18 Year Old Kerrigan Gluch has taken 8 year old Vaquero HGF to the top of the nation at the Young Riders Division. In July, the pair achieved a Bronze Medal in the YR Freestyle at the North American Junior Young Riders Championships in Lexington, KY—an International Championship for youth riders from all of North America. Following that, the pair went on to become Young Riders Reserve National Champion at the USEF Festival of Champions held at Lamplight in August.
Vaquero HGF is a 2007 American-bred PRE from Hampton Green Farm, and both Vaquero and Kerrigan are new to the Young Rider level, which is the Prix St. George. Kerrigan trains with Wellington-based Oded Shimoni. Kerrigan and Vaquero have been USPRE High Point winners in Florida on multiple occasions.
In the past, other PREs have achieved national status—in 2011 and 2013, Rachel Chowanec and Embrujado were Reserve National Champions at Juniors and Young Riders respectively, and in 2007 USPRE member Margaret Carrera’s Rociero XV took the Bronze nationally at Grand Prix with Kristina Harrison as rider–proving that PREs are highly competitive choices for dressage riders.