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<p dir="ltr">The US has settled on four combinations for the <a href="https://www.usef.org/compete/breeds/dressage/2026-fei-dressage-world-championships" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FEI World Championships</a> in Aachen. The team medals are decided first, over two days of Grand Prix on August 11 and 12. The individual medals come later, in the Grand Prix Special on the 14th and the Freestyle on the 15th. Three of the four riders currently sit inside the top ten of the US Equestrian Open of Dressage <a href="https://equestrian-hub.com/public/championship/dressage/708" target="_blank" rel="noopener">standings</a>. Here's who they are and what each brings to the ring at Aachen.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Ashley Holzer and Hawtins San Floriana</h2>
<p dir="ltr">Holzer is the most decorated rider on the team, a four-time Olympian who won team bronze for Canada at Seoul in 1988 before she declared for the US. She has spent this summer competing in Europe ahead of Aachen, with a runner-up finish at the Hartpury Festival of Dressage along the way. "Flo" came to her from <strong>Carl Hester</strong> and <strong>Charlotte Dujardin</strong>, and when Holzer is at Hester's yard in England she hacks the mare out through the picturesque countryside. The partnership took time to build. Holzer has said that getting a mare to cooperate means asking, then asking again with a please, and then, when that fails, sending flowers. She has been the freestyle machine of the group this season, with five performances and an average just shy of 75%. She also holds the best Grand Prix Special score of the four team riders, a personal-best of 72.574% for second at Hartpury. <a href="https://www.usequestrianopen.org/stories/ashley-holzer-on-flo-neil-diamond-and-what-the-series-is-for" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Her freestyle</a> this year is set to Neil Diamond's "Coming to America," a nod to her own move to the States. She currently leads the US Equestrian Open of Dressage standings.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Jordan LaPlaca and Gold Play</h2>
<p dir="ltr">LaPlaca is based out of Maverick Hill Dressage in Ledyard, Connecticut, and works with mentor <strong>Albrecht Heidemann</strong> and <strong>Christine Traurig</strong>, who happens to be the Chef d'Equipe steering this Aachen team. He produced Gold Play himself, buying the gelding as a four-year-old from German team rider <strong>Frederic Wandres</strong> and bringing him all the way up to the top. The Grand Prix Special is this pair&rsquo;s strongest test. LaPlaca won it at the Wellington Nations Cup on his senior team debut. Gold Play enjoyed the one-tempi changes so much that day that he added two extra down the centerline, and they won anyway. They have since pushed <a href="https://www.usequestrianopen.org/stories/the-open-weekly-team-announcements-and-us-combinations-around-the-world" target="_blank" rel="noopener">their personal best</a> to 71.745% at Hagen. LaPlaca has ridden almost everything, from hunters and jumpers to saddleseat, eventing, and driving, and he still competes as an FEI-registered driver. This is a breakout season for LaPlaca in the senior at Grand Prix.</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Christian Simonson and Fleau de Baian</h2>
<p dir="ltr">Simonson is the youngest rider on the squad and in his first season in the senior division. He grew up in Ventura, California, is now based in Wellington, and trains under Olympian <strong>Adrienne Lyle</strong>. "Felix" was developed to the top level by Dutch star <strong>Adelinde Cornelissen</strong> before Simonson took over the ride, and the horse is owned by Zen Elite Equestrian Center. Together they posted the best freestyle score on the team this year. That was a 76.570% at the Hagen Nations Cup on the Fourth of July, a mark Simonson loved for the date as much as the number, and it came in only their second freestyle together. Away from the ring Simonson is the adventurous sort, with a student pilot's license earned at 15 and a childhood spent mountain biking, skiing, and scuba diving before dressage won out. He currently sits tenth in the US Equestrian Open of Dressage standings, and holds one of the highest freestyle scores in the Series on his other mount, <a href="https://www.usequestrianopen.org/stories/we-warned-you-about-indian-rock" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Indian Rock</a>.&nbsp;</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">Ge&ntilde;ay Vaughn and Gino</h2>
<p dir="ltr">Vaughn runs Starr Vaughn Equestrian in Elk Grove, California, alongside her mother Michele, who is both her coach and Gino's owner. She also trains with Kathleen Raine in California and Patrick Kittel in Germany. <a href="https://www.usequestrianopen.org/stories/new-podcast-genay-vaughn-lives-in-ginos-world" target="_blank" rel="noopener">She comes from sporting stock</a>: her father is former Major League Baseball slugger Greg Vaughn, and Ge&ntilde;ay was born the year he made an All-Star team, which is how she and the family farm both ended up named Starr. Michele bought Gino as a green six-year-old back in 2017, rode him herself, then handed the reins to her daughter once she saw what he could become. Vaughn calls him her best friend first and her teammate second. Gino is the Grand Prix engine of the team, and his 72.282% at Del Mar this year is the best of the four. She currently sits fifth in the standings and became the first rider to win two consecutive Open qualifiers this season.&nbsp;</p>
<h2 dir="ltr">The reserves</h2>
<p dir="ltr">Two combinations stand ready behind the team. Kasey Perry-Glass and Heartbeat W.P. are first reserve, with Meagan Davis and Toronto Lightfoot second. All six will have one eye on the fall, when the Series picks back up and builds toward the Final at Thermal in November. First, though, comes Aachen.&nbsp;</p>
<p dir="ltr"><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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jordan la placa kisses gold play after the jog

