide-to-grand-prix-dressage-movements" target="_blank" rel="noopener">part one</a>, we covered the movements you see in the arena. This one covers how the judges turn those into a score.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">The Mark Out of Ten</h2>
<p dir="ltr">Every movement on the test sheet is scored from 0 to 10, and half-points are allowed. Ten is excellent, eight is good, six is satisfactory, on down to zero for a movement not performed at all. Several judges sit at different points around the arena and score the same movement from their own angle, which is why a horse can pull a 7 from one judge and an 8 from another on the same piaffe. Those marks get averaged into one number at the end of the test.</p>
<p dir="ltr">A 6 may look like a bad grade, but it isn't. On a report card it would be a D, but in dressage it is a satisfactory mark, and a common one. Most marks land between 6 and 8, and to win you want to at least be in the 7s. Anything 8 and up signals real quality, and a <a href="https://www.usequestrianopen.org/stories/isabell-werth-sets-new-us-equestrian-open-of-dressage-record-in-wellington" target="_blank" rel="noopener">9 is a rare sight</a>.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Why Some Movements Count Double</h2>
<p dir="ltr">Not every movement counts the same. The most important ones carry a coefficient, which doubles their points on the score sheet. These are the movements that define the level, and at Grand Prix they tend to be the hardest ones too: the piaffe, the pirouettes and the one-tempi changes are all doubled. It is why a horse that struggles in the piaffe pays extra for it, and why a bobble in the one-tempis stings more than it looks.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">The Collective Marks</h2>
<p dir="ltr">Alongside the movement scores, tests have long ended with collective marks: the judge's big-picture verdict on the whole ride rather than any single movement, covering the horse's gaits, its impulsion, its submission, and the rider. These are also scored out of 10. You will still see the full set of these at a national US show. At the international Grand Prix level, though, the FEI has pared them down. It cut the marks for gaits, impulsion and submission in 2018 and kept a single overall mark, now called Harmony, for the partnership and the training behind it. It still carries a coefficient, so it counts for more than any one movement.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Turning Marks Into a Percentage</h2>
<p dir="ltr">Add up every mark, apply the coefficients, and you have a point total. Divide that by the most the horse could have scored if every mark were a 10, multiply by 100, and you have that judge's percentage. Average the judges and you have the number on the board.&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">Those numbers are also thresholds. A horse needs at least 60 percent in the Grand Prix just to advance to the Freestyle, and for the US Equestrian Open, 67 percent in a qualifying Freestyle to be eligible for the Final in the first place.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">What Makes the Freestyle Different</h2>
<p dir="ltr">The Grand Prix Freestyle uses the same marks out of ten, but splits the result in two: technical and artistic. If that sounds familiar, it is the same idea as figure skating, one score for how well you execute the elements, another for the performance. The technical half works just like the standard dressage test. The horse still has to show a required list of movements, the same piaffe, passage, pirouettes, tempi changes and half passes from part one, each judged on quality. The artistic half is where the Freestyle differentiates itself. Here, judges score the choreography, the rhythm, the music, the harmony of the partnership, and the degree of difficulty. That last one is what it sounds like, how hard a program the rider builds, and like diving, a harder routine can score higher, but only if the horse delivers. Those marks each carry a coefficient of four, which is the reason Freestyle scores tend to run higher than the same horse's Grand Prix scores. But the artistry is still tethered to how well the horse actually goes. A great soundtrack cannot rescue a shaky ride. Technical excellence still drives the score.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Put the two parts of <a href="https://www.usequestrianopen.org/stories/piaffe-passage-and-pirouette-a-beginners-guide-to-grand-prix-dressage-movements" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this series</a> together and you can follow a Grand Prix from the first halt to the final score. Next time a rider finishes, salutes, and the percentage flashes up on <a href="https://www.usef.org/network" target="_blank" rel="noopener">USEF Network</a>, you will know exactly where it came from.</p>
<p><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></p>

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The Aachen Five: A Deep Dive

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<div style="font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.16em; text-transform: uppercase; color: #6b7280; margin-bottom: 10px; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This Week</div>

