Photo: MD-bred Cakewalk in the lead going into to final day of the Training Rider division. PC USEA.
The third day of competition at the 2026 American Eventing Championships saw champions crowned in seven divisions, changes on the leaderboard after the Training cross country rounds, and new starts for all of the Novice entries. Two Maryland-bred horses and four Maryland riders finished the cross-country phase, and two Maryland-bred horses and four Maryland riders completed their dressage tests.
CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL SCORES
Intermediate: Fifty horse-and-rider pairs started in the Intermediate division on Wednesday but only 41 of them completed the competition today. One horse and two riders fell on the cross country course, one rider retired, one withdrew, and the 6th suffered a technical elimination. Today, two riders were eliminated in the stadium and a third withdrew.
- Point Nemo and Carlin Keefe had pulled themselves up from 24th place out of 50 after dressage to 6th place out of 44 after cross country. Show jumping, however, got the best of them today. They were one of the two pairs eliminated because they incurred 20 jumping penalties, which is a compulsory retirement from competition.
- Quiberon was 49th after dressage but moved up to 42nd place out of 44 after cross country. His final score was 38th, which represents a highly successful come-back for his rider Charlotte Collier who has faced one obstacle after another over the last few years.
Preliminary Amateur
- Wonderful Courage was 7th out of 15 after dressage and moved up to 4th out of 11 after cross country. One rider fell on course, one rider retired, and one rider suffered a technical elimination. He had 8 jumping penalties today in stadium and finished the competition in sixth place overall.
Open Preliminary
- Tracy Bienemann and Menlo Park were 9th after cross country but they incurred time penalties in stadium to end in tenth place out of 18. You can watch a video of her stadium round here.
Modified Amateur
- Magnific c’Imagination was 3rd out of 18 after dressage, and she is 3rd out of 16 after cross country. The pair had eight costly jumping penalties in stadium today which dropped them down to finish 14th overall.
- Similarly, Ameristan was 4th after cross county but also suffered costly jumping penalties. She incurred 4 penalty points to drop down to 13th place.
Modified Rider:
- Ryan Keefe and Quality Outlaw were the only member of Team Maryland to make it through the Modified stadium course without any jumping penalties today. Seventeen other riders in the Modified Rider division did incur jumping penalties today, which pulled Keefe and Quality Outlaw up from 12th to end the competition in sixth place.
- Emma Whitaker and Sing to Me Cooley were not quite so lucky. They incurred four jumping penalties to fall from fourth place after cross country to finish out in eighth place.
STANDINGS AFTER CROSS COUNTRY
Advanced: There were a lot of leaderboard changes after the Advanced cross-country phase today. No riders made the time, one fell off, and two retired.
- Woodge Fulton and Cash Point went from 15th place after dressage to 8th place after cross country. They incurred no jumping penalties and 21.2 time penalties.
- Bonaire came up to 11th place from 21st after dressage. They also had no jumping penalties and recorded 16.4 time penalties.
- Tracy Bienemann was the unfortunate rider who fell off on course today. She and Venezuelan River were in 19th place coming out of dressage but the influential first water jump managed to unseat her.
Training Horse
- Crescenda and Linden Wiesmen were in fifth place out of 24 after dressage and are in fourth place after cross country, during which they had no jump penalties and no time penalties.
- Woodge Fulton and Balou du Etoiles were third after dressage. They incurred 2.8 time penalties on the cross-country course which was enough to drop them down to tenth after cross country. All nine pairs who finished ahead of them made the time.
Training Rider
- Cakewalk was third after dressage and she and Catharine Ramsey put in a tremendous cross county ride to put them in the top spot going into the final phase. The second placed pair, however, is less than a rail behind them. Can Cakewalk keep the lead tomorrow? Could she be the Maryland-bred who wins a championship title this year?
Training Amateur: The Amateur Training division took a hit on cross country day. Of the original 48 starters; two riders fell, one withdrew, one retired, and two were eliminated on technicalities.
- Jessica Goldberg and America Runs on Duncan were 19th out of 44 after dressage but pulled themselves up to 14th out of 38 after cross county, despite 2.4 time penalties.
- Donald Ruths and Raven, who were 40th out of 44 after dressage, also climbed up the leaderboard from 40th to 20th after cross country. They incurred neither jump penalties nor time penalties.
