Gold is in the Details: Fuqua and DreamGirl…
Gold is in the Details: Fuqua and DreamGirl Go Undefeated at NAYC
EQUINIUM SPORTS - Traverse City, MI (August 12, 2024) - Proving herself once again as one of the most talented young dressage riders in the country, Kat Fuqua was awarded triple gold medals last week during the 2024 Discover Dressage/FEI North American Youth Dressage Championships (NAYC). She and the 16-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare DreamGirl (Spielberg x U-Vira x Goodtimes) scored Gold Medals for her rides in the FEI Individual Test (70.97%) and Freestyle (74.35%), as well as secured Gold for USDF Region 3/4 with the highest overall score of the day's team competition, alongside teammates Jessica Nordvquist and Allison and Alicia Berger. Fuqua credits her long-term success in the saddle to her mom, Shereen Fuqua, who not only supports her as a rider through their Atlanta-based Collecting Gaits Farm, but also served as her coach and trainer for the prestigious Youth Dressage Championships for the past two years.
Fresh off the U.S. Dressage Young Rider European Tour, which included a 5th place finish at the prestigious Aachen CDI, Fuqua and DreamGirl returned home and headed almost immediately to Michigan to contest the NAYC. Working with international household dressage names like the Kasselmans, Frederic Wandres, and more during her European stay, Fuqua was focused on consistency and precision during her second year competing at the NAYC. Throughout the weekend, she never scored below 70%, and her Individual Test marked a personal best at 70.618%. In her Freestyle, the pair scored another personal best of 74.355%, with a technical score of 70.950% and an artistic score of 77.760%. For her efforts at NAYC, Fuqua was also awarded the Fiona Baan Memorial Trophy for having the highest combined score of the 3 Championship classes. Mom Shereen Fuqua, a former FEI dressage competitor herself, trained both her daughter and DreamGirl to the triple Gold in 2024 and to Gold, Silver, and Bronze at the 2023 NAYC.
"I like how my mom trains, especially how she makes us do a lot of preparation for each movement," said Fuqua. "We do lots of forward and back transitions to make sure the horse is on the aids, and things like spiraling in and out before the canter pirouettes. I think it paid off really nicely for us this time because DreamGirl was super focused and exceptionally responsive to my seat."
Fuqua went on to say while DreamGirl isn't the flashiest or most spectacular mover, her consistency and a focus on the mare's strong suits helped deliver the winning scores. "The highlight of DreamGirl's test is her tempi-changes, especially the three tempis. They are super easy for her, and for such a small horse she has a very big, expressive, and balanced change that really lends itself to amazing tempis. She also loves the extended canter; I don't even need to aid her for it anymore, she knows when it's coming and gets really excited to perform. By focusing on these things, especially in the Freestyle where we can accentuate certain movements, I think we just had an exceptional week in Traverse City. I couldn't be more proud of her, or more thankful to the entire team that makes it happen including my mom, groom Pepe, my teammates, sponsors, and all of the people behind the scenes who really make it all happen."
With three gold dressage medals under shadbelly, Fuqua sets her sights on a busy fall season in Europe. Her international jumping resume will add six shows with her 2012 Holsteiner gelding Nate Archibald (New Quidam x U-mareike x Casco 4), where her short term goal will be consistently clear rounds in the 1.45M 2-star classes. Long term, Fuqua has her sights set on 1.50M and 3-star divisions, as well as campaigning her own 7-year-old mare Favilia PS in the 1.25M Young Horse Division with aspirations for the 1.30M.
About Kat Fuqua
As a Grand Prix Dressage & Grand Prix Jumper, Dressage USA FEI YR Gold Medalist, and Nations Cup Bronze Medalist, Kat Fuqua is expected to be America’s most decorated and versatile equestrian. She is currently ranked 9th in the world for FEI Young Riders Dressage with her own KWPN mare, DreamGIrl, and has an extensive resume of multi-discipline success.
At age 10, Fuqua won her first national championship at USEF Pony Finals, repeating the win twice in the following years. By age 13, she racked up multiple national Grand Championships as a JR Hunter at the country’s most exclusive shows: WEF, Devon, Harrisburg, Washington, and Nationals, with multiple mounts and under the tutelage of Coach and Trainer Jimmy Torano. By then she had also added the jumpers and dressage to her repertoire, training and commuting now for eleven seasons in Wellington, Florida. She has collected numerous titles including 9 USEF Horse of the Year awards, 12 WEF Circuit Champion Awards, and 2 Show Hunter Hall of Fame Awards, before being named to USEF Emerging Athletes Program at 14-years-old for Dressage, where she added FEI Gold, Silver & Bronze medals to her showcase in 2023.
That year, she moved to Germany’s Driehof in Tecklenburg, teaming with Performance Sales International of Hof Kasselman and Schockemöhle. Fuqua completed her first Grand Prix Show Jumping class by age 15, and her first Grand Prix Dressage by 16. She trains with Schockemöhle's Andreas Kreuzer for show jumping. By the spring of 2024, Kat competed in 6 Grand Prix competitions with her Nate Archibald and Schockemöhle’s 8-year-old gelding Constantine. Finishing 5th out of 51 after the jump off in Herford, Germany's CSI2-star Grand Prix, she competes with the professionals in her show jumping divisions, placing 14-16 out of over 80 competitors. She trained in dressage with Germany's Frederic Wandres for the ‘23-‘24 Wellington season, and then with Hartmut Lammers in Germany through her Aachen campaign.
Kat attended Holy Innocents Episcopal School for 12 years, recently changing to ICL Academy as a rising high school junior. Her favorite subject is French. Since 2021 and at the age of 14, Fuqua began writing a regular column for Elite Equestrian magazine which she continues to this day. She has a fervid love for all things fashion and couture, and blends both her equine career and interest in high fashion into multiple cover photo shoots for magazines and with famous photographers.
While she competes and trains seasonally in Wellington and Germany, Kat is based at her family’s Collecting Gaits Farm in Atlanta, Georgia. With unbound determination, Fuqua is poised to redefine what an equestrian athlete can achieve with the support of her show manager and groom ‘Pepe’ Escobedo, her parents and world class trainers.
