American-Breds STAND TALL at the Young Horse Dressage Championships
American breeders of this year’s winning horses discuss the benefits and the challenges of this popular USEF program.
By Gigha Steinman
increasing. Although it has taken a few decades, today there are breeding programs in North America producing horses rivaling the quality found in Europe. In 2002, the United Stated Equestrian Federation (USEF)
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instituted the Young Horse Dressage Program, with one of its goals the promotion of “the importance of selective breeding and correct training of horses in the United States,” according to the Markel/USEF Young Horse Dressage Program’s mission statement. The dressage tests are age-specific with tests for four-, five- and six-year-olds and are designed to be quite challenging, in order to target the best of the best amongst young dressage horses. The program was later expanded to include the Developing Horse Program, with a Developing Horse Prix St. Georges class for seven to nine-year-old horses and a Developing Horse Grand Prix class for horses age eight to ten. The popularity of the program has exploded over the last
decade—and so has the participation of North American bred horses. The 2015 Markel/USEF Young and Developing Dressage National Championships were held August 19 - 23 at the Lamplight Equestrian Center in Illinois. The champions of the 5-year-old, 6-year-old, and Developing Grand Prix divi- sions were all American-bred, as were the reserve champions of the 4-year-old, 6-year-old and Developing Prix St. Georges divisions. With that popularity, however, comes new challenges.
MEET THE BREEDERS We spoke to four of the breeders with horses competing at this year’s event to hear their thoughts on the Young Horse and Developing Horse dressage programs. Judy Yancey of Ocala, Florida has been breeding horses
since 1974. She is an avid supporter of the Young Horse program and has had multiple homebreds compete in the championships, including three who competed in the recent 2015 Championships—Quantum Jazz (Quaterback / Jazz),
40 November/December 2015
nterest in Warmbloods took off in North America in the 1980s and European horses began arriving by the plane-load. Soon, domestic breeding programs for these beautiful talented horses also began rapidly
TOP: Anne Sparks stands with her 6-year-old champion, Gallant Reflexion HU, with rider Lisa Wilcox. Bottom: Oak Hill Ranch’s Ripline, ridden by Heather Blitz, was the Developing Prix St. Georges reserve champion.
Heartsong (Hohenstein / Furst Heinrich), and the reserve champion 6-year-old Floretienne (Florestan / Jazz). Anne Sparks of Horses Unlimited in Albuquerque, New
Mexico has been also very supportive of the Young Horse program. Her Hanoverian stallion Pikko del Cerro HU (Pik L / Rohdiamant) has an impressive record as he’s competed
All photos by
SusanJStickle.com
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