Tag Archives: Beatrice De Lavalette

US Para Dressage Qualifies for Paris 2024 with Their World Championship Bronze in Herning

Roxanne Trunnell, Kate Shoemaker, Rebecca Hart, Beatrice de Lavalette, and Chef d’Equipe Michel Assouline. Photo courtesy of U.S. Equestrian.

Wellington, Florida – August 24, 2022 – Adequan® U.S. Para Dressage Team continued to prove themselves at another world event with multiple medal wins at the Orifarm Health FEI Para Dressage World Championship held in the BB Horse Arena. The 2022 ECCO FEI World Championships were held August 6-14 in Herning, Denmark. This was the ninth edition of the Games, which are held every four years and run by the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI). These championships which were formerly the World Equestrian Games included jumping, dressage, para-dressage, and vaulting. Eventing, driving, and endurance will be held at a later date. The Adequan® U.S. Para Dressage Team included Roxanne Trunnell and Fortunato H20, owned by Lehua Custer; Kate Shoemaker and her own Quiana; Beatrice de Lavalette and Sixth Sense, owned by her parents Elizabeth and Nicolas; Rebecca Hart with El Corona Texel, owned by Rowan O’Riley; and Chef d’Equipe Michel Assouline. The team had top scores earning them a team bronze, an individual silver, and an individual bronze. They have now qualified the United States for a team berth at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

Kate Shoemaker of (Wellington, Fla.) and Quiana earned a fantastic score in the FEI Para Dressage Grade IV Freestyle, receiving an 80.275 percent. For Shoemaker and her 2014 Rhinelander mare, this was a personal best, winning them the FEI Para Dressage Grade IV Freestyle silver medal. Rebecca Hart (Wellington, Fla.) and El Corona Texel had some new experiences, but the veteran duo secured a bronze medal in the Individual para-dressage championship test grade III. They provided excellent scores for the team helping to secure the team bronze medal. In Grade II, Beatrice de Lavalette (Loxahatchee, Fla.) and Sixth Sense did quite well, placing 4th in both her Grade II Individual and Team tests. Roxanne Trunnell (Royal Palm Beach, Fla.) rode her new mount Fortunato H20. The pair had a great showcase and Trunnell was quite proud of the six-year-old Oldenburg stallion, scoring the pair’s personal best of 76.447 after only a very short time together.

In 2018, the trio of Shoemaker, Hart, and Trunnell made history with their unprecedented four medal wins for para dressage at the World Equestrian Games held at the Tryon International Equestrian Center in Tryon, North Carolina, United States. In 2021, at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, the same trio secured a team bronze medal, Trunnell earned two gold medals, and the fourth current team member in Denmark, Beatrice de Lavalette, was an individual at that 2020 games.

Trunnell noted, “I cannot believe that Fish (Fortunato H20) handled that show as well as he did. The atmosphere at a big Championship is very different from any kind of show he had ever done. It was a big question mark whether he could keep it together for the whole event. He not only kept it together, but he scored above a 75% in only his second International show. Lehua Custer, Karin Flint, Andrea Woodard, and I all took a chance on Fish, and it paid off. Fish is definitely a superstar in the making and we’ll be back for more dancing down the centerline in the future.”

President of the USPEA Tina Wentz was alongside the riders and U.S. staff while in Denmark. She remarked, “The World Championships at Denmark exceeded our expectations and was truly a team effort. Watching each athlete, horse, trainer, and groom give 110% toward producing their best performances was a joy. Beginning at training camp under the leadership of Michel Assouline the athletes showed improvement each day leading up to the first day of competition. The goal was to secure a Team spot for Paris 2024, but the cherry on top was their team bronze, and individual silver and bronze. This definitely would not have been possible without everyone pulling together to help the athletes succeed including their sponsors and horse owners Karin Flint and Rowan O’Riley, Elizabeth & Nicolas De Lavalette, Deena & Craig Shoemaker, Lehua Custer, their trainers, Andrea Woodard, Nicole Wego-Engelmeyer, Jennifer Baumert, and Shayna Simeon, grooms Lillie Durbin, Molly O’Brien, Esteban Quintero, Rafael Hernandez Carrill, along with Chef d’Mission Will Connell, Team Leader Laureen Johnson, Chef d’equipe Michel Assouline, Team Vet Meg Mullins, and team Physio Joanna Frantz. A huge thanks to these and everyone who supported and worked hard to produce this tremendous result. I can’t help but think how proud both Hope Hand and Jonathan would be with the Team’s performances.”

