<p dir="ltr">USEF has named seven riders to the shortlist for the <strong>2026 Dressage World Championships&nbsp;</strong>in Aachen later this year. Several of them have been among the dominant names in the <strong>US Equestrian Open Series</strong> all season long. Others show up with thin freestyle numbers &mdash; not because they haven&rsquo;t been competing, but because the path to Worlds runs through the Grand Prix Special, not the freestyle. To qualify for the USEF National Championships, which is mandatory for World Championship consideration, riders needed to accumulate scores at the Special level this year. That's why the leaderboard position varies so widely across this group. For several of these riders, it tells you which test they prioritized, not how they've been performing. To understand who's actually ready for Aachen, you have to look past the standings and into the scoresheets. Below, a closer look at all seven contenders, and the team I'd send.</p>
<p><iframe id="datawrapper-chart-zpJEY" style="width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;" title="USEF Shortlist: 2026 Dressage World Championships" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/zpJEY/1/" height="613" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" aria-label="Table" data-external="1"></iframe></p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Christian Simonson and Indian Rock (and Fleau de Baian)</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>Series: 10th | Series avg: 80.14% | Combination Best: 83.810%</strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">At only 23 years old, Simonson took over the ride on Indian Rock from Emmelie Scholtens last May and has been nearly impossible to beat since. In ten starts together, eight have been first place. The two &ldquo;blemishes&rdquo; on their record are both second-place finishes at the World Cup Final, which just happened to be Simonson's first senior championship. His Series average of 80.14% is not a number anyone else on this list is near. His 10th-place leaderboard position is a product of targeting Nationals and the World Cup Final over Series qualifiers, and nothing else.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The career data for this partnership only sharpens the picture. A Grand Prix average of 74.0%, a Special average of 74.3%, a freestyle average of 81.4%. They average a full four points clear of the next-best Grand Prix on this shortlist. Every Grand Prix Simonson has ridden with Indian Rock has cleared 70%. Every freestyle has cleared 75%. The sample is still modest, five Grand Prix, one Special, four freestyles, but it is not the size of the sample that stands out. It is the absence of a single result that wasn't competitive at international level.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Fleau de Baian, his second listed horse, has a smaller, but equally intriguing, data set: three Grand Prix starts, two Specials, one freestyle. This horse averages 70.6% in the Special and is the only other one on this list to hit that mark consistently. His single freestyle start was a modest 72.330% from a year ago when the partnership was brand new. If this pair is selected for the Championship, they&rsquo;ll certainly have a new floorplan designed specifically for their strengths.&nbsp;</p>
<hr>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Ashley Holzer and Hawtins San Floriana</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>Series: 1st | Series avg: 74.62% | Combination Best: 75.290%</strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">Holzer leads the Series at 51 points with four qualifiers completed. A three-time Olympian who has competed at the top level since the 1980s, she is doing it this season with a relatively new partner &mdash; Hawtins San Floriana has been her mount since April 2024. The freestyle is their strongest test, and the Series has been good to them: a personal best came in their second outing of the season, and recent form (74.62% on the year) is running above their career average of 73.7%. The next step for them is the one separating competitive championship scores from the rest &mdash; consistently breaking 75% in the freestyle. They have not done it yet, but the trajectory has them within reach.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The risk in this combination is everything that happens before the freestyle. Across thirteen Grand Prix starts, only one has cleared 70%. The Special record is similarly shaky: a 68.9% career average and zero starts above 70%. In a Championship format, the Grand Prix gates the rest of the weekend. The freestyle is the case for this pair; the Grand Prix is the question the selectors will need answered before the freestyle has a chance to shine.&nbsp;</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Ge&ntilde;ay Vaughn and Gino</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>Series: 5th | Series avg: 76.05% | Combination Best: 76.415%</strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">Vaughn has three Series freestyle starts this season &mdash; 75.790, 75.955, 76.415 &mdash; and has won two of them, podiuming in all three. The variance across those scores is negligible, making her one of the most consistent riders on the shortlist. Her FEI freestyle average across all starts together is 74.4%, meaning current form is running roughly two points above it. She debuted a new freestyle floorplan at the 2025 Series Final, and the scores since then suggest the increased difficulty is executing.