Junior Training
- The only Maryland rider in the Junior Training division, Kendall Fraser (who was 20thof 27 after dressage, not the 9th out of 27 that we reported yesterday), rode an error-free cross-country course to put her in 9th out of 22. One rider fell, one rider retired, and three riders were eliminated – one for exceeding 100 jumping penalties and the other for receiving 60.
STANDINGS AFTER DRESSAGE
Novice Amateur Master:
- Arlo Bello is the only Team Maryland entry in the Novice Amateur Master division tomorrow, and he is standing in 11th place on a score of 34.3. He will be out on the cross country course at 12:12 p.m.
Novice Amateur:
- Dayna Blumel and Brave Sand Rider are 40th out of 43 after dressage on a disappointing score of 39.1. If the cross country scores from the other divisions are any guide, however, Blumel and her Thoroughbred will likely climb up from that, barring unforeseen happenings.
Novice Junior
- Kelsey Klein of Owings Mill and Simply Starbucks, her 2012 Clydesdale gelding (Charitable Man x So Francie) – both part of the Full Moon family – are 6th after dressage with a score of 31.6. They start on cross country at 8:14 a.m.
Novice Rider
- Amy Gaynor and Studly Dudley are in 12th after dressage on a 31.6. Their cross country start time is 10:08 a.m.
- Mallory Gaines and Land Rush are 17th out of 48 on a competitive score of 31.9, only 0.3 behind Gaynor. They start cross country at 10:02 a.m. They have the advantage of Thoroughbred speed and endurance to pull them up in the jumping phases.
- Elizabeth “Liz” Espinosa and Benediction are 22nd out of 48th after dressage on a score of 32.8. Her cross country time tomorrow is 10:32 a.m.
- Silver Bop, is 25th after dressage. He scored a 33.2 and starts cross county tomorrow at 10:44 a.m.
NEW STARTERS ON FRIDAY
The Beginner Novice divisions get under way tomorrow. Five Maryland-bred horses and eight Maryland riders will go down center line. This level is a popular one so USEF added a Beginner Novice Master Amateur division and a Junior Beginner Novice (Under 14) to accommodate everyone.
Jr Beginner Novice (Under 14)
- Lillia Rodgers, a member of the Talbot Run Pony Club (which her grandparents founded and where her mother is the lead trainer and head instructor), is competing in this division with a dressage time of 9:12 a.m. She will be on her 2012 grade American Quarter Horse gelding Rockin Roscoe, with whom she won the Junior Beginner Novice division at the Hunt Club Farms Horse Trial in Virginia this past May.
- Rhetorical Question G, a 2013 Hanoverian mare (Rotwing x She’s a Witch (Silver Ghost)) bred by Julie Hagen of Bascule Farm in Poolesville and ridden by Arabella Armstrong of Port Matilda, Pennsylvania, is on a roll this year. She has won three Beginner Novice horse trials and has come in second in two more. Rhetorical Question G starts her dressage test at 9:36 a.m.
- BW Sir Samuel, a 2020 Oldenburg gelding (Sir Sinclair x BW Raina (MD) (Royal Prince)), bred by Linda D. Santomenna of Blue Waters Farm in Chesapeake City and ridden by Alexa Sestokas from Sparks Glencoe, enters the arena at 9:48 a.m. This is the first year that BW Sir Samuel has competed in sanctioned competition; he made his debut in April at the Loudoun Hunt Pony Club Horse Trial in Virginia. Despite his relative inexperience, BW Sir Samuel and Sestokas won the Junior Beginner Novice division at the Maryland Horse Trials at Loch Moy Farm on July 10 and placed second at the Loudoun Hunt Pony Club competition in June.
Beginner Novice Rider
- Ashley Behler, who owns Tara Equestrian in Sykesville, is competing her homebred 2014 Dutch Warmblood mare Jubilee (Riverman x Noblesse Oblige (MD) (Consul)) in the Beginner Novice Rider division. The pair moved up to Novice this season, but because their AEC qualification is at Beginner Novice we will see them come down centerline at 11:06 a.m.
- Gina Franz of Owings Mills, a dedicated “Full Mooner” and member of the Fulton’s team in Finksburg, will ride her 2007 Thoroughbred gelding Jack in the Box in this division. The pair just moved up to Beginner Novice last season and they have spent this year competing around the state, including a third-place finish at Maryland Combined Training Association Horse Trials at Shawan Downs in May. Her dressage time tomorrow is 11:18.
Beginner Novice Junior
- Ella Riley of Ellicott City will take her 2019 Irish Thoroughbred gelding Master of Illusion (Pointillist x Ricardos Imp (Master Imp xx)), who was imported to the U.S. in 2022, into the dressage ring at 11:36 a.m. Master of Illusion won his very first competition, which was the Full Gallop Farm mid-February horse trial in Aiken, South Carolina, in 2024 with Fylicia Barr of Cochranville, Pennsylvania. Riley is a member of the Iron Bridge Hounds Pony Club.
Starter Amateur
- Stephen Fulton, the farrier-in-residence and co-owner of Full Moon Farm in Finksburg, is keeping his daughter Woodge Fulton company at the AECs by bringing his imported 2012 Dutch Warmblood gelding FMF Asparagus, registered name “Google” (Querlybet Hero x Carthagena Z (Carthago)), to compete in the Starter Amateur division. His dressage test is at at 11:36 a.m.
- Laura Wilson, who owns Mustang Eventing in Forest Hill, brought her adopted Mustang – One Ear Wonder – to the AECs to compete in the Starter Amateur division. One Ear Wonder is missing his left ear. He was born wild in 2019 and lived in the Twin Peaks managed area on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land on the California-Nevada border. BLM believes he lost the ear during inclement weather. One Ear Wonder came east in November 2024 to join Wilson. This is second trip to Kentucky with Wilson. She took him to the $50,000 Mustang Classic Championship at the Kentucky Horse Park in 2025 and rode him against 30 other horses in the Adult division. It’s no wonder that One Ear Wonder’s one ear didn’t hold him back – they won! Wilson and One Ear Wonder enter the dressage arena tomorrow at 3:30 p.m.
Photo: One Ear Wonder showing off his wonderful one ear. PC Mareish Media.
Starter Rider
- Katrine Davis from Hanover is the only representative of Team Maryland in the Starter Rider division. She will be on Carla Lindsay’s 2007 grade APHA gelding, Paint Misbehavin’, and their dressage ride time is 1:48 p.m. This is not the pair’s first rodeo – they competed in the 2024 AECs as well, placing 11th out of 35 in the Starter division. Paint Misbehavin’ is a reliable campaigner on the Maryland eventing scene. Carla Lindsay rode him in his first sanctioned competition in 2020 at Full Moon Farm. The pair followed that up by winning the Beginner Novice Rider division at Sporting Days in South Carolina in March 2021, and he won his next two outings after that. Davis began competing him in 2024. Since then, they have won at Shawan Downs in June 2024, at the Maryland Horse Trials at Loch Moy in July, and at Full Moon Farm in November. The pair posted three wins over the 2025 season, and this year they won the Full Moon’s Aloha Horse Trials in June.
Jr Starter
- Sydney Santos from Derwood is one of two Maryland entries in the Junior Starter division tomorrow. Santos rides out of Windsor Manor Stables in Sandy Spring and only started riding in sanctioned horse trials this year. Her first competition was with her 2016 grade APHA mare Sweet Frijoles at the Southern Pines in North Carolina in March. They placed 7th out of 14. They won their second time out at Waredaca on May 2, and they won again less than a month later at Shawan Downs. Santos and Sweet Frijoles enter the dressage ring at 2:54 p.m.
- Our last Team Maryland competitor tomorrow is Accordingly (AHS Name Florduroy), a 2016 Hanoverian gelding (Florianus II x Conteah (MD) (Contucci)), bred by Phoebe DeVoe-Moore of Glen Arm and ridden by Shelton Repetto of Malvern, Pennsylvania. Accordingly has been competing in recognized horse trials since 2021 and has been up through Training with Amanda Beale, also of Malvern. Now he is bringing the next generation of event riders up the levels. Accordingly takes Repetto down center line at 3:24 p.m.
CHAMPIONSHIP FINALS TOMORROW
Five American Eventing Champions will be crowned tomorrow after the final show jumping rounds are finished in the Advanced, Training Amateur, Training Horse, Training Rider, and Junior Training divisions.
The order-of-go will be in reverse order of standing. The Training group starts at 10:30 a.m. The Advanced group starts at 6:30 p.m. under lights.