From Devon to Desert: The road to the Final ran through Pennsylvania last year

Last year's Dressage at Devon was the second biggest Grand Prix Freestyle field of the 2025 season. The horse who won it went on to win the US Equestrian Open Dressage Final seven weeks later. With Devon back on the Qualifier calendar next Saturday, here is what last year's show produced.

Last year, Benjamin Ebeling & Bellena won the CDI-W Grand Prix Freestyle at Devon on a 77.655. At the time, it was their best GP Freestyle score. That was until they went onto TerraNova in October where they scored higher still (78.055) and then onto the inaugural US Equestrian Open Final where they scored higher still, winning on their current best of 79.930. The Devon win was also key to Ebeling's second-place finish in the 2025 Series standings (and the extra $7,500 that came with it).

At Devon last year, 13 combinations contested the Grand Prix Freestyle. Only week 3 of the 2025 AGDF drew a bigger field (15). So far in the current Series, a field of 11 has been the biggest; if Devon draws similar entries again, it will be the largest class of the season. 

Dressage at Devon 2025, CDI-W Grand Prix Freestyle

Devon Horse Show and County Fair, Pennsylvania, September 2025. Thirteen completed.

#	Combination	Gap to win	Score
1	Benjamin Ebeling Bellena	Winner	77.655
2	Kevin Kohmann Duenensee	0.650	77.005
3	Meagan Davis Toronto Lightfoot	4.340	73.315
4	Anna Marek Fire Fly	4.865	72.790
5	Laine Ashker Zeppelin	7.165	70.490
6	Eline Eckroth Daphne	7.900	69.755
7	Christina Morin-Graham DSP Dauphin	8.005	69.650
8	Chloe Gasiorowski Sam Donnerhall	8.050	69.605
9	Camille Carier Bergeron Finnlanderin	9.205	68.450
10	Tiago Ernesto Hobbit Interagro	9.635	68.020
11	Mathilde Blais Tetreault Fedor	11.060	66.595
12	Charlotte Jorst Zhaplin Langholt	11.930	65.725
13	Adriane Alvord Selfmade	12.520	65.135

Allison Carmichael & Figaro withdrew from an initial class of fourteen. Results via EquiRatings.

Twelve combinations contested the US Equestrian Open Dressage Final in Thermal last November. Three of them had been at Devon two months prior, plus Anna Marek who contested both classes with different horses.

Devon was Bellena's second to last Grand Prix Freestyle before the Final. From Devon in September (77.655) they went on to TerraNova in October (78.055) where they improved on their Devon score. That run-up was the clearest signal yet of where the mare was heading come the Final in November.

The biggest turnaround of the three, Charlotte Jorst & Zhaplin Langholt finished second to last at Devon on 65.725, 11.930 off the winner.

Seven weeks later they posted 73.305 in the Final for seventh, a gain of 7.580 and a score that would have been worth fourth at Devon, a tenth of a mark off third. A challenging day in September cost them nothing in November.

Laine Ashker & Zeppelin went the other way. Fifth at Devon on 70.490, inside the top half of a thirteen strong field, then 12th and last in the Final on 66.260.

Their Devon score would have finished 10th in the Final, so the drop was worth two places. Between them, Jorst and Ashker swapped ends of the leaderboard in the space of seven weeks.

Bellena's 77.655 ranked 13th among all Open scores in 2025. Produce that same score at Devon this weekend and it lands inside the top ten of the 2026 season so far. The winning score at Devon is a genuine Series marker, not a regional one.

Field size matters too. Thirteen completed at Devon last year. Match last year's turnout next Saturday and Devon becomes the biggest class of the season.

Dressage at Devon returns as a Series Qualifier on Saturday 26 September, with entries still to be confirmed. The Final follows at Desert International Horse Park in Thermal, California on 14 November, the same venue that hosted the inaugural running.

Last year the Devon winner went on to win the Final. The two horses who followed her there finished 7th and 12th, in the opposite order to how they had placed at Devon. The qualifier tells you who is in the hunt. It does not tell you who arrives in November.