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The more interesting story for this pair is in their non-freestyle data. Across a meaningful sample &mdash; twenty Grand Prix starts, nine Specials, eleven freestyles &mdash; all three tests are trending sharply up. Gino's Grand Prix average has moved from 68.0% career to 70.5% in recent months, a jump of +2.5 points. His Special average has moved from 67.6% to 71.8%, a jump of +4.2 points. That is no rounding error. His scores used to swing &mdash; a career low of 62.7 in the Grand Prix and scores drifting into the mid-60s on a bad day. That's the Gino in the rearview. The Gino of the last six months is consistently in the low 70s across all three tests. The direction of the data is unmistakable.</p>
<p dir="ltr">&nbsp;</p>
<hr>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Anna Marek and Fayvel</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>Series: 32nd | Series avg: 76.44% | Combination Best: 78.995%</strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">Marek won the Series leaderboard race last season and went on to finish third at the Final on 77.830%. Her one freestyle start in 2026 &mdash; 76.435% at AGDF 3 in January &mdash; puts her 32nd on the leaderboard. That number tells you nothing useful about where she stands in the World&rsquo;s conversation. Like several riders on this list, she's been competing in the Special, logging the scores required for Nationals qualification and the World Championships pathway.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">What the career data tells you is that Fayvel is a freestyle horse. She averages 76.5% across twelve freestyles, hits 75% in five of every six starts, and has a personal best at 78.995%. On this shortlist, only Indian Rock has a better freestyle profile. Her recent form is running fractionally above her career average &mdash; not a horse on the rise, but a horse that's never really come off it. The Grand Prix and Special are a different conversation: career averages in the high 60s and low 70s put her in the middle of the pack, and the Special has softened slightly in recent months. None of that changes the horse&rsquo;s last-day potential. But like Hawtins San Floriana, they must score well enough in the Grand Prix and Special to make it to the dance.&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">&nbsp;</p>
<hr>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Meagan Davis and Toronto Lightfoot</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>Series: 22nd | Series avg: 73.03% | Combination Best: 73.685%</strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">Davis won her first Series start of 2026 at WEC Ocala in February, posting a personal best of 73.685% with Toronto Lightfoot. Her second start came in at 72.370%.&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">Toronto Lightfoot has the deepest record of any horse on this shortlist &mdash; fifteen Grand Prix, seven Specials, and five freestyles with Davis. That depth matters, because at a glance the headline numbers don't make an obvious case for her selection. Career averages of 67.0% in the Grand Prix, 68.6% in the Special, and 72.2% in the freestyle put this pair last or near-last on the list in every test. The argument for her place here isn't where she's scoring. It's where she's heading. Across that 27-start sample, all three tests are trending up: the Grand Prix from 67.0% to 68.6% in the last six months, the Special from 68.6% to 69.3%, the freestyle from 72.2% to 73.0%. With a sample that big, those aren't statistical noise. The career Grand Prix floor of 60% &mdash; the kind of result that doesn't show up in the recent half of the scoresheet &mdash; is the history this pair&rsquo;s recent climb is pulling away from. Davis flagged earlier this year that the focus was on continued improvement with Europe in mind. The data is showing it.</p>
<p><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">&nbsp;</p>
<hr>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Jordan LaPlaca and Gold Play</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>Series: 40th | Series avg: 72.25% | Combination Best: 72.250%</strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">LaPlaca and Gold Play have a longer history together than their Series record suggests. The pair logged seven Small Tour starts in 2023, then disappeared from the FEI scoresheet for over two years. They returned this year at Big Tour, stepping up to CDI3* and CDI4*, and have ten starts so far. Their Series debut came at WEC Ocala this February, where Gold Play posted 72.250% in the Grand Prix Freestyle. That is the only freestyle on record for this pair.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The case for selection is the Special. Across four Specials this season, Gold Play has gone 68.3, 70.4, 69.9, and 71.0 &mdash; half above the 70% line, with the most recent the highest of the four. The career average of 69.9% is the third-strongest Special profile on the shortlist, and unlike most pairs on this list, Gold Play gains ground on day two. Every weekend this season, his Special score has come in higher than his Grand Prix score by an average of two and a half points. That is the metric the selectors seem to be weighting.&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">&nbsp;</p>
