The United States Equestrian Federation announced the nominees for the 2023 USEF Horse of the Year and Equestrian of the Year Awards and only one dressage rider and no dressage horses have been nominated.
Dressage in the U.S. has clearly taken a step back in 2023 after its glory days when Steffen Peters, Laura Graves, and Adrienne Lyle were serial USEF award winners.
Horses of Honor and Equestrians of Honor are nominated by their USEF affiliate organization or USEF breed or discipline committee, and the finalists are selected by the USEF Awards Committee. The final Horses of the Year and Equestrians of the Year are determined by member voting.
The dressage nominee who was able to catch the attention of the USEF Awards Committee is highly decorated U.S. para dressage rider Cynthia Screnci. She is in the running for the Becky Grand Hart Trophy is presented to international-level non-Olympic athletes.
Cynthia “Cindy” Screnci began competing in para dressage in 2019 and has steadily improved as an athlete, serving as an ambassador for the discipline. In 2023, she collected eight Grade V wins at the Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) with Sir Chipoli. The pair also helped the U.S. Para Dressage Team win the AGDF week nine CPEDI3*. Screnci continued to earn top two finishes in Grade V classes throughout the spring and summer with Sir Chipoli and For Memory 4.
Screnci and Sir Chipoli headed to the U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions with high hopes as they competed in the US Para Dressage Championship. They won two of their three classes and earned a personal-best score of 76.783% in the Grade V Para Grand Prix Freestyle to earn the national champion title. Next, Screnci traveled to the Tryon Fall Dressage 3 CPEDI3*, where she won all three of her Grade V CPEDI3* classes with Sir Chipoli as well as each of her two Grade V CPEDI2* classes with For Memory 4. As the 2023 competition season came to a close, Screnci was the US Year End Award winner in Grade V with Sir Chipoli.
In addition to her competition results throughout the year, Screnci has served on the USEF International Disciplines Council, as an athlete representative on the USEF Para Dressage Sports Committee, and on the USEF Human and Equine Safety & Welfare Committee.
The International and National Horses of the Year will be announced at the 2023 USEF Horse of the Year Awards Dinner on Saturday, Jan. 13, and the International and National Equestrians of the Year will be announced at the 2023 Pegasus Awards Dinner on Sunday, Jan. 14, at the 2024 US Equestrian Annual Meeting in Louisville, Ky.
Related Links
Cynthia Screnci Wins 2023 U.S. Para Dressage Championship
Fairytale Week in Tryon for U.S. Grade 5 Para Champion Cindy Screnci, Dreaming of Tokyo
Lauren Asher Loans West Side to U.S. Para Champion Cynthia Screnci