Tanya Strasser-Shostak Wins Florida International Youth Dressage Championships

The CDI 3* competition continued at the Adequan® Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) on Saturday with the FEI Grand Prix Special, presented by Stillpoint Farm, and the FEI Intermediaire-1, presented by Peacock Ridge. In addition to professional competition, the sport’s brightest young stars were recognized in the Florida International Youth Dressage Championships, presented by Dressage4Kids, to wrap up the evening.

Competition for the AGDF 7 CDIO/CDI 3* concludes on Sunday with the FEI Intermediaire-1 Freestyle and FEI Grand Prix Freestyle, beginning at approximately 10:15 a.m. at The Stadium at PBIEC.

Tanya Strasser-Shostak, 18, was crowned Overall Champion of the Florida International Youth Dressage Championships, presented by Dressage4Kids, for her total high score of 136.403% in the FEI Young Rider division with her own Action Tyme, a 14-year-old Oldenburg gelding.

Scroll to continue with content

Of her victory, Strasser-Shostak said, “I’m very happy. Obviously, I had a really good weekend and my horse was always as the same page as me. He’s always trying, so it’s just great to have such a successful weekend.”

Action Tyme has been the perfect schoolmaster for Strasser-Shostak after spending plenty of time in the Grand Prix ring with Strasser-Shostak’s mother, Evi Strasser.

“[He’s taught me] so much. I’m so lucky that one day he can let me do the grand prix stuff, the next day we can go back to Young Riders, and the next day we can go hacking. Nothing fazes him, so he’s taught me everything,” Strasser-Shostak remarked.

Strasser-Shostak, who has competed at the AGDF since its inception in 2012, credited her experience at the show as a large part of her success. “There’s so many things that we can’t as young riders normally have, with the big rings, the atmosphere. It’s just nice that we can have this experience here. It’s very convenient, and the facility is great,” Strasser-Shostsak commented.

She continued, “It’s prepared me. Last year, I showed here with a different horse in Young Riders and also with Action a bit. It’s definitely prepared me for the Young Rider Championships and the Canadian championships. I don’t know if I would have won the bronze medal if I hadn’t had the same experience. I may not have had the same success. It’s nice that everything can come into one place.”

FEI Grand Prix Special

Karin Pavicic (CAN) and Don Daiquiri, a 12-year-old Oldenburg gelding co-owned by Jayne Essig and Pavicic, picked up their second win of the week in the FEI Grand Prix Special on Saturday afternoon. The pair topped the class with a score of 70.000%. American Laura Graves rode her own Verdades to second place, finishing with a score of 68.706%. Jill Irving (CAN) completed the top three with Degas 12 and a score of 68.667%.

Pavicic was hoping to reach 70% with Saturday’s test and was very excited to have achieved that benchmark. “That’s what I was hoping for and I met my goal. I’m so thrilled. I couldn’t be happier with my horse. I love my horse, he was fantastic,” Pavicic beamed.

Pavicic was pleased to see Don Daiquiri come out of the barn a little fresher than the previous day after carefully managing his warm-up time in the Florida heat. After an over-rotated canter pirouette on Friday, Pavicic was happy to improve on that portion of the test in particular.

“The pirouette to the one tempis to the pirouette is difficult, one of the more challenging parts of the test, and I feel we rode that quite well today. I over-rotated on my first canter pirouette yesterday, and that almost happened again today, but I caught it in time and was able to ride the one tempis out. I thought my second pirouette was especially good. In general, he was just super obedient and super rideable,” Pavicic commented.

Pavicic traveled to the AGDF all the way from Vancouver and was incredibly grateful to have her best friend, Carmen Barber, by her side in Wellington. Pavicic’s family has been following along via livestream, but she acknowledged it’s been difficult to be away from them. Her double victories this week have made the hardship worth it.

“It’s a dream come true!” Pavicic said of winning both FEI Grand Prix classes during AGDF 7. “Absolutely. It’s unbelievable.”

FEI Intermediaire-1

Lisa Wilcox (USA) and Galant, an eight-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding owned by Jacqueline Shear, topped the FEI Intermediaire-1 on Saturday morning with a score of 69.649%. Second place went to Neve Myburgh (GER) and Lexington Star for their score of 68.421%. Catherine Malone (USA) rounded out the top three with Uno Don Diego and a score of 66.798%.
Wilcox was surprised to see that Galant was actually spookier during the daytime after competing under the lights of The Stadium earlier week for the FEI Prix St. Georges.

“Interestingly enough, he was more looky in the daylight,” she confirmed. “It was like all of a sudden he saw flowers that he didn’t see at night and so I had a few more things to work through when I was in there, but otherwise he was very confident in the movements besides the lookiness. Other than that, I’m very pleased. He’s very confident. It’s his first CDI, so very good!”

For Wilcox, the highlight of their test was their canter work. After a small bobble in the extended trot that Wilcox acknowledged was her fault, she was pleased with Galant’s solid canter zig-zags and pirouettes.

Like Wilcox, Myburgh acknowledged her horse was actually more lit up during the day time competition, but she was pleased that Lexington Star also held it together despite being relatively inexperienced.

