Roxanne Trunnell and Dolton Make Triumphant Return to AGDF During Week 6 National Competition

The 2022 Adequan® Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) continued with week 6 national competition from Friday, February 18, through Sunday, February 20, which included top competition of all levels at Equestrian Village. The 2022 AGDF continues through March 27.

On Friday, spectators were treated to the return of United States Paralympic Gold Medalist, Roxanne Trunnell and her Paralympic mount Dolton, owned by Flintwoode Farms LLC and Karin Flint, to the show ring for the first time since their golden performance in Tokyo. They executed a beautiful test in the Para Equestrian Team TOC and followed that up on Saturday with an equally splendid test in the Para Equestrian Individual TOC class to come away with wins in both.

2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games individual gold medalists Roxanne Trunnell and Dolton competing at 2022 AGDF 6. ©susanjstickle.com

Dolton, a 10-year-old Hanoverian gelding by Danone I x Londonderry, received scores in Friday’s test of 82.678% from the judge at C Debby Savage (USA) and 84.642% from the judge at B Sandy Osborn (USA) for an overall score or 83.660%. In Saturday’s test, Dolton and Trunnell earned a score of 80.000% from the judge at C Kem Barbosa (USA) and 81.428% from the judge at B Debby Savage for an overall score of 80.714%, more than five points ahead of second place finisher Charlotte Merle-Smith (USA) who scored 75.293% with Guata.

“Dolton felt outstanding. He always is so relaxed on the Global show grounds that he gives me the feeling he really is enjoying what he does, and how the horse feels about his job is always a top priority for me,” commented Trunnell. “I think the best part of my tests were the serpentines. Dolton is such a big horse that the serpentine really allows him to swing through his body and bend, plus he gets to really show off that drool-worthy, sexy walk of his.”

Friday’s FEI Prix St. Georges class was won by Julie McKean (USA) with Fling For U, a 13-year-old Swedish Warmblood mare by Blue Hors Don Romantic x OO Seven, with a score of 73.823%. They garnered praise for their lateral work, notching scores of eight on both the half-pass to the left and to the right and were able to just edge out Vanessa Creech-Terauds (CAN) and Daniel L who scored 73.529%.

In Saturday’s FEI Prix St. Georges class, there were 11 competitors in the open section where Christopher Hickey (USA) rode to the win with 72.794% aboard Valentin, a 10-year-old Swedish Warmblood gelding by Dalwhinnie x Regazzoni. Their consistent marks across the test propelled them to the top spot, just ahead of Adrienne Lyle (USA) and Nexolia Feodoro, who scored 72.353%.

Seven riders contested the open section of the FEI Grand Prix class, but it was Eliane Cordia van Reesema (USA) who excelled from start to finish with Codiak. Codiak, a 13-year-old Rheinlander gelding by Cristallo 7 x Carabas, demonstrated exceptional passage and pirouettes for marks of eight, which boosted his score with Cordia van Reesema to a 74.239%. Second place went to Lisa Marriott (GBR) and Valucio DH Z, who finished with 69.347%.