<hr>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Kasey Perry-Glass and Heartbeat W.P.</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>Series: Not entered in 2026 | 2025 Series avg: 76.10% | Combination Best: 76.290%</strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">Perry-Glass and Heartbeat W.P. are the metronome of this shortlist. Across thirty-one FEI starts, what jumps out isn't a single big number &mdash; it's how rarely their Grand Prix and freestyle scores move from the average. Their career freestyle average is 75.1%, with four of every five starts above 75%. Grand Prix career average sits at 69.4%, and the spread between her best and worst result in any test is the tightest on the list. Heartbeat W.P. does not surprise on the upside, but he does not betray on the downside either.&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">In 2026, their Grand Prix scores have actually lifted. Her recent Grand Prix average has climbed past 70% for the first time, a one-point gain that matters more for this pair than it would for a more volatile one. When a metronome speeds up, it stays sped up. A pair who delivers 75% in the freestyle and an honest 70% in the Grand Prix every time out is exactly the kind of selection a championship roster wants.</p>
<p dir="ltr">&nbsp;</p>
<hr>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Who would I pick?</h2>
<p dir="ltr">I don't envy USEF's team selectors. This is a strong group of American riders and each has a compelling upside. But what fun is data analysis if I don't pick a side? Below is the team I'd send to the Dressage World Championships.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr" role="presentation">1. Christian Simonson &amp; Indian Rock.</h3>
<p>Look, if the US wants to bring home a medal, Simonson and Indian Rock are their best shot. They're consistent. They're flashy. They deliver. And they've already proven they can handle a big stage &mdash; second place at the World Cup Final tells you they can ride under pressure. Not picking this pair is like throwing a slant pass on the 1-yard line instead of handing it to Marshawn Lynch with the Super Bowl on the line. IYKYK.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr" role="presentation">2. Ge&ntilde;ay Vaughn &amp; Gino</h3>
<p>In the last six months, Gino has been scoring more than four points above his career average in the sport's most technical test &mdash; the Special. That kind of technical accuracy bodes well for the freestyle, where strong execution doesn't just carry over but compounds when the artistic scores are added on top of it. He's trending above his average in the other two tests as well. Two more months to sharpen, solidify, and shine. I have no doubt this pair can do it.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr" role="presentation">3. Kasey Perry-Glass &amp; Heartbeat W.P.</h3>
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Picking the third anchor for this team was not easy. Remember, only the best three Grand Prix scores count toward the team medal, so this slot is about reliability. What gave Heartbeat the edge over Fayvel is direction: in the last six months, Heartbeat's Grand Prix is trending up and Fayvel's is trending down. If I'm a selector trying to get a medal around the American team's neck, I'm looking for the most reliable Grand Prix combinations on the list. That is literally Heartbeat. He has the lowest Grand Prix variance of any combination on the shortlist and the third-highest hit rate above 70% &mdash; one in every three tests, he clears it.&nbsp;</p>
<h3 dir="ltr" role="presentation">4. Anna Marek &amp; Fayvel</h3>
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">Not to worry, Fayvel fans &mdash; he still makes the cut. For the last slot, I wanted a pair with real upside but whose off-day wouldn't sink the team. (Remember: the worst of the four Grand Prix scores gets dropped.) That's Marek and Fayvel. Their recent Grand Prix slide is a little worrying, but it&rsquo;s only by about half a point. The upside outweighs it. They score above 70% in the Grand Prix more than two out of every five starts. That&rsquo;s not an inconsequential metric when the rest of the shortlist (outside of Indian Rock) is at 33% or below. And if they make it through to day three, this pair has the second-highest freestyle average on the list. They've been knocking on the door of 80% for a while.</p>
<h3 dir="ltr" role="presentation"><em>Honorable Mention:</em> Jordan LaPlaca &amp; Gold Play</h3>
<p dir="ltr" role="presentation">The one horse who could push Fayvel off this list is Gold Play, depending on his performance over the next few months. He has one of the best Special averages on the shortlist and the second-best lift from Grand Prix to Special &mdash; gaining 2.5 points on average between the two tests, which makes him a real day-two contender. The problem is the day before. His Grand Prix average is just too low right now to be reliable for the team event.</p>