“He’s only been doing Prix St. Georges and I-1 for the last three months and this is his second CDI, so I’m really happy with him. He’s a generally very spooky horse, so hats off to him for getting past the flowerpots!” Myburgh smiled.

Champion Results for Florida International Youth Dressage Championships

FEI Pony
Rider, Country, Horse: Pony Team Score, Pony Ind. Score, Total
1 Katrina Sadis, USA, Poldy 10: 66.838%, 67.154%, 133.992%
2 Hanna Benne, USA, Helluva Dream Maker: 59.188%, 60.732%, 119.920%
FEI Junior
Rider, Country, Horse: Junior Team Score, Junior Ind. Score, Total
1 Bebe Davis, USA, Fievel Mousekewitz: 66.441%, 67.588%, 134.029%
2 Bebe Davis, USA, Rotano: 66.937%, 65.965%, 132.902%

FEI Young Rider
Rider, Country, Horse: YR Team Score, YR Ind. Score, Total
1 Tanya Strasser-Shostak, CAN, Action Tyme: 67.368%, 69.035%, 136.403%
2 Laurence Tetreault, CAN, Michelangelo: 63.860%, 67.719%, 131.579%

Brentina Cup/Under 25
Rider, Country, Horse: Int B Score, YR GP Score, Total
1 Melanie Montagano, USA, Ga Deva: 57.548%, 58.558%, 116.106%
2 McKenzie Jenkins, USA, Quincas: 57.381%, 56.442%, 113.823%

FEI Grand Prix Special CDI 3*

Rider, Country, Horse, Age, Breeding: Judge E%, Judge H%, Judge C%, Judge M%, Judge B%, Total %
1 Karen Pavicic, CAN, Don Daiquiri, 12-year-old Oldenburg gelding owned by Jayne Essig, Nedstatte III x Don Cardinale: 69.804%, 69.510%, 71.275%, 70.588%, 68.824%, 70.000%

2 Laura Graves, USA, Verdades, 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding owned by rider, Liwilarda x Florrett As: 68.235%, 67.451%, 69.706%, 68.235%, 69.902%, 68.706%

3 Jill Irving, CAN, Degas 12, Degas 12, 12-year-old Hanoverian gelding owned by rider, Rosana M x De Niro: 68.333%, 68.137%, 70.784%, 67.745%, 68.333%, 68.667%

4 Tom Dvorak, CAN, Viva’s Salieri W, 13-year-old Hanoverian stallion owned by Augustin Walse, Salinja x Viva Voltaire: 65.392%, 67.941%, 66.863%, 68.333%, 71.078%, 67.922%

5 Diane Creech, CAN, Devon L, 14-year-old Hanoverian gelding owned by Leatherdale Farm, Wibranda x De Niro: 68.039%, 67.255%, 66.078%, 69.510%, 64.706%, 67.118%

6 Devon Kane, USA, Destiny, 11-year-old Danish Warmblood gelding owned by Diamante Farms, Rubenstein I x Diamond Hit: 64.706%, 65.882%, 64.902%, 64.706%, 64.902%, 65.020%

7 Franziska Sedil, SUI, Sigalia, 15-year-old KWP gelding owned by rider, Foske x Kigali:
60.686%, 64.216%, 62.059%, 65.294%, 63.529%, 63.157%

FEI Intermediare-1 CDI 3*

Rider, Country, Horse, Age, Breeding: Judge E%, Judge C%, Judge M%, Total%
1 Lisa Wilcox, USA, Galant, eight-year-old Belgian Warmblood owned by Jacqueline Shear, Bellisima x Escuro: 67.632%, 70.658%, 70.658%, 69.649%

2 Neve Myburg, GER, Lexington Star, 11-year-old Hanoverian gelding owned by Joanne Trout, Diana x Londonderry: 66.842%, 69.211%, 69.211%, 68.421%

3 Catherine Malone, USA, Uno Don Diego, 11-year-old Danish Warmblood stallion owned by Iron Spring Farm, Uno Fredericia x Dressage Royal: 63.158%, 69.868%, 67.368%, 66.798%

4 Bent Jensen, USA, Saracen, 12-year-old Oldenburg stallion owned by Michael Bitely, Damoiselle x Sciitar: 65.623%, 68.553%, 66.447%, 66.754%

5 Alix Szepesi, USA, Majco Thunder’s Hattrick, 13-year-old Knapstrupper gelding owned by rider, Jasmin x Thunder Boy: 66.053%, 67.500%, 66.316%, 66.623%

6 Melissa Jackson, USA, Whirlpool, 11-year-old Hanoverian gelding owned by Laura Eyre, Glimmer x Widmark: 68.421%, 62.763%, 65.658%, 65.614%

7 Franziska Sedil, SUI, Winnepuuh, 10-year-old Hanoverian gelding owned by rider, Luna x Weltmeyer: 63.816%, 65.526%, 66.184%, 65.175%

8 Irina Moleiro De Muro, VEN, Wilbur, 13-year-old Hanoverian gelding owned by rider, Darling x Walt Disney: 65.000%, 64.342%, 64.868%, 64.737%

For full results and more information, visit www.globaldressagefestival.com.