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<div style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: 800; line-height: 1.3; color: #001c54; margin-bottom: 4px; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Five Chosen for Aachen</div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; color: #6b7280; line-height: 1.4; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The USA names its World Championships five, including the Series pacesetter.</div>
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<div style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: 800; line-height: 1.3; color: #001c54; margin-bottom: 4px; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Spruce is Done, Falsterbo Next</div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; color: #6b7280; line-height: 1.4; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Alrajhi wins at Spruce, and World No. 1 Farrington heads to Sweden.</div>
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<div style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: 800; line-height: 1.3; color: #001c54; margin-bottom: 4px; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">US Riders Compete Abroad</div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; color: #6b7280; line-height: 1.4; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Holzer shines at Hartpury and a young US team lands a Nations Cup podium.</div>
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<div style="font-size: 24px; font-weight: 800; color: #001c54; line-height: 1.15; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Five Chosen for Aachen</div>
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<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 16px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The United States has named five combinations for the FEI World Championships in Aachen this August.</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 16px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 28, 84);">First up is </span><strong style="font-weight: 600; color: #001c54;">Tamie Smith</strong> &amp; <strong style="font-weight: 600; color: #001c54;">Lillet 3</strong><strong><span style="color: rgb(0, 28, 84);">, </span></strong><span style="color: rgb(0, 28, 84);">who</span> lead the US Equestrian Open Eventing Series. The pair won the Carolina CCI4*-S in March, the highest-rated performance of the 2026 Series, then won the Cosequin Lexington CCI4*-S at Kentucky in April. Aachen will be the ten-year-old's first big stage.</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 16px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Three squad members arrive with serious five-star form.&nbsp;<strong>Will Coleman</strong> &amp; <strong>Diabolo</strong> won the Kentucky CCI5* in April, with <strong>Caroline Pamukcu</strong> &amp; <strong>HSH Blake</strong> second at the same event, a gelding whose CV already includes the Paris Olympics. <strong>Boyd Martin</strong> &amp; <strong>Cooley Nutcracker</strong> were third at Pau CCI5* in October. That horse also competed at Paris, under Liz Halliday, who produced him up to the highest level.</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 16px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><strong style="font-weight: 600; color: #001c54;">Phillip Dutton</strong> &amp; <strong style="font-weight: 600; color: #001c54;">Possante</strong> complete the five. Aachen will be Dutton's eighth World Championship, on top of seven Olympic Games, the deepest championship record of any active US eventer. His last ride under the Australian flag came at Aachen in 2006. Twenty years on, he returns to the same arena in US colours.</p>

<div style="margin-top: 20px;"><a style="display: block;" href="https://www.usequestrianopen.org/categories/eventing" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> <img style="display: block; max-width: 100%; height: auto;" src="https://usef-admin.fly.dev/assets/254e09dd-d92e-4194-986b-baf0dbd8460b" alt="Read more eventing" width="100%"> </a></div>

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<div style="font-size: 24px; font-weight: 800; color: #001c54; line-height: 1.15; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Spruce is Done, Falsterbo Next</div>
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<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 16px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><strong style="font-weight: 600; color: #001c54;">Abdulrahman Alrajhi</strong> &amp; <strong style="font-weight: 600; color: #001c54;">Ventago</strong> won the ATCO Queen Elizabeth II Cup, the CSI5* 1.60m Grand Prix at the Spruce Meadows North American in Calgary. The Saudi pair were the only combination in a 40-strong field to jump two clear rounds.&nbsp;</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 16px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><strong style="font-weight: 600; color: #001c54;">Lillie Keenan</strong> &amp; <strong style="font-weight: 600; color: #001c54;">Kick On</strong> led the Americans in a tie for fifth, with just one pole in the first round.&nbsp;<strong style="font-weight: 600; color: #001c54;">Hallie Grimes</strong> &amp; <strong style="font-weight: 600; color: #001c54;">Jon Snow</strong> followed in seventh on five faults, and <strong style="font-weight: 600; color: #001c54;">McLain Ward</strong> &amp; <strong style="font-weight: 600; color: #001c54;">Lestro VD Valckenborg</strong> rounded out the US contingent inside the top ten.</p>

<div style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; color: #001c54; margin: 24px 0 10px 0; padding-bottom: 6px; border-bottom: 1px solid #eef0f5; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This Weekend: Falsterbo</div>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 16px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Attention turns to Sweden, where <strong style="font-weight: 600; color: #001c54;">Kent Farrington, </strong>World No. 1 and the champion of $1 million Rolex US Equestrian Open Grand Prix at Wellington in March,&nbsp;headlines the Falsterbo Horse Show.&nbsp;</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 16px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The field behind him is deep. World no. 2 <strong style="font-weight: 600; color: #001c54;">Richard Vogel</strong>, third to Farrington at Wellington, is entered, along with <strong style="font-weight: 600; color: #001c54;">Ben Maher</strong>, <strong style="font-weight: 600; color: #001c54;">Shane Sweetnam</strong>, and <strong style="font-weight: 600; color: #001c54;">Steve Guerdat</strong>, to name a few.</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 16px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Falsterbo is one of seven Rolex Series events, and there is a Championship subtext. Course designer <strong style="font-weight: 600; color: #001c54;">Frank Rothenberger</strong> builds both here and at the FEI World Championships in Aachen next month, giving riders a run on grass weeks before the sport's biggest test of the year. The Agria Falsterbo Nations Cup runs Friday, the Falsterbo Derby Saturday, and the Rolex Grand Prix closes the international programme on Sunday.</p>

