It wasn’t hard to tell that Meagan Davis was happy after her winning Young Rider Team Test on Bentley. She was beaming through her last set of tempi changes and coming down the centerline. After her final halt, she threw her arms around Bentley’s neck and patted him profusely.

“My horse was with me today,” Davis said. “It was the most incredible feeling ever.”

Davis, Stone Ridge, N.Y., finished first on 70.21 percent, several points ahead of Mackinzie Pooley on Jonkara (67.52%) and Jillian Kemenosh on Nelzon (66.31%).

Though she’s only 20, this is Davis’ last year as a Young Rider. Last year she was reserve champion at the Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Festival Of Champions in the Young Rider division and Davis was hoping to improve on that placing at this year’s Festival.

It hasn’t always been a smooth road for Davis, who rides with Lendon Gray and Scott Hassler, and Bentley, a 16-year-old Danish Warmblood (Sarel—Sacajawea) owned by Kelly Roetto. At last year’s North American Junior and Young Rider Championships, Bentley sent Davis to the hospital after rearing and hitting her in the side of her face with his poll. She needed seven stitches in her lip and returned to riding Bentley with a renewed enthusiasm for establishing a half-halt.

“He’s an amazing horse, but he can also be very tricky,” Davis said. “He’s come a long way. My first lesson with Lendon consisted of me ignoring everything she said. I didn’t want to tell her that all I could do was just sit there. But now we have half-halts; we have everything.”  

Mackinzie Pooley and Jonkara have been away from their home in Coto De Caza, Calif., for more than a month now, but taking second in the Young Rider Team Test helped alleviate some homesickness. Their first stop was the NAJYRC, where they finished 8^th individually, and then they headed to Gladstone.

“It’s great to be competing in the same arena as all the top riders who are going to the WEG,” Pooley, 17, said. “My goal was to be in the top five and have fun with it.”

Jonkara, a 19-year-old Oldenburg (Rubenstein—Jonkalla) mare, and Pooley have been a team for five years now. They started in the Junior division and moved up to Young Riders last year. Though she said her horse doesn’t have the flashiest trot, her canter work is often a highlight, as was the case in her Young Rider Team Test at Gladstone.

“She was awesome today,” Pooley said. “She trots how she trots. If I can get everything done, I know I’m going to be alright in the canter.”

Tidbits:

– Meagan Davis, Nicole DelGiorno and Katie Foster opted to wear helmets during their rides. “I always wear a helmet, even if I’m just hacking my 18-year-old schoolmaster who’s retired,” Davis said. “Everybody at my barn wears a helmet. It’s a safety issue. These are large animals, and they’re not always tame.”

– Though Davis has a passion for dressage, she’s also invested in other causes. She takes online college courses but also manages Lendon Gray’s Youth Dressage Festival, runs a 12-stall barn at her house and works part-time at a wine store. She also volunteers for a grower’s association, helping increase education for buying and eating local food. “My family was into farming when I was younger, and all my friends are farmers,” she said. “Buying local is very important to me.”

– Third-placed finisher in the Young Rider Team Test, Jillian Kemenosh, started riding at age 5 after a beach trail ride in the Dominican Republic. “My mom signed me up for riding lessons after that, and I fell in love with dressage as I got more involved,” Kemenosh said. “I did my first recognized show when I was 9. It’s been an awesome experience.”

– Ashlee Todosijevic, 20, rode her 13-year-old Fresian gelding, Sjoerd, to fifth place (63.36%) in the Young Rider Team Test. Todosijevic, Crown Point, Ind., started riding Sjoerd 10 years ago when they were both at Intro level. His name is pronounced “Shoe-erd” and they call him “Shoe.”

– Jessica Zoskey was another Young Rider on a horse with atypical dressage breeding. She rode FA Patriot, a 12-year-old Arabian-Friesian gelding, into sixth place (62.94%) in the Team Test. 

– Brandi Roenick, San Diego, Calif., withdrew her horse Nobel in the warm-up.

Full results at FoxVillage.com.