Erin Kellerhouse shares early eventing lead and dressage Finalists are confirmed
A second CCI4*-S win in four weeks for Kellerhouse and Amigo, ten riders bound for the Dressage Final in Thermal, and US Open form was on show at the Lyon World Cup.
This Week
Eventing
Kellerhouse & Ringwood Adios Amigo Win Again
Two back-to-back wins in four weeks, and a share of the Series lead.
Dressage
Entries Are In: Ten Head to the Dressage Final
The field for the Dressage Final, and no defending champion.
Jumping
Vogel and Maher Carry US Open Form Into Lyon
Two of March’s top five, back in a World Cup top five.
Two qualifiers into the 2026/27 US Equestrian Open of Eventing and the standings have a tie at the top. One of the two leading riders won on Saturday with a horse she has ridden since he was four. Ten riders are confirmed for the US Equestrian Open of Dressage Final in Thermal. In Lyon, two riders from the top five of March’s US Equestrian Open Jumping Final were back in a World Cup top five.
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Eventing Kellerhouse & Amigo Make It Two in a Month Erin Kellerhouse & Ringwood Adios Amigo · the only cross country clear inside the time |
Erin Kellerhouse & Ringwood Adios Amigo won the Galway Downs CCI4*-S on October 31, the second qualifier of the 2026/27 Series. No other combination got round the cross country clear inside the time. They then added 2.0 show jumping time penalties to their dressage score and nothing else.
It was back-to-back CCI4*-S wins for the pair, four weeks apart. They also won at Woodside on October 3, the last qualifier of the 2026 Series.
Erin Kellerhouse & Ringwood Adios Amigo
Kellerhouse took on the gelding as a four-year-old and produced him through every level herself. He is now 10. All three of his four-star runs have been in the short format, and he has won two of them.
A Perfect Record in Temecula
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How many times has Erin Kellerhouse started a Galway Downs CCI4*-S? Tap to reveal ▾Twice, and she has won both. Both cross country rounds were clear inside the time. |
Kellerhouse has started the Galway Downs CCI4*-S twice and won both times, first with Woodford Reserve and now with Ringwood Adios Amigo. Both went clear inside the cross country time. The same two horses have also each won the CCI4*-S at Woodside. That makes four CCI4*-S wins for Kellerhouse across the two venues.
Level at the Top
The win is worth 40 points and puts Kellerhouse level with Sharon White, who banked her 40 at Bouckaert. Kellerhouse was the only rider to earn an MER (minimum eligibility result) at Galway Downs, so hers were the only Series points awarded there.
Current Leaderboard of the US Equestrian Open of Eventing
After Bouckaert and Galway Downs, qualifiers 1 and 2 of 22. Each rider’s best six results count.
Seven riders are on the board, each with one of six counting slots filled. TerraNova is next, November 11 to 15, and closes the 2026 part of the calendar. Nineteen qualifiers follow in 2027 before the Final at Morven Park in October.
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Dressage Entries Are In: 10 Head to the Dressage Final Ten combinations · Grand Prix Qualifier and Freestyle Decider · $200,000 purse |
After 25 qualifying Freestyles at 24 events in six states, ten riders have accepted their invitations to the US Equestrian Open of Dressage Final at Desert International Horse Park on November 13 and 14.
2026 US Equestrian Open of Dressage Final: Entries
Last year’s champions, Ben Ebeling & Bellena, are not entered, so the title is up for grabs. Four of this year’s finalists rode in the 2025 Final. Kristina Harrison-Antell finished fourth, Geñay Vaughn sixth, Charlotte Jorst seventh and Nadine Schwartsman ninth.
The resumes in this field run deep. Six of the ten have represented their country at a championship or Nations Cup. Micah Deligdish represented Israel at the World Championships in Aachen this year. Vaughn rode at the 2025 FEI World Cup Final in Basel, and Jorst competed at the 2016 Final in Gothenburg. Michael Klimke finished second at the 1990 World Cup Final. Devon Kane & Vamos won Nations Cup team silver at Wellington in 2025. Harrison-Antell rode for the U.S. at the 2003 Pan American Games.