Indian Rock and Christian Simonson celebrating at the World Cup Finals

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<p data-start="0" data-end="113">For <strong>Isabelle Bosley &amp; Conner, </strong>the rise has been building for a while. Now, it is becoming impossible to ignore.</p>
<p data-start="115" data-end="292">The nine-year-old gelding closed out 2025 with a win at Maryland CCI3*-L, producing the highest-rated performance at the level on US soil all season. That result was no one-off. Across the year, the pair recorded three international wins, one runner-up finish, and clear showjumping rounds at every FEI start - establishing <strong>Conner </strong>as one of the standout young horses in the country.</p>
<p data-start="115" data-end="292"><img src="https://usef-admin.fly.dev/assets/e1d1626d-517c-48be-a305-04a8f5b2c198.png?width=1580&amp;height=1712" alt="Yl6 Oh Top 10 Cci3 L Hprs on Us Soil in 2025 "></p>
<p data-start="500" data-end="765">This spring, they stepped into four-star company, most recently adding a sixth-place finish at Kentucky CCI4*-S to an already impressive resume. Off the back of another major performance, <strong>Conner </strong>now sits fifth among US nine-year-olds on EquiRatings Elo.</p>
<p data-start="767" data-end="851" data-is-last-node="" data-is-only-node="">But the real story behind<strong> Conner &amp; Isabelle </strong>is not just the results, it is how they got there.</p>
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<h2 data-section-id="15vcrml" data-start="819" data-end="849">&nbsp;</h2>
<h2 data-section-id="15vcrml" data-start="819" data-end="849">Produced From the Beginning</h2>
<p data-start="851" data-end="1008">Having&nbsp;been brought up in a deeply horsey family, Isabelle was immersed in the sport from the beginning. Her parents are both racehorse trainers, and much of her early riding came through foxhunting, galloping racehorses, and spending her childhood around barns. Producing horses herself was never really a question, it was simply the way she learned the sport.</p>
<p data-start="362" data-end="558" data-is-last-node="" data-is-only-node="">And that's how <strong>Conner</strong> entered the picture. Isabelle bought him at the end of his five-year-old season, before he had done much of anything in the sport, and everything since then has been built together.</p>
<blockquote data-start="1010" data-end="1330">
<p data-start="1012" data-end="1185"><em>&ldquo;When I got him, he had not done anything. So we&rsquo;ve had him from the very beginning stages, first cross-country school, first horse show. So it&rsquo;s been a very long process. I know him really well. And he really trusts me."</em></p>
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<p data-start="0" data-end="395" data-is-last-node="" data-is-only-node=""><strong>Conner</strong> feels like the first true top-level horse Isabelle has had underneath her. Before him, she had only taken one other horse to the four-star level - something she described as&nbsp;<em>&ldquo;almost like taking a pony around Advanced.&rdquo; </em></p>
<p data-start="0" data-end="395" data-is-last-node="" data-is-only-node="">But even now, despite the results and growing attention around the partnership, she still talks about <strong>Conner</strong> like the young horse she first brought home as a five-year-old.</p>
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<p data-start="767" data-end="851" data-is-last-node="" data-is-only-node=""><img src="https://usef-admin.fly.dev/assets/1f544f75-0a3f-4f71-a89d-10f7e0cf36de.jpg?width=5312&amp;height=3908" alt="Iw 26 K3 De CC I4 Xc Isabelle Bosley Conner"><em style="font-size: 90%; color: #999999;">Isabelle &amp; Conner out cross-country at the Cosequin Lexington CCI4*-S</em></p>
<h2 data-section-id="6tvhvy" data-start="1654" data-end="1677">&nbsp;</h2>
<h2 data-section-id="6tvhvy" data-start="1654" data-end="1677">Maryland to Kentucky</h2>
<p data-start="1679" data-end="1736">Maryland CCI3*-L felt like the moment everything clicked. <strong>Conner's </strong>96 HPR placed him alongside some of the strongest three-star performances seen from young horses in the US over the last number of seasons.</p>
<p data-start="1922" data-end="1955">The next challenge was four-star.</p>
<p data-start="1957" data-end="2177">Stepping up this spring came with a learning curve. Isabelle admits there were moments where the pair had to rethink things, particularly around balance and control as&nbsp;<strong>Conner </strong>adjusted to bigger tracks and faster questions.</p>
<p data-start="2179" data-end="2262">Kentucky, though, looked like confirmation they were moving in the right direction.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><em>"The bigger the crowd, the better it is for me, especially on cross-country. It kind of lifts him up and gets him to take things in instead of just running. So it works in my favor and he loved it. I could feel him going around just like 'Oh my God, all these people are here for me.'"</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p data-start="2543" data-end="2744">While many young horses can shrink in major atmospheres, <strong>Conner </strong>seemed to grow into it. Isabelle described him calmly taking in the atmosphere during the warm-up and feeding off the crowd once out on course.&nbsp;The result was a polished top-10 finish at one of the biggest and most prestigious venues in the sport.</p>
<p data-start="2746" data-end="2828"><img src="https://usef-admin.fly.dev/assets/014e6964-ab34-43b2-b1f0-34fcc253c5c9.jpg?width=4625&amp;height=3316" alt="Iw 26 K3 De CC I4 Jump Isabelle Boseley Conner 3"><em style="font-size: 90%; color: #999999;">Isabelle &amp; Conner show jumping clear with 0.8 time penalties at the Cosequin Lexington CCI4*-S</em></p>
<h2 data-section-id="1e2gfcj" data-start="2835" data-end="2853">&nbsp;</h2>
<h2 data-section-id="1e2gfcj" data-start="2835" data-end="2853">Still Only Nine</h2>
<p data-start="2855" data-end="2947">What stands out most about Isabelle's approach is how patient she remains despite the success. <strong>Conner </strong>is producing elite-level performances already, but she still frames the season as part of a bigger development process rather than a finished product.</p>
<blockquote>
<p data-start="2855" data-end="2947"><em>"I just remind myself he's just a nine-year-old and he's still such a baby. Each event we're just learning something new and I do think every event we've gotten better and better."</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p data-start="3352" data-end="3465">That mindset may be one of the biggest reasons this partnership has progressed so quickly without feeling rushed.</p>
<p data-start="3467" data-end="3604">And while the results already place <strong>Conner </strong>among the most exciting young horses in the country, Isabelle's focus is firmly on the future. The current plan is to head to the US Equestrian Open Final at Morven Park. It is already a meaningful venue for Isabelle, having been the only four-star long she has successfully completed before. This time, though, she returns with a very different kind of horse underneath her.</p>
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Isabelle Bosley and Conner Are Rising Through the Ranks

<h2 dir="ltr">Dressage: Potasky bests Ashker at MADFest to claim CDI3* freestyle win</h2>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>Ali Potasky</strong> <strong>&amp; Inxs</strong> won Saturday's CDI3* Grand Prix Freestyle at the Mid-Atlantic Dressage Festival with a personal best of 72.425%, edging out<strong> Laine Ashker &amp; </strong><strong>Zeppelin </strong>by 0.315%.&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr">Potasky came into the weekend with the field's highest average but only two starts on record. Saturday's result adds a third data point, and her best one yet.&nbsp;</p>
<blockquote>
<p dir="ltr"><em>"I&rsquo;ve been working on the details&mdash;the connection, the frame, and the softness through the top line. Today I feel like I had moments where that was coming along more than it has in the past,"</em> she said of <strong>Inxs, </strong>who can carry tension in competition.&nbsp;</p>
</blockquote>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DYfgZs9gM_g/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&amp;igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://usef-admin.fly.dev/assets/6d88416e-5f37-48b8-be8f-68b2a8098839.png?width=700&amp;height=853" alt="Screenshot 2026 05 19 113032"></a></p>
<p dir="ltr">Ashker, meanwhile, was debuting a new freestyle with <strong>Zeppelin.</strong> She posted a strong 72.110% on a first outing with new music and has her eyes set on the Final in Thermal.&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>Miceala Mabraga&ntilde;a &amp; Belatrix RH</strong> finished third with 70.035%, also a personal best.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The top of the overall standings is unchanged after this weekend, but Potasky and Ashker both move into the low 20s. Although still outside the top-18 cutoff for the CDI5* Final, they are both now in range with only four qualifiers remaining this season.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><img src="https://usef-admin.fly.dev/assets/f1d326a8-8044-4186-8952-a26653416d9a.png?width=1098&amp;height=1110" alt="0t C X7 Leaderboard of the Us Equestrian Open of Dressage  (2)"></p>
<p dir="ltr">The next qualifier takes place at the Ginny Rattner Memorial Dressage in Oregon, Saturday, May 30.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="https://www.usequestrianopen.org/categories/dressage" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://usef-admin.fly.dev/assets/df3afaab-1f25-4fab-a1dc-c46c608169fb.png?width=1080&amp;height=171" alt="Read More Dressage"></a></p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Listen to this week's episode of the US Equestrian Open Podcast</h2>
<p><iframe style="border-image: initial; border: medium none currentcolor;" title="Embed Player" src="https://play.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/41360160/height/192/theme/modern/size/large/thumbnail/yes/custom-color/28427a/time-start/00:00:00/hide-playlist/yes/download/yes/font-color/ffffff" width="100%" height="192" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<hr>
<h2 dir="ltr">&nbsp;</h2>
<h2 dir="ltr"><strong><strong id="docs-internal-guid-c3f8300a-7fff-1f24-0f99-1ae7d7e449eb"></strong></strong><strong>Jumping: The world's best head to Aachen</strong></h2>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">It was a quieter weekend for US riders on the international circuit despite three five-stars running across Madrid, Windsor, and Hamburg. However, that is because the focus was already shifting elsewhere. Aachen is this week.</p>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">This year's CHIO arrives earlier than usual. Due to the FEI World Championships in Aachen in August, the organisers have moved the spring edition to May 22&ndash;24, christening it the "TSCHIO", a nod to the local Aachen dialect and the deep community bond the event carries.</p>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">The Rolex Grand Prix on Sunday is the second Major of the Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping, making <strong>Richard Vogel </strong>(winner of the Dutch Masters in March) a live Grand Slam contender this weekend.</p>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">This weekend also carries weight for the coming months as it shapes up to be a direct audition for the World Championships. This weekend's US contingent is as follows:</p>
