Four to Follow at the US Equestrian Open Final: Geñay Vaughn

As in many sports, the US Equestrian Open of Dressage offers its own kind of home field advantage. This weekend, Geñay Vaughn will be riding on it. Based in Northern California, Thermal is a familiar stop on Vaughn’s competition calendar. She opened her 2025 season with a win there. Now, she returns to finish the story.

Built in California

Vaughn rides Gino, a 14-year-old KWPN gelding she’s brought along since he was six. The two are inseparable. She is Gino’s rider, groom, chef, travel companion, and emotional anchor.

“My world revolves around him. It’s his world—I’m just living in it.”

That bond has carried them from California’s regional CDIs to the top tier of the US Equestrian Open. Vaughn is the only undefeated rider in Series qualifiers, going four-for-four with CDI wins at Thermal, Del Mar, and Devonwood. She finished the regular season ranked 7th on the leaderboard with 80 points, despite fewer starts than many of her rivals. Her Series average and personal best sit at 74.859% and 75.875%, respectively.

Her early-season winning streak earned her a ticket to the 2025 FEI World Cup Final in Basel, where she placed 14th with a 73.765%. Not bad when your lowest score of the year comes at your first major international championship. That kind of experience is exactly what prepares a rider for a grand final like the one in Thermal.

Freestyle with Soul

Vaughn brings that technical know-how and a popular freestyle soundtrack to this weekend’s event. Her test is a love letter to her roots, choreographed and set to music she selected herself. The soundtrack blends artists from her childhood: Barry White, Luther Vandross, and Earth, Wind & Fire.

“I picked songs that I grew up on—artists that were close to me, and music that I really liked and felt was part of my culture. I picked a lot of African-American artists.”

That music pairs beautifully with Gino’s expressive confidence. “He knows when it’s showtime,” Vaughn said.

Their freestyle averages in the mid-70s, but over the summer, Vaughn has been working to refine the floorplan and increase the degree of difficulty—a crucial scoring factor with a 4x multiplier. Top combinations like Hendricks and Drombusch or Ebeling and Bellena consistently earn degree of difficulty marks in the high 8s and low 9s. To challenge for the win, Vaughn will need to bring the same level of technical complexity.

A Family Foundation

Vaughn’s career is powered by her family. She trains daily with her mother, Michele, who has coached her from juniors to the international Grand Prix level. Together, they run Starr Vaughn Equestrian in Elk Grove, CA. The high-performance mindset also runs through her father, a former MLB player, whose mantra still guides her:

“If you want to be above average, then you can’t just do the average things.”

In a sport often dominated by big names, grooms, and European bases, Vaughn has carved her own path. She rides without major sponsors, without a typical team behind her—and she wins anyway. Her work ethic, resourcefulness, and bond with Gino have made her one of the most authentic contenders in the Series.

Thermal, Again

This weekend, Vaughn returns to where it all began—Thermal, the site of the very first US Equestrian Open qualifier and the first win of her undefeated season. A mid-70s performance is all but assured.

But if the summer went as she’d planned, and she’s managed to increase the degree of difficulty in the floor plan, then a fairytale finish isn’t out of reach.

She’s just one win away from a perfect season.

For Sport Department questions, please contact Christy Hawkins at USEquestrianOpen@usef.org.

For media inquiries about the US Equestrian Open Series, please contact Carly Weilminster at cweilminster@usef.org. aFor sponsorship opportunities, contact Layson Griffin at lgriffin@usef.org.