Devon Kane & Vamos at the 2025 Wellington Nations Cup
Fire Fly has done it too, winning team gold at the 2023 Pan Ams under Anna Marek. His new rider, James Koford, whose signature results came at the U.S. Dressage Finals, won three straight Grand Prix Freestyle titles on Adiah HP from 2017 to 2019.
The remaining three riders come into the Final off the back of a strong season. Ali Potasky & Inxs set a personal best of 76.325% at Dressage at Devon 2026. Schwartsman & Royal Flash R won the CDI3* Grand Prix and Freestyle at the Del Mar National Horse Show in April, a personal best for both horse and rider. A month earlier, Cyndi Jackson won the CDI3* Freestyle at Del Mar Dressage Affaire on Florisson, the horse she produced from Training Level.
While Desert International Horse Park is best known for its jumping, it has hosted FEI dressage since 2020. The West Coast held five of the Series’ 24 qualifiers. Five of the ten finalists are based in the West, and this Final is in their backyard in an arena they are all intimately familiar with.
The Grand Prix runs Friday, November 13. Every pair rides the same test, and 60% is needed to move on. Saturday’s Freestyle decides the title and a share of the $200,000 purse. British Olympic medalist Becky Moody gives a free masterclass on final day before the evening session.
Over the next two weeks, we’ll break down the field: the form lines, the storylines, who to follow and how to watch.
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Jumping Vogel and Maher Carry US Open Form Into the Top Five in Lyon Richard Vogel & Cloudio · 0.03 seconds off the win |
Two of the top five from March’s Rolex US Equestrian Open CSI5* Grand Prix were back in the top five on Sunday. Richard Vogel (GER) finished second at the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup Lyon and Ben Maher (GBR) was fourth, both on a different horse from the one they rode in the Open Final.
Lyon, the Final Form Holds
CSI5*-W 1.60m · 40 starters · 13 in the jump-off
Vogel & Cloudio went double clear in Lyon in 38.20 seconds, three hundredths of a second off victory. Maher & Point Break also jumped two clears and finished fourth in 38.63. Both riders also faced off in this spring’s US Equestrian Open Final. In the Open, Vogel was third with Gangster Montdesir and Maher second with Enjeu de Grisien.
Gangster Montdesir & Richard Vogel at the 2026 $1,000,000 Rolex U.S. Equestrian Open Grand Prix
Both strings run deep. Since the Final, in CSI5* Grands Prix, World Cups and major championships, Vogel has 14 clears from 28 rounds, three wins and six podiums across five horses. Maher has 9 clears from 19 rounds, two wins and five podiums. Point Break leads the way with 5 clears from 6 rounds and an Elo of 788.
Three more US Open riders were in the Lyon field. Emilie Conter (BEL) & Portobella van de Fruitkorf and Nina Mallevaey (FRA) & Dynastie de Beaufour each had one fence down, placing 21st and 23rd. Piergiorgio Bucci (ITA) & Pallieter vd N.Ranch finished 32nd.
Seven months on, the US Open field is still shaping the biggest classes in the sport. Five of the 40 starters in Lyon rode at Wellington in March, and two of them were back in the top five on the other side of the Atlantic. That is the standard the Rolex US Equestrian Open CSI5* Grand Prix draws, and the bar to clear when the Final returns to Rolex Finale Week next spring.
What the Numbers Tell Us
Nations Cup · Vejer de la Frontera CSIO3*
Team USA Second in Spain
1.50m · 8 team faults · 2nd
The Icon Global U.S. team finished second in the 1.50m KAR Sport Horses Nations Cup of Vejer de la Frontera CSIO3* on Friday, 30 October, on a team total of eight faults. Flying the flag were Carlee McCutcheon & Aralyn Blue, Charlise Casas & Kanny-Fee, Adam Prudent & Karnak du Roset and Emily Esau Williams & Cascarado.
The U.S. and Ireland were level on four after round one, two behind Italy. Ireland’s faultless second round won it on four. Italy were third on ten.
A second 4*-S win at Galway Downs, our dressage Finalists confirmed, and Open representation in Lyon.
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