Meet the US Dressage Team Headed to the 2026 World Championships 

Stephanie Goodman at Aspen Farms on the Open Weekly graphic

The Open Weekly: Rebecca Farm, Sweetnam Strikes, and the Aachen Four

<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>

Meagan Davis & Toronto Lightfoot at the 2026 Grand Prix National Dressage Championships

How Is Grand Prix Dressage Scored? A Beginner's Guide 

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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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<div style="margin-bottom: 18px; padding: 10px 12px 10px 14px; border-left: 3px solid #c8102e; background: #f7f8fc; font-size: 12px; color: #6b7280; line-height: 1.6; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><strong style="color: #001c54;">Next Qualifier:</strong> The Event at Rebecca Farm (July 15) &nbsp;|&nbsp; <strong style="color: #001c54;">The Final:</strong> Morven International Horse Park, Leesburg, VA (October 8 to 11)</div>

<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: 11px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.16em; text-transform: uppercase; color: #83b1d6; margin-bottom: 4px; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Dressage</div>
<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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<div style="font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.14em; text-transform: uppercase; color: #001c54; margin-bottom: 6px;">Stay in the loop</div>
<p style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.65; color: #374172; margin: 0;">Thanks for joining us for this week's edition. A fresh update of <a style="color: #c8102e; font-weight: 600;" href="https://www.usequestrianopen.org/categories/the-open-weekly">The Open Weekly</a> drops on the site every Tuesday.</p>
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<div style="font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.14em; text-transform: uppercase; color: #001c54; margin-bottom: 6px;">Go Beyond the Article</div>
<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: 600;" 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;">The Mission of the Open</div>
<p style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.7; color: rgba(255,255,255,0.85); margin: 0;">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>
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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

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<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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<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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<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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<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>
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<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>
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<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>
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<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>
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<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>
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<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>
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<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>
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<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>

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<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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<div style="height: 2px; background: #001c54; margin-bottom: 32px;">&nbsp;</div>
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<div style="font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.14em; text-transform: uppercase; color: #001c54; margin-bottom: 6px;">Go Beyond the Article</div>
<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: 600;" href="https://podfollow.com/the-us-equestrian-open-podcast/episode/9d0bca7b89e2b9a8f19af7c9427c7d645abb2ae1/view">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;">The Mission of the Open</div>
<p style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 1.7; color: rgba(255,255,255,0.85); margin: 0;">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>
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Claire Darnell on the Horse She Almost Let Go

