2022 WA State Championships

It has been all systems go in WA for the last 4 weeks, hosting the 9th annual WA Friesian Warmblood Horse of the Year and the Dressage State Championships. We had the most spectacular weather for both events (even if the mornings did start a bit sketchy for both events), and the quality and number of horses were some of the best yet! Even better than that is the phenomenal sportsmanship and camaraderie that is constantly demonstrated at our events. In the week following the shows, we always receive so many positive comments and feedback on how inviting and supportive our events are; so congratulations to all our WA members on making these such amazing experiences for one another!

For 2022 we decided to step it up a bit, separating the Horse of the Year and the Dressage events, and due to some incredible sponsors we were able to put on the Best Performed/WA State Champion, which was the cumulative results from both events. For our first event, he held the led and the ridden classes, presenting the State Champion, Runner Up, 2nd Runner Up and Top 5 across each gender. Then each of our State Champions presented for Grand Champion. Also awarded were Owner Handler/Rider, WA Bred, Best Presented/Smartest on Parade and Newcomer awards. We had so many incredible sponsors and were able to put on so many amazing prizes! We welcome 3 judges, all with EA judging accreditation, this year and introduced a points by placing system which seemed to be very well received by those who attended.

While the full results will be posted in the newsletter, we want to say congratulations to the Geldings who stole the show. Grand Champion Led went to Lokenzo Park Royal Knight, owned by Kelly Thomas, shown by Stephanie Smith, and Grand Champion Ridden went to Mystic Oh My Black Knight owned and ridden by Joanne Lee.

Moving to our dressage event, we invited 3 EA accredited dressage judges, and all tests were judged by 2 judges. While this day was a little more relaxed, it was still so exciting seeing so many members put in so much effort presenting their horses and themselves to the highest standard. This event hosted the State Championships for the Friesian Warmbloods and Friesian horses; however we also invited outside breeds and incredibly proud to see our members compete so well in open competition as well. State Champion results were: