BURBANK — After four days, six rings, and nearly 1,500 rides scheduled to come down centerline, final championship titles were awarded Sunday and the competition officially entered the record books as the largest edition in the 47-year history of the Annual California Dressage Society (CDS) Championship Show, held in conjunction with the Great American Insurance Group/USDF Region 7 Dressage Championships, Sept. 25 – 28.

“This Championship show has been great,” said CDS President Kevin Reinig. “The turnout has been unbelievable, the level of competition has been amazing, and everyone has worked so well together to make this show happen. I think dressage is thriving in California, and this show is a reflection of that trend.”

In the hotly-contested Open First Level Championship, the top three placings were separated by less than .2 points. Kim Elsner of Moorpark, riding Teri Young’s bay PRE mare Nexus GG, took the top score of 71.694%.

Jan Ebeling and Anne Romney’s Hanoverian gelding Bakari have been unbeatable at Open Fourth Level during the weekend, winning the Region 7 Championship on a score of 72.875%, while hometown rider Khara Johnson of Los Angeles rode her Westfalen gelding, Furst Dance, to a decisive win the Adult Amateur division with a score of 72.875%. Mette Rosencrantz of Topanga and Anne Solbraekke’s elegant Hanoverian gelding, De Noir 3, have earned multiple FEI wins in the small tour, and Sunday they added the Open Intermediaire I Championship with a score of 71.382%. Meanwhile, in the Adult Amateur division, Adrienne Bessey of Thousand Oaks added an Intermediaire I Regional Championship title to her Friday CDS Horse of the Year Prix St. Georges victory by earning a score of 70.329% on her Danish mare, Dido.

Juniors and Young Riders also competed across multiple Region 7 championship divisions. Shelby Rocereto of Livermore, and her Dutch mare, Chapeau, scored a top First Level score of 73.548%, while Paris Richman of Monte Nido rode her Hessen gelding Il Primo Toscano to victory with a score of 63.782% at Third Level. Paige Dobbie of Moorpark competed with her Dutch gelding, Romulus, to win the JR/YR Prix St. Georges Region 7 Championship with 68.092%, while Genay Vaughn of Elk Grove also finished off her weekend with a win in the JR/YR Grand Prix division aboard Starr Vaughn Eq. Inc.’s Hanoverian stallion, Donarweiss GGF, with a 65.450%. In the USEF Dressage Seat Medal Semi-Final 13-under division, Alexa Brown and her adorable Haflinger gelding, Tigger, charmed the judges with their dressage skills for a winning score of 78.000%. Already the recipient of the CDS Equitation Challenge trophy, Kelsea Nataren of Chino Hills and her Welsh gelding, ME Imagine, also won the 14-18 Dressage Seat Medal Semi-Final on a score of 76.000%.

The last round of coveted CDS Horse of the Year titles were awarded, and in a hard-fought battle for the CDS Open Training Level Horse of the Year honors, Kristina Harrison of Burbank and her 4-year-old Dutch gelding, Finley, earned big marks in the second of two tests to take the overall lead and win the Peter and Bonnie Lert Perpetual Trophy with a score of 75.063%. Tiffany Mahoney of Rancho Santa Fe, also scored a come-from-behind victory with her Oldenburg mare, Sans Souci DE, in the Adult Amateur Training Level championship to earn an overall 71.436% and claim the Melissa Creswick Perpetual Trophy. The Full Cry Perpetual Trophy for Adult Amateur First Level was awarded to Kate Mullen of Livermore, who earned a huge score in the first of two classes and couldn’t be caught with Kelly Casey’s Dutch mare, Elnieta, to finish with 72.926%. Lisa Bradley of Aliso Viejo and her Oldenburg mare, Finesse, scored another victory at Second Level for Adult Amateurs and the Two-Tone Malone Trophy for CDS Horse of the Year on an overall score of 72.404%.

Adult amateur Alix Curry will drive north to her home in Pescadero with the Stanford Dressage Club Trophy for Third Level after a winning performance with her Rheinlander gelding, Don Frederic (71.817%), while Carrie Rasmussen of Simi Valley claimed the Fox Run Perpetual Trophy at Fourth Level with her Hanoverian mare, Dolce Bella (68.168%).

Ebeling expertly guided the talented Oldenburg gelding, Santo Domingo, to an average score of 73.197% and a huge win over 32 other entries in the CDS Open Third Level Horse of the Year division, earning his second title of the weekend and the Judith Elias Perpetual Trophy for owner Anne Romney.

Kelly Krambs of Paso Robles is now two-for-two at the Adult Amateur Grand Prix level, riding her Danish gelding Rampart to the Region 7 Championship in successive days to win CDS Horse of the Year honors and the Rubinstein Memorial Trophy on a score of 60.150%.

MORE ONLINE: Http://bit.ly/410A_CDS