<div style="margin-top: 20px;"><a style="display: block;" href="https://www.usequestrianopen.org/categories/jumping" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> <img style="display: block; max-width: 100%; height: auto;" src="https://usef-admin.fly.dev/assets/eeee484b-ef16-4e10-9de3-6d72b0a7f0c7" alt="Read more jumping" width="100%"> </a></div>

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<div style="font-size: 24px; font-weight: 800; color: #001c54; line-height: 1.15; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">US Riders Compete Abroad</div>
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<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 16px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">With the Series paused for the summer, several of its top riders took their form to Europe this weekend.</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 16px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Series leader <strong style="font-weight: 600; color: #001c54;">Ashley Holzer</strong> put together the standout campaign at Hartpury International in England. Aboard <strong style="font-weight: 600; color: #001c54;">Hawtins San Floriana</strong>, she was third in the CDI3* Grand Prix on 71.957 percent, a combination best, behind Britain's Sadie Smith (72.652) and Charlotte Dujardin (74.804). She went one better in the Grand Prix Special, taking second on 72.574 percent, another combination best, with only Dujardin ahead. Holzer is spending the summer training at Carl Hester's yard as she chases a place on the US squad for the World Championships.</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 16px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In Germany, a young US team finished third at the FEI Dressage Nations Cup CDIO4*, part of the Covalliero Dressage Days at Hof Kasselmann. <strong style="font-weight: 600; color: #001c54;">Christian Simonson</strong> &amp; <strong style="font-weight: 600; color: #001c54;">Fleau de Baian</strong> opened with a combination best of 70.478 percent on their European team debut, while <strong style="font-weight: 600; color: #001c54;">Jordan LaPlaca</strong> &amp; <strong style="font-weight: 600; color: #001c54;">Gold Play</strong> produced the day's best American score, a personal best of 70.631 percent. <strong style="font-weight: 600; color: #001c54;">Meagan Davis</strong> &amp; <strong style="font-weight: 600; color: #001c54;">Toronto Lightfoot</strong> added 68.656 percent, and <strong style="font-weight: 600; color: #001c54;">Ge&ntilde;ay Vaughn</strong> anchored on 69.848 percent aboard <strong style="font-weight: 600; color: #001c54;">Gino</strong>.</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 16px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Simonson returned to take third in the CDIO4* Freestyle on 76.570 percent, LaPlaca posted another personal best for fourth in the Special on 71.745 percent, and Vaughn was fifth in the Special on 71.383 percent.</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 16px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"We came here with a young team with minimal experience in international competition in Europe up to this point, and for them to step right into a Nations Cup and finish in third means we are moving in the right direction," said Chef d'Equipe <strong style="font-weight: 600; color: #001c54;">Christine Traurig</strong>.</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 16px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Vaughn sits fifth in the Series standings and Simonson tenth, both currently inside the eighteen who will contest the Final. Qualifiers resume at Dressage at Devon in late September.</p>

<div style="margin-top: 20px;"><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></div>

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Will Coleman & Diabolo winning Kentucky on the Open Weekly Graphic