Laine Ashker & Lovedance on the Open Weekly Graphic

The Open Weekly: Ashker Wins at Maryland & Jacobs at Traverse City

<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Across 25 qualifiers this year, the top dressage horses and riders competing in the US ride for points and a spot at the $200,000 US Equestrian Open of Dressage Final, held this November at Desert International Horse Park in Thermal, California. Every combination rides the same Grand Prix test, then choreographs those same movements to music in the Grand Prix Freestyle, where it can start to look a lot like dancing. If you have ever watched and wondered what the announcer means by "piaffe," or why one trot looks nothing like the next, this guide will clear it up.</p>
<h2 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;">The Basics</h2>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Dressage has its own language, and most of it describes one of two things: gaits or movements.</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A <strong style="color: #001c54; font-weight: bold;">gait</strong> is how the horse is traveling. There are three: walk, trot and canter. Each has its own rhythm and footfall, from the four-beat walk to the rolling three-beat canter. Speed within a gait can change too, which we'll get into in a minute.</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A <strong style="color: #001c54; font-weight: bold;">movement</strong> is a specific, trained exercise the horse performs inside a gait. A half pass is a movement. So is a pirouette. The Grand Prix test is a fixed sequence of these, ridden in a set order, each one scored on its own. In the Freestyle, riders have a prescribed list of movements they must ride, but they can choreograph them however they like.</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">One more word you will hear constantly: <strong style="color: #001c54; font-weight: bold;">the hindquarters.</strong> The back end. The engine. Almost everything good in dressage starts there.</p>
<h2 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;">Collection</h2>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">If there is one idea that separates Grand Prix dressage from a horse trotting around in a field, it is <strong style="color: #001c54; font-weight: bold;">collection</strong>.</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As a horse becomes more trained, it learns to carry more of its weight on its hind legs. The hind joints bend, the back end lowers, and the front end lifts and lightens. Instead of relying on the rider for support, the horse learns to hold itself in what is called <strong style="color: #001c54; font-weight: bold;">self-carriage</strong>. This way of going dramatically improves the quality of the gait and makes the horse more adjustable and responsive to subtle cues. Collection is behind every difficult movement in the sport. A horse cannot trot on the spot or skip across the arena in tempi changes without it.</p>
<h2 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;">Collected vs. Extended</h2>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Here is where newcomers, and plenty of regulars too, get tangled up. Collection, the state above, is not the same thing as the collected gaits, even though they share the word.</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Picture the hindquarters as a coiled spring. Collection is the act of compressing it: the horse bends its hind joints and shifts its weight back to load the spring. What the rider does with that loaded spring decides the gait.</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In a <strong style="color: #001c54; font-weight: bold;">collected trot or canter</strong>, the rider keeps the spring compressed and lets the energy go up. The steps get higher, shorter and bouncier. The horse covers less ground, with more lift.</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In an <strong style="color: #001c54; font-weight: bold;">extended trot or canter</strong>, the rider releases that same spring forward. The frame lengthens and the legs reach for maximum ground cover, while the weight stays back over the hindquarters, where the engine lives.</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The key: a real extension is collection released forward, not the horse simply running faster. Without collection first, the extension falls apart one of two ways. The horse gets quick and flat and falls onto its forehand, or it flings its front legs out for show while the hind legs trail behind doing none of the work. The flashy reach always comes from the rear-wheel drive.</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">There are gears in between, too. "Medium" trot, for example, sits between collected and extended, though that version of the gait isn't seen at the highest level.</p>
<h2 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;">The Half-Halt</h2>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">So how does a rider ask a 1,000-pound prey animal to shift its weight backwards and load that spring? A tiny little crucially important tool called a <strong style="color: #001c54; font-weight: bold;">half-halt</strong>.</p>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A half-halt is a quick, near-invisible rebalancing. For a moment the rider's seat, leg and hand ask the horse to shift its weight back and gather itself, without actually slowing down. If you have ever driven a manual car, it is the friction point: the moment you let the clutch up just enough to engage the gear and feel the power connect, before you actually accelerate. You collect the energy instead of letting it spill forward. Watch a top rider and you will rarely catch it happening. You only see the result: a perfectly executed movement.</p>
<h2 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;">The Movements</h2>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 18px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Load the spring, balance it with the half-halt, and the horse can do the cool, flashy things that make a Grand Prix test so fascinating to watch. Here are the ones you will see most.</p>
<h3 style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: 800; color: #001c54; margin: 22px 0 8px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Half Pass</h3>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The horse travels forward and sideways at once, crossing the arena on a diagonal while bent in the direction it is going. The legs cross over, the body stays roughly parallel to the long side, and it should look smooth and uphill. Not to be confused with the leg yield, a more basic version taught early on, where the horse moves sideways while bent away from the direction of travel. The half pass is the grown-up cousin: more bend, more collection, more expression.</p>
<h3 style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: 800; color: #001c54; margin: 22px 0 8px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Zig-Zag</h3>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This one happens only at the canter. String several half passes together, switching direction, and you get the zig-zag. The horse half-passes one way, throws in a flying change, then half-passes the other, repeating in a counted, symmetrical pattern down the centerline. It looks like a skier carving linked turns through a slalom, and it tests balance and obedience as much as sideways reach.</p>
<h3 style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: 800; color: #001c54; margin: 22px 0 8px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Flying Change</h3>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">At the canter, one front leg always leads. A flying change is the horse swapping which leg leads in mid-air, in the split second all four feet are off the ground. A clean single change looks effortless. It is also the building block for the showpiece below.</p>
<h3 style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: 800; color: #001c54; margin: 22px 0 8px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Tempi Changes</h3>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Now do those changes in a row, on a set count. Every fourth stride is a four-tempi, every third a three, every second a two, and every single stride a <strong style="color: #001c54; font-weight: bold;">one-tempi</strong>, or "ones." At the Grand Prix level the test calls for fifteen one-tempis in a row. The ones are the crowd favorite. Done well, a line of them looks like the horse is skipping across the arena. And set to music? They will put a smile on your face.</p>
<h3 style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: 800; color: #001c54; margin: 22px 0 8px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Piaffe</h3>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A trot on the spot. The horse trots with full cadence and elevation while staying more or less in one place. This is collection taken to the limit: nearly all the weight loaded onto the hindquarters, the spring fully compressed and held rather than released. One of the hardest things a horse can be asked to do, and a centerpiece of the Grand Prix.</p>
<h3 style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: 800; color: #001c54; margin: 22px 0 8px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Passage</h3>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A trot in slow motion. The horse moves forward, but with huge elevation and a long, floating moment of suspension where it seems to hang in the air between steps, kind of like the airwalk or slickback dance move. If piaffe is the spring held in place, passage is that same power rolled forward into something that looks weightless.</p>
<h3 style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: 800; color: #001c54; margin: 22px 0 8px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Pirouette</h3>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 14px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A turn on the spot. In a canter pirouette, the horse keeps cantering while its hind legs stay almost planted and the front end circles around them, through a full 360 degrees. Think of a figure skater pulling into a spin, the hindquarters as the axis. It takes serious collection to hold a clean canter rhythm while turning that tight.</p>
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<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">That is what the horses are doing. What it is worth is another question. Next time we will get into how the judges turn all of this into a number: the marks out of ten, the movements that count double, the collective marks, and what "degree of difficulty" really means once the music starts.</p>
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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 in The Open Weekly</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;">Maryland and the Numbers Game</div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; color: #6b7280; line-height: 1.4; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Bellissimo and Pamukcu hunt points as the top of the table tightens.</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;">USA Second in Rotterdam</div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; color: #6b7280; line-height: 1.4; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Little and La Contessa go clear twice to anchor a jump-off finish.</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;">Holzer Leads into the Break</div>
<div style="font-size: 12px; color: #6b7280; line-height: 1.4; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Six points cover the top five, with two qualifiers still to run.</div>
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<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>
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Marcos Orlob and Jane in extended trot in a dressage test

Piaffe, Passage and Pirouette: A Beginner's Guide to Grand Prix Dressage Movements 

Marilyn Little on the Open Weekly Graphic

The Open Weekly: Maryland, Rotterdam & Holzer Holds

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<div style="font-size: 26px; font-weight: 800; color: #83b1d6; line-height: 1.1; margin-bottom: 4px; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">#1</div>
<div style="font-size: 11px; color: #6b7280; line-height: 1.35; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">US Equestrian Open of Dressage leaderboard</div>
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<div style="font-size: 26px; font-weight: 800; color: #001c54; line-height: 1.1; margin-bottom: 4px; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">75.010%</div>
<div style="font-size: 11px; color: #6b7280; line-height: 1.35; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Best qualifying score this season</div>
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<div style="font-size: 11px; color: #6b7280; line-height: 1.35; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Best result at a Series qualifier</div>
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<div style="font-size: 26px; font-weight: 800; color: #001c54; line-height: 1.1; margin-bottom: 4px; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">4/4</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;">Ashley Holzer</strong> sits at the top of the US Equestrian Open of Dressage leaderboard through four qualifiers, her consistency built around a partnership that did not come easy. In the latest episode of the US Equestrian Open Podcast, she spoke with host Annie about her mare <strong style="font-weight: 600; color: #001c54;">Hawtins San Floriana</strong>, the freestyle that carries a personal story, and what keeps her competing at the highest level. Below are some of the highlights, but the full conversation is worth your time.</p>

