By Alice Collins for Wellington International 

Canadian riders showcased their up-and-coming horsepower by taking two of the top-three places in the Buffalo Wild Wings Future Challenge Prix St. Georges qualifier on Sunday, February 9, the closing day of action during week five of the 2025 Adequan® Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) in Wellington, FL.

Of the 13 starters, it was Canada’s Belinda Trussell who triumphed on Susan Zucker’s 15.3hh Quantensprung x De Niro mare Quincy, clocking up 71.412%. Mares were on fire in the class, filling four of the top five places. Hope Beerling (AUS) finished runner-up on Mariye Inouye’s eight-year-old Top Gear daughter Top Gem with 69.823%. Brittany Fraser-Beaulieu’s mount, Jill Irving’s Leeghwater, was the gelding that broke up the party; the nine-year-old by Franklin x Tango logged 69.794% for third place.    

The class is held in the main stadium arena, allowing developing horses aged seven to nine years old to compete in a ring usually reserved for international classes but without the pressure of a CDI and the obligation to stable at the showgrounds. The top two combinations in each qualifier advance to the series final in week 12. 

Quincy was bought from the Klosterhof Medingen auction when she was four. 

“My farm manager Carl spotted her in the catalogue and said she looked like a mini version of Susie’s heart horse mare, Willow,” said Trussell, a two-time Olympian. “It was during Covid, so I had a friend go and try her and she said she had great basics. It was flukey because we weren’t really looking. 

“She’s amazing, she’s all business and my purpose is just to ride her well,” she continued. “One thing that makes a top horse is that when they’re tired or it’s a new environment—she’s never been in an environment like this—they dig deep, and that’s what she does. She gives an incredible feeling because she’s so with you.” 

Trussell described Quincy as “a sports car”, saying, “She’s so compact yet supple and handy. She reacts quickly, turns on a dime, you can ask her to sit, you can ask her to go forward, and she has amazing natural balance. It all feels easy for her and I’m grateful to have a horse like that under me. I really feel that she loves the work; this morning she ran into the trailer.”

Trussell is eyeing some small tour CDIs in Canada over the summer, but the loftier goal with the talented little mare is the Olympics. 

“That’s what I want for her—you never know, but hopefully it will go to plan,” she added. “My plan here [at AGDF] was to qualify for the Future Challenge finals. It’s such a great class and I’m so grateful to the organizers and sponsors because to get the young horses in this ring without the CDI pressure at this stage is such a gift.” 

Full results from the Buffalo Wild Wings Future Challenge FEI Prix St. Georges qualifier.

King Reigns Supreme 

Chantal van Lanen (NED) got one step closer to her 2025 goals when she won the CDI2* Intermediate II, sponsored by Donato Farms. She rode breeder Rene van Erp’s 10-year-old Governor x Johnson gelding King Ve to 67.735% in the horse’s debut CDI, adding to her victory in the previous day’s Intermediate A class. 

Van Lanen has been a regular vacationer to Wellington for the past decade, but this is her first year competing at AGDF. She hopes to step the expressive King Ve up to grand prix imminently, and has her sights set on unveiling her new freestyle during ‘Friday Night Stars’ before the season is out.  

Click for full results from AGDF 5. 

Sunday’s action wraps up week five of the 12-week 2025 AGDF. International competition resumes in week seven (February 19-23), as well as weekly competition in the national rings. AGDF hosts seven weeks of CDI competition over three months, finishing March 30. For more information and results, visit www.globaldressagefestival.com.