<ul class="[li_&amp;]:mb-0 [li_&amp;]:mt-1 [li_&amp;]:gap-1 [&amp;:not(:last-child)_ul]:pb-1 [&amp;:not(:last-child)_ol]:pb-1 list-disc flex flex-col gap-1 pl-8 mb-3">
<li class="font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words pl-2"><strong>Kent Farrington: </strong>Greya, Descartes SR</li>
<li class="font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words pl-2"><strong>McLain Ward:</strong>&nbsp;High Star Hero, Lestro vd Valckenborg</li>
<li class="font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words pl-2"><strong>Laura Kraut: </strong>Bisquetta, Cinnamon, Una Mariposa</li>
<li class="font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words pl-2"><strong>Lillie Keenan: </strong>Anton, Fasther, Kick On</li>
<li class="font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words pl-2"><strong>Karl Cook: </strong>Caracole de la Roque, Candy, Foxy de la Roque</li>
<li class="font-claude-response-body whitespace-normal break-words pl-2"><strong>Aaron Vale:</strong>&nbsp;Carissimo 25, Gray's Inn, Helios du Moulin</li>
</ul>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">The World Championships are fast approaching. This week at Aachen is where the conversation about who goes starts to get serious.</p>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]"><a href="https://www.usequestrianopen.org/categories/jumping" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://usef-admin.fly.dev/assets/eeee484b-ef16-4e10-9de3-6d72b0a7f0c7.png?width=1080&amp;height=161" alt="Read More Jumping"></a></p>
<h2 class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">&nbsp;</h2>
<h2 class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]"><strong>Eventing: The Series takes a breath&nbsp;</strong></h2>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]"><strong>Next Qualifier:&nbsp;</strong>Aspen Farms (June 11th)&nbsp;<strong>| The Final:&nbsp;</strong>Morven Park 4*-L, Virginia (October 8th)</p>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">The Series is on a slight break as we wait for the next qualifier at Aspen Farms on June 11th.<strong> Tamie Smith</strong> leads the Series on 235, <strong>Will Coleman</strong> is second on 215, and&nbsp;<strong>Boyd Martin</strong> is third on 190. Check out the full leaderboard <a href="https://us.equestrian-hub.com/public/championship/eventing/2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here.</a></p>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">The break is a good moment to zoom out and celebrate 2026 so far. <strong>Tamie Smith</strong> currently leads the world in international wins in 2026 with eight. She is already two ahead of where <strong>Lara de Liedekerke-Meier</strong> stood at the same stage of her record-breaking 2025 campaign. Lara went on to set a new single-season record with 21 international wins, surpassing <strong>Piggy March&rsquo;s</strong> previous mark of 15. Out of those eight wins, four have come at the CCI4* level and it is only May.</p>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">We wrote it up in full this week. Read it <a href="https://www.usequestrianopen.org/stories/the-tamie-smith-season-so-far" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here.</a></p>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]"><a href="https://www.usequestrianopen.org/categories/eventing" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://usef-admin.fly.dev/assets/254e09dd-d92e-4194-986b-baf0dbd8460b.png?width=1080&amp;height=158" alt="Read More Eventing"></a></p>
<h2 data-path-to-node="4">&nbsp;</h2>
<h2 data-path-to-node="4"><strong data-path-to-node="4" data-index-in-node="0">Stay in the loop with The Open Weekly</strong></h2>
<p data-path-to-node="5">Thanks for joining us for this week's edition! Don't forget: a fresh update of&nbsp;<strong data-path-to-node="5" data-index-in-node="72"><a href="https://www.usequestrianopen.org/categories/the-open-weekly" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Open Weekly</a>&nbsp;</strong>drops on the site&nbsp;<strong data-path-to-node="5" data-index-in-node="124">every Tuesday.</strong></p>
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<h3><em><strong>The Mission of the Open&nbsp;</strong></em></h3>
<p><em>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.</em></p>

