By Alice Collins for Wellington International
Wellington, Fla. – January 25, 2026—The concluding day of the third week at the 12-week 2026 Adequan® Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) in Wellington, FL, hosted the first qualifiers in two developing horse tours as well as the freestyle classes in the para international held alongside the CDI5* show.
Locally based rider Kate Shoemaker (USA) took the overall para championship for her three performances on her own 10-year-old Vianne (by Vitalis), culminating in a 78.892% in the CPEDI3* Grand Prix Grade IV Freestyle, giving them a total of 222.975 points, and the title.
Kate Shoemaker, Overall Champion of the Wellington CPEDI3*. Photo ©Centre Line Media
Marie Vonderheyden (USA) logged three plus-70% scores on Karin Flint’s nine-year-old Fürstenball gelding Fan Tastico H in the Grade I ranks to take the reserve champion’s sash with 221.339.
Marie Vonderheyden, Overall Reserve Champion of the Wellington CPEDI3*. Photo ©Centre Line Media
Both third-placed Grade V athlete Cynthia Screnci riding For Memory 4 and fourth-placed Grade I competitor Roxanne Trunnell aboard Rumour Has It also put down a trio of plus-70% tests, underscoring the depth of U.S. para dressage talent. Shoemaker, Screnci and Vonderheyden were joined by Grade III rider Hannah Kingsley to make up the U.S. Para Dressage Team at this CPEDI3*.
Shoemaker, who suffers from muscle weakness and spasms on the right side of her body, began the show feeling ill but rallied to increase her scores as the CPEDI went on.
“The week started out a bit rough, and the first ride didn’t go very well [69.398% in the Grand Prix A Test]; I almost needed her to do the test for me,” said Shoemaker of the American-bred Vitalis daughter. “We’ve been together two years, and our partnership has gotten so close. I’ve never had a horse like this; she’s so special with the biggest heart.
“When I first rode her in Denmark, Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour said she thought we were a gold medal partnership. We didn’t quite pull off the gold medal [at the Paralympics] in Paris, but we did medal in the freestyle. Since Paris, once that pressure was off, we were able to relax and just do the best training we could. Everything has really blossomed, and it’s exciting.”
Wellington was host to a CPEDI3* during the third week at the 2026 Adequan® Global Dressage Festival. Photo ©Centre Line Media
This CPEDI was Vianne’s first international show in seven months, and Shoemaker is priming her to peak for the FEI World Championships in Aachen, Germany, in August.
“Everybody is starting to feel the pressure of selection, and we’ve got to get scores,” continued Shoemaker. “We’re thankful that this show was added to the schedule. It’s tough for the organizer to add it in a five-star week, but it turned out to be incredible for the horses because the atmosphere was so big.
“Even if some people didn’t have their best ride on the first day, it pays off in the end because it’s an experience you can’t replicate,” she added. “It’s good for the riders and good for the horses, as well as for the community because they get to see what it’s all about.”
U.S. Para Dressage Chef d’Equipe and Technical Advisor, Michel Assouline, said, “Everybody’s on a good path and really showing improvement. You could see that on the first day—and with it being a January show—that things are a little rusty. That’s normal. Some of them haven’t been competing for months. Here, with feedback from top international judges, it just gives the riders a guide of where they need to be.”
Developing Horse Classes
In the first of five qualifying classes in the Buffalo Wild Wings Prix St. Georges Future Challenge for developing small tour horses aged seven to nine years old, a group of five nine-year-olds lined up to vie for one of the two qualifying spots on offer in the week 11 final.
Neve Myburgh & Firiet. Photo ©Centre Line Media
The first rider down the centerline, Germany’s Neve Myburgh, took top honors, riding her own Franklin x Ehrentanz I mare, Firiet, to 69.412% and the first qualifying ticket of the season. Second-placed Hope Cooper (USA) snagged the second ticket on Jane Karol’s Quartz 7 gelding, Quintus G, with 68.029%. Hope Beerling (AUS) sealed third on Sarah Colson’s Esquire WS (by Escolar) with 65.706%.
Firiet, a State Premium mare and full sister to the licensed stallion Fusionist, has been competing at national Prix St. Georges level with Myburgh for almost a year.
Neve Myburgh & Firiet are presented as winners of the Buffalo Wild Wings Prix St. Georges Future Challenge. Photo ©Centre Line Media
“She’s a sweetheart and an absolute trier,” said the rider who is based in Loxahatchee, FL. “She’s got three great gaits and can really use her hind end. This morning, she knew something was up and was tearing around her paddock bucking and I thought, ‘Oh my goodness. I hope I have enough horse left for the test this afternoon in 86-degree heat.’
“I had a really good feeling today,” she continued. “She’s always been good with the atmosphere, but her rideability was much better today. I absolutely love the opportunity to ride in this amazing atmosphere in front of CDI judges. Where else does one get an opportunity like that? It’s fabulous to recognize the young horses and their development.”
Hope Beerling & Dynamic Diva. Photo ©Centre Line Media
In the first qualifier in the La Donaira Lusitanos Future Challenge series for five- and six-year-olds, Beerling rode her own Dynamic Diva (Dynamic Dream x Vitalis) to an 80.8% and booked their place in the week 11 final.
Hope Beerling & Dynamic Diva are presented as winners of the La Donaira Lusitanos Future Challenge. Photo ©Centre Line Media
Click for full results from AGDF3.
Sunday’s action wraps up competition in AGDF 3. Dressage returns with a CDI4* and national rated show during AGDF 5 (February 4-8). The 2026 AGDF, which hosts seven weeks of CDI competition over three months, runs through March 29. For more information, results, and to live stream the classes in the International Arena free of charge, visit www.wellingtoninternational.com.