For more information about the USPEA, please visit www.USPEA.org.

Beatrice De Lavalette and Clarc Have a Winning Return during AGDF 9

Beatrice De Lavalette and Clarc. © SusanJStickle.com.

Wellington, FL – March 11, 2022 – On Friday, March 11, 2022, Perrigo CPEDI3* competition presented by Mission Control, Fair Sky Farm, Adequan®, and Nutrena® got underway during week nine of the Adequan® Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) with Para Team Tests Grades I-V.

While Adequan® U.S. Para Dressage team rider Beatrice De Lavalette has competed in national shows since her Paralympic debut in Tokyo last August, her Paralympic mount Clarc made his first reappearance in the show ring this week in the CPEDI3* FEI Para Team Test Grade II. The return was a winning one for De Lavalette and Clarc, a 15-year-old KWPN gelding by Dreamcatcher x Lord Sinclair I, as they earned an overall percentage of 72.848%.

De Lavalette and Clarc, owned by Elizabeth De Lavalette and Nicolas De Lavalette, had only been matched up since October 2020 when they made their nine-month run toward the Paralympic Games. That intense time together and their experience at the Games made for a strong partnership, and they’ve learned a lot from each other.

“I was lucky enough to open the entire competition [in Tokyo], because I was first to go. That was stress added to more stress,” recalled De Lavalette. “Both days [of competition] were great, and we learned a lot in those two days.”

She continued, “Now he’s just a love bug. He’s so sweet. He’s so willing to work and to learn, and he’s just such a good boy. I couldn’t be prouder of him.”

That connection was on full display as judges Carlos Lopes (POR) at E, Adrienne Pot (USA) at C, and Anne Prain (FRA) at M unanimously put De Lavalette and Clarc on top. For De Lavalette, it was the leg yields that were the most impressive part of their test.

In the CPEDI3* FEI Para Team Test Grade I class, Jody Schloss (CAN) rode her own Lieutenant Lobin to a personal best 70.953%. Lieutenant Lobin, an 18-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding by Lobster x Fanal Prydsholm, received consistent marks throughout the test and finished on a strong note, receiving some of their best scores down the final centerline. The emotion was palpable from Schloss, who stood from her power-chair to honor her country’s flag during the awards presentation.

Schloss and “Lobin,” who she affectionately calls “Lobylu,” first paired up in 2015. Schloss admired his big, beautiful walk gait, but it took them some time to fully come together.

“Lobin had to learn to be a para horse and to take care of me. At first he was a bit spooky, but he quickly learned that that was not appropriate behavior,” explained Schloss. “I fell in love with him almost immediately because he has a definite fun-loving personality. He loves to cuddle, and he always makes me laugh with his funny faces when he reacts to something!”

In the CPEDI3* FEI Para Team Test Grade IV, U.S. Paralympic team bronze medalist Kate Shoemaker and Solitaer 40 continued to demonstrate their dominance. Shoemaker and the 15-year-old Hanoverian stallion by Sandro Hit x De Niro owned by Kate, Craig, and Deena Shoemaker scored numerous eights from all three judges across the entirety of their test to earn an overall percentage of 74.208%. Rodolpho Riskalla (BRA) and Rigaudon Tyme earned 69.417% highlighted by the collected trot and canter. Genevieve Rohner (USA) and Phoenix Gwyngalet came in third scoring 58.042%.

Charlotte Merle-Smith (USA) topped the CPEDI3* FEI Para Team Test Grade III test aboard her and Susan Merle-Smith’s Guata, an 11-year-old KWPN mare by Vivaldi x Haarlem. Their test got better and better as they went, ultimately earning a nine and two eights in the final halt from the judging panel for an overall percentage of 69.559%.

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