<h2 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;">The Mare</h2>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 16px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Holzer acquired <strong style="font-weight: 600; color: #001c54;">Hawtins San Floriana</strong>, known at home as Flo, from Carl Hester and Charlotte Dujardin. She was expecting a smooth transition. That is not what she got. The mare tested her patience, challenged her horsemanship, and, by Holzer's own account, made her a better rider. The connection that exists today was earned over time.</p>

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<div style="font-size: 22px; font-weight: 800; line-height: 1.35; color: #001c54; margin-bottom: 16px;">&ldquo;She put me in my place a few times. I really learned a lot from this horse. I think I became a better rider because of the horse.&rdquo;</div>
<div style="font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.18em; text-transform: uppercase; color: #83b1d6;">Ashley Holzer on Hawtins San Floriana</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;">Holzer described the difference between geldings and mares with characteristic candor: with a mare, she said, you do not just ask. You ask, then ask again with a please, then send flowers. The approach paid off. She now hacks Flo through the English countryside at Carl Hester's yard and describes the partnership as one she feels genuine joy in every day.</p>

<h2 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;">The Freestyle</h2>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 16px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The music is Neil Diamond's "Coming to America." Holzer, originally Canadian with Scottish-born parents, immigrated to the United States and built her life here. The song maps onto that journey in a way that is deeply personal. New York, Los Angeles, blue jeans and horses. She worked the choreography with Tom Hunt, who built in audio cues so she knows, without counting, when the next movement is coming.</p>

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<div style="font-size: 20px; font-weight: 800; line-height: 1.4; color: #001c54; margin-bottom: 14px;">&ldquo;A lot of the music really resonates with me. That's why I chose it. And I think that's where it just makes it even more special to ride it because I have fun riding it.&rdquo;</div>
<div style="font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.18em; text-transform: uppercase; color: #83b1d6;">Ashley Holzer on her freestyle music choice</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;">She also made a point about what the freestyle is technically, for anyone who has not ridden one: you are not just performing movements, you are synchronising yourself to music in real time, adjusting when you get behind it or ahead of it, deciding in the moment whether to use your joker line if something goes wrong. The joker line is a pre-planned optional sequence that lets a rider repeat a difficult movement, such as flying changes, if the first attempt fails. Choosing not to include one raises the degree of difficulty score, but removes the safety net entirely. In a freestyle, the margin for error is less forgiving than a standard test.</p>

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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;">Holzer was direct about what the US Equestrian Open provides for horses and riders at this level: atmosphere, repetition, and pressure that is not team-selection pressure. Going into a ring with lights and a crowd and music requires a horse to be genuinely comfortable there. The Series builds that, qualifier by qualifier. Flo was nervous in the main ring at the start of the season. That has since changed.</p>

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<div style="font-size: 22px; font-weight: 800; line-height: 1.35; color: #001c54; margin-bottom: 16px;">&ldquo;To feel her sort of relax into that as the season went along was pretty wonderful.&rdquo;</div>
<div style="font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.18em; text-transform: uppercase; color: #83b1d6;">Ashley Holzer on Hawtins San Floriana's progression through the Series</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;">She also spoke about what made her fall into the sport in the first place: a book her father gave her, cousins on ponies in Scotland, a phone call she made to a local riding stable without her parents knowing, and a deal she brokered to get three other kids to sign up so the lesson numbers worked. All four went. Only one stayed.</p>

<h2 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;">On Consistency and Patience</h2>
<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.72; color: #1a1a2e; margin: 0 0 16px 0; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Holzer closed with something she said she tells students regularly. If you are patient, clear, kind, and consistent with a horse, the partnership comes. It might take a week. It might take two years. But it comes.</p>

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<div style="font-size: 22px; font-weight: 800; line-height: 1.35; color: #001c54; margin-bottom: 16px;">&ldquo;You've just gotta believe in the process, work with your coach, work with your animal, and be patient. But it will happen.&rdquo;</div>
<div style="font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; letter-spacing: 0.18em; text-transform: uppercase; color: #83b1d6;">Ashley Holzer</div>
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<p style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.65; color: rgba(255,255,255,0.85); margin: 0 0 16px 0;">The full conversation covers Ashley's origin story, her career path from eventing to dressage, what keeps her competing at this stage of her career, and more from her time at Carl Hester's yard.</p>
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<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>
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Ashley Holzer on Flo, Neil Diamond, and What the Series Is For

Open Weekly Graphic with Stephanie Goodman & Elwenda DP cross-country 

Dressage