10/07/2026
A huge congratulations to our SEVEN riders who qualified for the 2026 USEA Area II Championships this year!
I’m proud to have had so many of our riders earn their way there this year.
A HUGE congratulations to Gabriella Ortiz and RWS Beanboozled, who finished 2nd overall in the Junior Starter Championship! These two put together a fantastic weekend, earned themselves a big championship neck ribbon and a victory gallop, and I could not be prouder of how far this pair has come. This is the first time in her entire life that Beans has been called “blisteringly fast” and there’s even proof with a couple of speed faults. 😅
In the Junior Beginner Novice Championship, Arianna Smith and Radical Root finished 12th, adding just one rail to their dressage score, while Cheyenne Smith and Magical Mesa finished 13th, adding absolutely nothing to their dressage score all weekend. This was not an easy championship course, and both girls should be incredibly proud to have put together solid completions in a competitive division.
For a few of our riders, the weekend unfortunately just wasn’t theirs.
Rachel Hennis and Vinny Gets Revenge started off with their best dressage test at the level to date, scoring a 33. After an unfortunate incident in cross-country warmup left Rachel with an injured ankle, she still got back on and completed cross country. Unfortunately, the ankle ultimately meant withdrawing before show jumping the following morning. Not the ending she deserved after working so hard all weekend, but I’m incredibly proud of the determination she showed.
Natalia Sparks and Phoenix also had a weekend cut short through no fault of their own. They produced a really nice dressage test, but Phoenix unexpectedly came up lame and they were unable to continue. Natalia handled an incredibly disappointing situation with maturity and put her horse first, which matters way more than any result on paper.
Alycia Smith and Kitchen Table had their weekend end early on cross country after a solid start in dressage and over the beginning of the course. Championships don’t always go according to plan, and sometimes you take the experience home with you and come back better prepared for the next one.
And although Emma Manning and RWS Sure Shot did not make the trip this weekend due to preexisting scheduling conflicts, Emma also earned a qualification at Starter this season and absolutely deserves to be recognized for qualifying alongside her teammates.
I’m especially proud of how our riders handled both the highs and the disappointments this weekend.
Congratulations — qualifying and getting here was an accomplishment all on its own, and I’m proud to have you guys representing team RWS!!!
