May 4, 2025, Myakka City, Florida. Female US athletes filled the top four slots in the Zen Elite CDI3* Grand Prix Special on Sunday, May 4, at TerraNova. Katherine Bateson Chandler led the charge, though it was by the slimmest of margins, a theme of the weekend, over second-placed Kasey Perry-Glass.
Bateson Chandler of Wellington, FL, rode Jennifer Huber’s 13-year-old mare Haute Couture to 69.468%. Perry-Glass notched 69.362%, with three of the judges placing her and Diane Perry’s 13-year-old gelding Heartbeat WP (by Charmeur) first. The judges also had a hard time choosing between Bateson Chandler and Perry-Glass in Friday’s qualifying grand prix, with the two athletes posting identical 68.087% scores.
In the Special, Katie Duerrhammer clinched third with 68.404% despite riding in one of the heaviest downpours of the day. It was her first CDI with Vividus QRE, a 10-year-old gelding by the Blue Hors Zack son Zaladin MI who was formerly campaigned by Danish Olympian and current world number one Catherine Laudrup-Dufour. Vividus was acquired by Kylee Lourie in late 2024 as Duerrhammer’s LA 2028 Olympics hopeful.
Bateson Chandler took over the ride on Haute Couture from Dinja van Liere, who was reserve for the Dutch team for the Tokyo Olympics with her. This victory marked the duo’s first win in a little over a year, helped by the eights they were awarded for the piaffe. Their high score came from the judge at B, Luxembourg’s Christof Umbach, who awarded the ride 72.447%.
“We had a bit of a weather situation with quite heavy rain, which was a bit of a challenge,” explained Bateson Chandler. “My horse has a little bit of character to her sometimes, but she handled it absolutely fantastically. I was trying to ignore the pouring rain in the warmup and still ride my ride and ride determined, so I was super happy.”
Bateson Chandler has ridden the mare by Connaisseur x Krack C for almost three years. The forging of the new partnership was not totally smooth, but she has finally unlocked the key to the sensitive horse.
“I’ve started taking care of her myself and it’s made the biggest difference,” she explained. “It’s been quite a challenge on my time because I have a busy business, but it’s been well worth it. We have a really tight relationship now; I groom her myself and take care of her and I know it sounds corny, but we’ve bonded that way. We also do quite a bit of groundwork which is something we added into the program last year. I do that all myself every day and it’s made a huge difference.”
Bateson Chandler usually spends summers with her trainer Carl Hester in England and travels to shows in Europe, although her plans for this summer are yet to be finalized. She is no stranger to top facilities the world over and was full of praise for TerraNova.
“You can’t really beat it as a facility,” she said. “The stabling here is an A++, the footing is perfect, the management is awesome, the sponsors are great, and you get really well taken care of. It’s fantastic.”
New Personal Best for Shoemaker
In the para classes, it was freestyle day in all grades. After two solid mid-70s scores this week, Grade IV athlete Kate Shoemaker pulled off a gloriously harmonious test with Vianne to score 81.208% and register the highest score of the combination’s career, and of the show. They scored nines across the board for music and interpretation and were the overall champions of the CPEDI.
Shoemaker teamed up with the nine-year-old Vitalis x Ramiro’s Bube mare in early 2024 to vie for a place on the US team at last summer’s Paralympics, where they secured individual bronze in the Freestyle despite being a new combination.
“We rode the freestyle and choreography that was originally planned for Paris last year, but I was too worried about making a mistake so I rode an easier choreography [at the Paralympics],” said Shoemaker, who runs her own veterinary practice in Wellington, FL.
“Today putting it all together and having it work really well felt like a win. We took our feedback from the judges throughout the weekend and were able to polish some of the pieces. Overall, I was delighted with Vianne. I’m really honored that I’m able to have her in my life. She’s a very special horse that’s opening a lot of doors for me that I never dreamed were possible.
“This is my first time at TerraNova and it’s probably my favorite show grounds now,” added the 37-year-old who suffers from white matter lesions which cause motor control dysfunction, muscle weakness, and spasms on her right side. “I really appreciate that they have a horse and people first approach.”
Vianne is another horse to come through Catherine Laudrup-Dufour’s stables. She was bred in the US by Catherine Haddad and contested the World Young Horse Championships under Hope Beerling in 2023. She then remained in Europe where the ride was allocated to Laudrup-Dufour. Haddad’s NorCordia then partnered with Shoemaker for a shot at Paris. Since then, Shoemaker has secured full ownership of the mare and plans to compete her in able-bodied grand prix, which will be Shoemaker’s first time at the level.
It has been an emotional year for Shoemaker as she lost her 2022 World Championship medal-winning partner Quiana in January when the 11-year-old mare broke her hip and could not be saved.
In the Grade II Freestyle, Shoemaker’s student Fiona Howard ensured three wins from three starts on Hof Kasselmann’s 12-year-old Diamond Dunes (by the Dancier stallion De L’Or) at TerraNova with a 74.634% performance. Their scoresheet included a nine for their music from judge at E, Karen Pavicic.
Pavicic also richly rewarded Rebecca Hart’s ride on El Corona Texel in the Grade III Freestyle, giving it 75.4%. Hart and Rowan O’Riley’s experienced 16-year-old Wynton gelding, whose career has taken in Paralympic, World Championship and World Equestrian Games medals, finished on a total of 70.756% after a year away from competition.
Marie Vonderheyden continued to cement her fairly new partnership with Karin Flint’s eight-year-old Fürstenball gelding Fan Tastico H. In the Grade I Freestyle they laid down 74.722%, with a slight jog at the end of the extended walk suppressing the score. In the para grading system, Grade I is for athletes deemed to have the greatest level of impairment.
Cynthia Screnci rode her own eight-year-old For Memory 4 (by For Dance x Destano) to 72.367% in the Grade V freestyle, the division for the least impaired athletes. Screnci was a successful showjumper until an accident shattered her ankle and led to a bone infection and 26 surgeries.
Sunday’s classes concluded competition in TerraNova’s May CDI and inaugural CPEDI. International dressage returns to the venue after a summer break, with a World Cup qualifier show scheduled for October 16-19.
Words by Alice Collins for TerraNova Equestrian Center
