Ali Potasky and Emerging Talent Inxs Are Victorious In Their Debut at the 2024 US Dressage Finals Presented by Adequan®

By Alice Collins for Jump Media/US Dressage Finals

November 9, 2024 – Lexington, KY – It was the final horse down centerline after 13 hours of solid dressage across seven arenas that scooped the day’s richest prize on Friday, November 8, at the US Dressage Finals presented by Adequan®. Ali Potasky and Inxs soared to the top of the leaderboard in the Open Grand Prix Championship with an unassailable 72.391%. The US Dressage Finals presented by Adequan® runs through Sunday, November 10.

Whoops and cheers rang out as Potasky on her own and her boss Kathy Priest’s 11-year-old gelding Inxs (by Everdale x Rousseau) nailed their final halt. The pair are based locally in Versailles, KY, so a small army of fans turned out to watch them claim Friday’s marquee class in their first season at grand prix level and the horse’s debut at Finals. The win garnered them the Veronica Holt Perpetual Trophy, presented by USDF Region 5 and Friends, for their light-footed, harmonious test. Kristin Wasemiller-Knutson and Vashti staked second place with 70.471%, while Nora Batchelder rounded out the top three with a 67.283% test on Faro SQF.

Ali Potasky and the 11-year-old Inxs were crowned the Open Grand Prix Champions with over 72% on the 11-year-old gelding’s debut at Finals. Photo by SusanJStickle.com.

“I had a good feeling in there,” said Potasky. “He’s really a sensitive horse but when he listens — and he usually does — he’s super reliable. He’s the first horse I’ve really ridden at grand prix. I’ve trained the movements with other horses but putting it all together is a different monster. It was exciting to be able to make it all happen tonight.”

Being based just 30 minutes from the Kentucky Horse Park, Inxs has shown at the venue before, but this was his first-ever test in an indoor arena, as all his previous classes have been held outdoors.

“He’s unbelievably reliable in any kind of ring which is funny because he’s super reactive to some things, but I can trust him to not get over faced; when I go down centerline, he’s the same horse everywhere, which is amazing.”

Potasky’s position as last to go in the class was a gift for Inxs as he is afraid of other horses, something Potasky has been working on for the past five years of riding him.

“It was a really lucky draw because the warm-up cleared out. But I schooled in the Alltech Arena yesterday with 12 horses and he was good, so it’s coming together, but it’s been a labor of love,” added Potasky, who will spend the winter in Wellington, FL. “He’s quirky, but 100% honest and loving.”

Small But Mighty

Second to go in a class of 23 starters, Susan McLean watched her score of 69.815% on Bob Marlin go up on the scoreboard and then had an agonizing wait of more than three hours for the Fourth Level Adult Amateur (AA) class to finish. She couldn’t bring herself to look at the scores and told her family not to reveal where she had finished — in the top 10, she hoped. She only discovered that she had won when she collected her sash for the awards ceremony. 

After three decades out of the saddle, Susan McLean was tempted back and won the Fourth Level AA accolade riding the 15.2-hand Bob Marlin to 69.815%. Photo by SusanJStickle.com.

“I was in shock, and I started crying,” said McLean, who travelled 12 hours from her home near Orlando, FL, to Finals. “I’m a little overwhelmed. We had a really good warm-up, but I wasn’t expecting to win. I knew in our canter work that we had it, especially through the flying changes.”

McLean rode as a child, including some dressage on Arabians, then took a 29-year break from horses. She took up lessons with her eldest daughter Bailey and, a couple of years later “the begging for a horse commenced.” They bought Bob Marlin, who is a 15.2-hand Weser-Ems by Bogiboy, from Germany three years ago.

“He wound up being a little too complicated for her, so I started riding him,” explained McLean, who helps run the family business, the juice company Uncle Matt’s Organic. “Bob Marlin is brilliantly smart and all business in the ring. Bailey wants me to turn him into a grand prix horse and then hand him over — we are already starting the piaffe/passage.”

McLean, who trains with Katie Freeman and has never ridden beyond fourth level before, added, “Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would get to do this again, but then I had a kid who restarted it all. We’re making the best memories together.”

Richwine’s Fursten Vino Matures Nicely

It was fortunate that immunologist Amy Richwine did not heed the advice she was given to sell Fursten Vino when he was a youngster. Now eight, the Oldenburg gelding by Fürstenball x Sir Donnerhall has matured into a reliable, capable competitor, and the pair cruised to the AA Second Level Championship with 69.048%.

Amy Richwine ignored advice that Fursten Vino was not a suitable AA horse and won the Second Level AA Championship with 69.048%. Photo by SusanJStickle.com.

“We found ‘Vinny’ when I was shopping for another horse and saw him as a three-week old baby in Germany,” said Richwine, who names all her horses following the wine theme. “I bought him as a weanling shortly after, and I left him there. They started him as a three-year-old, and they told me he was not adult amateur friendly and that I should sell him. Instead, we brought him here and started working with him. He’s been slow to develop, but here we are.

“This was the first time he really let me ride him,” continued the Indiana-based Richwine, who trains with Jennifer Conour and Andrea Bresee. “Vinny loves people and is a pocket pet, although in the ring he’s a little bit of a chicken. He started to spook because he doesn’t like that ring. He looked to me for confidence, and we went for it.”

Richwine, who has a PhD in immunology, works at Elanco Animal Health and counts horses as her hobby, adding, “It’s tough with a lot of late nights riding after work but I love it — and my husband Brad King is an equine vet, so it’s a team effort.”

Out and About at Finals

Behind-the-scenes photos by Chelsey Burris.

Competition resumes on Saturday, November 9, with 14 championship titles up for grabs from First Level to Grand Prix. Follow the action via the USDF Facebook page and the US Dressage Finals website, plus live online streaming of all the action from the Alltech Arena on USEF Network. To learn more about the US Dressage Finals presented by Adequan® and read daily news, visit the official US Dressage Finals event website. Start times and results can be found on www.horseshowoffice.com.

Along with presenting sponsor Adequan®, the US Dressage Finals is supported by Great American Insurance Group, SmartPak® Equine, Platinum Performance, and LeMieux. Contributing sponsors include Cryostride, Hagyard Equine Medical Institute, Premier Equestrian, Sterling Thompson Equine, and Uvex.

About USDF

Founded in 1973, the United States Dressage Federation is a nonprofit membership organization dedication to education, recognition of achievement, and promotion of dressage. For more information about USDF membership or programs, visit www.usdf.org, e-mail [email protected], or call (859) 971-2277.