The Open Weekly: Team Announcements and US Combinations Around the World

The Series Leader Is Heading to Aachen

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<div style="font-size: 9px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.14em; text-transform: uppercase; color: #6b7280; margin-bottom: 5px; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Series Standing</div>
<div style="font-size: 26px; font-weight: 800; color: #83b1d6; line-height: 1.1; margin-bottom: 4px; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">3rd</div>
<div style="font-size: 11px; color: #6b7280; line-height: 1.35; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">US Equestrian Open of Dressage</div>
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<td style="padding: 14px; border-bottom: 1px solid #dde1ea; background: #ffffff; vertical-align: top;" width="50%">
<div style="font-size: 9px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.14em; text-transform: uppercase; color: #6b7280; margin-bottom: 5px; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Best Freestyle</div>
<div style="font-size: 26px; font-weight: 800; color: #001c54; line-height: 1.1; margin-bottom: 4px; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">74.365%</div>
<div style="font-size: 11px; color: #6b7280; line-height: 1.35; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Season high, TerraNova Dressage 1</div>
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<td style="padding: 14px; border-right: 1px solid #dde1ea; background: #f7f8fc; vertical-align: top;" width="50%">
<div style="font-size: 9px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.14em; text-transform: uppercase; color: #6b7280; margin-bottom: 5px; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Best Qualifier Placing</div>
<div style="font-size: 26px; font-weight: 800; color: #001c54; line-height: 1.1; margin-bottom: 4px; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1st</div>
<div style="font-size: 11px; color: #6b7280; line-height: 1.35; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">WEC Ocala, March</div>
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<td style="padding: 14px; background: #f7f8fc; vertical-align: top;" width="50%">
<div style="font-size: 9px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.14em; text-transform: uppercase; color: #6b7280; margin-bottom: 5px; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Qualifiers Completed</div>
<div style="font-size: 26px; font-weight: 800; color: #001c54; line-height: 1.1; margin-bottom: 4px; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">5</div>
<div style="font-size: 11px; color: #6b7280; line-height: 1.35; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Series starts this season</div>
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<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 16px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><strong style="font-weight: 600; color: #001c54;">Claire Darnell</strong> sits third in the Series with a horse she almost leased away. Last season ended with injuries for both her and <strong style="font-weight: 600; color: #001c54;">Harold S</strong>, and by January she was weighing whether to keep the ride at all. It's a good thing she kept it because they went on to win their first Grand Prix and first freestyle at the level. She tells the whole story on the podcast: the decision, the music, and the partnership behind it.</p>

<h2 style="font-size: 21px; font-weight: 800; color: #001c54; margin: 34px 0 12px 0; padding-bottom: 8px; border-bottom: 1px solid #dde1ea; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The horse she almost let go</h2>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 16px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The doubt came to a head on an ordinary hack around the property.</p>
<blockquote style="margin: 28px 0; padding: 24px 20px 20px 24px; border-left: 4px solid #83b1d6; background: #f7f8fc; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<p style="font-size: 18px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.4; color: #001c54; margin: 0 0 14px 0;">&ldquo;I distinctly remember thinking about the potential of leasing him. And I thought about not riding that horse every day. It made me really sad.&rdquo;</p>
<cite style="font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.18em; text-transform: uppercase; color: #83b1d6; font-style: normal; display: block;">Claire Darnell on whether to keep the ride</cite></blockquote>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 16px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">That settled it. She entered the CDI at WEC Ocala. Her home coach, <strong style="font-weight: 600; color: #001c54;">David Marcus</strong>, assumed she meant the national show and could not work out why she would haul four hours north when Wellington was full of options. Then she told him it was the CDI. He told her it was a very good idea, and that she would go and do well.</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 16px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">She had not shown Harold at CDI level since 2023. This year they won their first CDI Grand Prix and their first CDI freestyle. She kept a shoe from that show.</p>
<blockquote style="margin: 28px 0; padding: 24px 20px 20px 24px; border-left: 4px solid #83b1d6; background: #f7f8fc; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<p style="font-size: 18px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.4; color: #001c54; margin: 0 0 14px 0;">&ldquo;I saved one of his shoes as something I see all the time. It's a reminder that we can go out there and do hard things.&rdquo;</p>
<cite style="font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.18em; text-transform: uppercase; color: #83b1d6; font-style: normal; display: block;">Claire Darnell on her first CDI wins</cite></blockquote>

<h2 style="font-size: 21px; font-weight: 800; color: #001c54; margin: 34px 0 12px 0; padding-bottom: 8px; border-bottom: 1px solid #dde1ea; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The music</h2>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 16px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Darnell writes her own freestyles, and builds them for other riders too. Harold's floor plan has stayed mostly the same, with tweaks to push the difficulty. She turned a straight piaffe into a piaffe pirouette because it scored better and raised the degree of difficulty. The plan is hard on paper and easy in the saddle.</p>
<blockquote style="margin: 28px 0; padding: 24px 20px 20px 24px; border-left: 4px solid #83b1d6; background: #f7f8fc; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<p style="font-size: 18px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.4; color: #001c54; margin: 0 0 14px 0;">&ldquo;It feels so easy to go out there and ride that floor plan, and the difficulty is very, very high on it.&rdquo;</p>
<cite style="font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.18em; text-transform: uppercase; color: #83b1d6; font-style: normal; display: block;">Claire Darnell on Harold's freestyle</cite></blockquote>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 16px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The music has moved around more. She started on an EDM mix, took it to her first CDIs in the desert, and it did not score the way she wanted. With two weeks to replace it, she landed on the Hunger Games soundtrack. It opens with a line lifted straight from the film: Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor.</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 16px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">That set is on its way out. Watching the World Cup, she saw how hard the crowd leaned into freestyles set to music they knew. So the summer project is an 80s mix.</p>
<blockquote style="margin: 28px 0; padding: 28px 24px; background: #f7f8fc; border-top: 3px solid #83b1d6; border-bottom: 3px solid #83b1d6; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;">
<p style="font-size: 19px; font-weight: 800; line-height: 1.4; color: #001c54; margin: 0 0 14px 0;">&ldquo;It'll be a little bit more of a party freestyle next time we go out. What a cool feeling to be riding your last center line and people are singing and clapping.&rdquo;</p>
<cite style="font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.18em; text-transform: uppercase; color: #83b1d6; font-style: normal; display: block;">Claire Darnell on this fall's freestyle</cite></blockquote>