Ali Potasky & Inxs on the Open Weekly graphic

The Open Weekly: Potasky Wins at MADFest as All Eyes Turn to Aachen

<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">The Series leader <strong>Tamie Smith </strong>currently has the most international wins gloablly in 2026 with eight. The next closest is <strong>Julia Krajewski </strong>on six. Eight wins by the 18th of May is a number worth contextualising.</p>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]"><img src="https://usef-admin.fly.dev/assets/47bcddd2-25d8-4599-8417-9368e080019c.png?width=630&amp;height=391" alt="Screenshot 2026 05 18 172009">&nbsp;<br><br>Last year, <strong>Lara de Liedekerke-Meier </strong>set a new all-time record of 21 wins in a single season. It was one of the most extraordinary individual seasons the sport has seen. When you look back at where she was at this exact point in 2025? Six wins. Smith is already two ahead of that pace.</p>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]"><img src="https://usef-admin.fly.dev/assets/8f3377b8-c07e-4576-9dea-4bf35a52b8f9.png?width=634&amp;height=393" alt="Screenshot 2026 05 18 172357"></p>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">To be clear: matching 21 wins in a season would require an exceptional volume of runs across the rest of the year, and with a <em>potential </em>trip to Germany for the World Championships, where you arrive with just one horse, wouldn't help the tally. But the trajectory is striking regardless.</p>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">What makes Smith's eight wins particularly notable is what level they have been at. Four of them have been at the CCI4* level. Across de Liedekerke-Meier's entire record-breaking 2025 season, she recorded only three four-star wins. Smith already has four CCI4*-S wins and it is only May. One of those victories also came with the<a href="https://www.usequestrianopen.org/stories/tamie-smith-danito-set-a-new-series-dressage-record-at-tryon" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> lowest international dressage score</a> recorded anywhere in the world in 2026. The level at which she is winning matters as much as the volume.&nbsp;</p>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]"><img src="https://usef-admin.fly.dev/assets/2abfb7ce-23d5-4271-84ca-0591e57a214c.png?width=634&amp;height=481" alt="Screenshot 2026 05 18 171852"></p>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">It is also worth pausing on the context of this season. Last year, <strong>Mai Baum</strong>, one of the greatest event horses the US has ever seen,<strong> </strong>retired. That is no small thing to absorb. And yet Smith has come out in 2026 with what may be the strongest string of her career, producing results at a rate that puts her among the most dominant riders in the world right now. Last year she was second on the global win count behind de Liedekerke-Meier on ten. This year she is first... and it is only May.</p>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">We know we have been talking about<strong> Tamie Smith</strong> a lot but the numbers keep giving us reasons to.</p>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">Read our full feature on why the data points to her as the 2026 Series favorite <a href="https://www.usequestrianopen.org/stories/six-horses-two-weekends-why-tamie-smith-is-the-series-favorite" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here.</a></p>
<p class="font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]">&nbsp;</p>
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<h3 data-path-to-node="6"><strong data-path-to-node="6" data-index-in-node="4">Go Beyond the Article</strong></h3>
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<p data-path-to-node="7"><em><strong>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.</strong></em></p>

Tamie Smith & Lillet 3 cross-country at Carolina CCI4*-S

The Tamie Smith season so far

<p dir="ltr"><strong>Laine Ashker</strong> won the CDI3* Grand Prix Freestyle at last year's Mid-Atlantic Dressage Festival, and she and <strong>Zeppelin</strong> posted their personal best of 73.015% doing it. Saturday, she returns to the Virginia Horse Center in Lexington to defend both.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Ashker currently sits 43rd on the Series leaderboard with 8 points from one qualifier. A win at MADFest would move her to 22nd &mdash; still outside the top-18 cutoff for the CDI5* Final, but inside the range where qualification becomes a realistic conversation. The 12-year-old Oldenburg gelding has been consistent across six FEI starts, averaging 70.876%, and his best work came on this footing, in this ring.</p>
<p><iframe id="datawrapper-chart-uGCLQ" style="width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;" title="Grand Prix Freestyle Stats: MADFest CDI3*" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/uGCLQ/1/" height="381" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" aria-label="Table" data-external="1"></iframe></p>
<p dir="ltr">The challenger is <strong>Ali Potasky</strong> and <strong>Inxs</strong>, a 13-year-old Dutch Warmblood who carries the field's highest average at 71.995%, but across just two FEI starts. Numbers do not lie, but it remains a question how predictive that two-run sample size can be. Potasky is 41st on the leaderboard with 9 points, so a win here would also jump her into 22nd.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The CDI3* Grand Prix Freestyle goes Saturday at the Virginia Horse Center. Live stream available on the <a href="https://www.clipmyhorse.tv/en_US/events/18601/mid-atlantic-dressage-festival-lexington-cdi3">USEF Network</a>. <a href="https://www.usef.org/membership/join-renew">Sign up for free</a> as a fan to watch the action.&nbsp;</p>

Ashker and Zeppelin in a Winner's Cooler at MADFest 2025

Ashker Returns to MADFest to Defend CDI3* Freestyle Win

The 2026 Finals

Wellington CSI5* Grand Prix

Morven Park CCI4*‑L

Desert CDI5* Freestyle

Picking Team USA: The Numbers Behind USEF's World Championship Shortlist

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Picking Team USA: The Numbers Behind USEF's World Championship Shortlist

Isabelle Bosley and Conner Are Rising Through the Ranks

The Open Weekly: Potasky Wins at MADFest as All Eyes Turn to Aachen

The Tamie Smith season so far

Ashker Returns to MADFest to Defend CDI3* Freestyle Win

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