<h2 style="font-size: 21px; font-weight: 800; color: #001c54; margin: 34px 0 12px 0; padding-bottom: 8px; border-bottom: 1px solid #dde1ea; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A partnership built from scratch</h2>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 16px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Darnell has had Harold since 2016. She had just retired her previous Grand Prix horse and flew to Europe to find the next one. The made horses all had something she did not like. She wanted one she could build herself. Harold was the second-to-last stop.</p>
<blockquote style="margin: 28px 0; padding: 24px 20px 20px 24px; border-left: 4px solid #83b1d6; background: #f7f8fc; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<p style="font-size: 18px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.4; color: #001c54; margin: 0 0 14px 0;">&ldquo;We saw him just trotting around the ring with the warm-up rider, and we were like, okay, this is the one.&rdquo;</p>
<cite style="font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.18em; text-transform: uppercase; color: #83b1d6; font-style: normal; display: block;">Claire Darnell on finding Harold</cite></blockquote>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 16px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">He was a four-year-old stallion, quiet in a way he has never lost. She has taken him all the way to Grand Prix herself, and says building a horse up from scratch means you know everything about them from top to bottom.</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 16px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The quiet does not make him dull. Harold likes the award ceremonies. He stands still for the handshakes, then lights up and prances once the music starts and the crowd claps. At home he patrols the property, checks on the neighbor's cows, and snorts at the garbage cans.</p>
<blockquote style="margin: 28px 0; padding: 24px 20px 20px 24px; border-left: 4px solid #83b1d6; background: #f7f8fc; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<p style="font-size: 18px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.4; color: #001c54; margin: 0 0 14px 0;">&ldquo;He's like the HOA president. He has to go check everything out, make sure everybody's doing the right thing.&rdquo;</p>
<cite style="font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.18em; text-transform: uppercase; color: #83b1d6; font-style: normal; display: block;">Claire Darnell on Harold at home</cite></blockquote>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 16px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">He is not spooky. He has herded sheep, gone on mountain trail rides, and still hacks out bareback in a halter.</p>

<h2 style="font-size: 21px; font-weight: 800; color: #001c54; margin: 34px 0 12px 0; padding-bottom: 8px; border-bottom: 1px solid #dde1ea; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Roots, and a run at the Final</h2>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 16px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Darnell was riding before she could walk. First pony at two, a dressage-judge mother, and a childhood spent bringing young horses along. Bronze medal at 13, silver at 16. Almost every horse she has competed she or her mother produced.</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 16px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">She is based in Wellington now. The Series Final runs in November at Desert International Horse Park, where Harold contested his first Grand Prix CDI back in 2022. If they make it, it would be their first five-star.</p>
<blockquote style="margin: 28px 0; padding: 24px 20px 20px 24px; border-left: 4px solid #83b1d6; background: #f7f8fc; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<p style="font-size: 18px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.4; color: #001c54; margin: 0 0 14px 0;">&ldquo;It would be a very full circle moment if we are able to make it back there.&rdquo;</p>
<cite style="font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.18em; text-transform: uppercase; color: #83b1d6; font-style: normal; display: block;">Claire Darnell on the Final</cite></blockquote>

<div style="background: #001c54; border-radius: 2px; padding: 24px; margin: 32px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
<div style="font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.16em; text-transform: uppercase; color: #83b1d6; margin-bottom: 10px;">US Equestrian Open Podcast</div>
<p style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.6; color: #ffffff; margin: 0 0 16px 0; font-weight: bold;">Hear the full conversation with Claire Darnell.</p>
<a style="display: inline-block; background: #c8102e; color: #ffffff; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.1em; text-transform: uppercase; padding: 10px 22px; text-decoration: none; border-radius: 2px;" href="https://podfollow.com/the-us-equestrian-open-podcast/episode/9d0bca7b89e2b9a8f19af7c9427c7d645abb2ae1/view" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Listen Now &rarr;</a></div>

<div style="margin-top: 20px;"><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></div>

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