Molly Martin and R U 4 Me Win 2026 U.S. Developing Grand Prix Horse Championship

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2026 U.S. Dressage Championships

Text Eurodressage, quotes USEF - Photos © US Equestrian

Molly Martin and R U 4 Me became the winners of the Developing Grand Prix Horse Championship held at the 2026 U.S. Dressage Championships in Wayne, ILL, on 26 - 28 August 2026.

The Developing GP Horse Championship is the "Louisdor Cup" of the U.S.A. The championship consists of two rounds - the Intermediare II and USEF young horse Grand Prix test - and scores are totalled to decide the final ranking.

Only eight qualified combinations decided to make the trip to Lamplight equestrian center near Chicago, ILL, which left the field rather sparse.

Martin and R U 4 Me Top the Board

Molly Martin (Scottsdale, Ariz.) and her own R U 4 Me became the overall champions and title holders for 2026, taking over the torch from Quinn Iverson and Gremlin who won in 2025.

Martin and R U 4 Me, a 2016 U.S.-bred Oldenburg gelding by Rosenthal x Uphill, started their championship bid with a win on Wednesday in the Intermediate II on 66,078%, which gave them a large margin to lead going into the Grand Prix. The second placed pair - Lauren Chumley and Leeloo Dallos - scored 64,559%.

In Friday's second round, a USEF young Grand Prix horse test, they were second with 66,990, behind Chumley (67,824%), but their overall average after two rounds was the highest.

Martin credited the win to R U 4 Me's reliability under pressure, even when the pair had to work through some trickier moments in the ring.

"He is the sweetest, kindest, most giving horse I have ever known," Martin said. "He has struggled in the past with the changes, but if we get that right, everything is very reliable," she explained. "He works so hard to please me. I knew he had to just clock off how we would be at home."

That work ethic, she added with a laugh, comes with a simple incentive: "He works for cookies," she shared.

R U 4 Me is bred by German Hannah Heritage in the U.S.A. and was first shown in 2018 by Hannah Salazar in a halter class for two-year olds at 2018 Virginia Summer Dressage. The bay sold to Molly Martin, who debuted him as a 6-year old in 2022 at training level. Within one year she moved him up to five levels, riding him in his first Fourht level test in November 2022.

Martin and R U 4 Me are no strangers to the U.S. Championships at Lamplight. In 2022 they finished 9th in the 6-year old division at the U.S. Young Horse Championships for 6-year olds to finish 10th. They had their CDI debut at small tour level at the CDI Del Mar in April 2024 and placed 14th in the 2024 U.S. Developing Prix St Georges Horse Championships. They returned to that division at the 2025 Festival of Champions and were 8th.

Leeloo Dallas Runner-Up

Reserve champion honours went to Lauren Chumley (Pittstown, N.J.) and Leeloo Dallas, her own 2016 U.S.-bred KWPN mare (by Gaspard de la Nuit DG x Negro), who posted a score of 67.824% in the USEF Developing Grand Prix test after their second place in the Inter II with 64,559%

Chumley and Leeloo Dallas were the $25,000 Anne L. Barlow-Ramsay Grants recipients for 2024 and trained with Michael Bragdell in Florida the winter of 2025. Leeloo Dallas, who was purchased by Lauren as a foal and named after the female main character played by Milla Yovovich in the movie The Fifth Element, is bred by Racheal McKinney.

The duo made its international show debut at small tour level in May 2024 and moved international medium tour level at the 2025 CDI Devon. This is the fifth, consecutive year that the pair has competed at the U.S. Dressage Championships. They were 14th in the 6-year old division in 2022, 12th in the 7-year old division in 2023, they won bronze in the small tour championship in 2024, they were 8th in the Developing Grand Prix Horse Championship in 2025, and this year they got silver.

Bronze for Eden and Bianca SQF

Rounding out the podium in third place was Lesley Eden (Erie, Colo.) and Bianka SQF, her own 2016 U.S.-bred Hanoverian mare (by Bon Coeur x Soliman de Hus). The pair was third in the Inter II with 64.167% and third in the developing GP horse test with 66.759%.

Though a regular at the Festival of Champions at Lamplight, Eden managed to get herself back on the podium for the first time at on a major U.S. National Championship since becoming the 2001 North American Young Riders Champion. She grew up and was based in Florida at the time, working with Anne Gribbons. Picasso was her career starting horse which she took into the Under 25 (Brentina Cup division). In 2018 she mvoed to Colorado, where she established her own training business. Eden has not shown internationally in the last two decades.

The first horse she rode bred by Jill Peterson at StarQuarry Farm (SQF) was Fortissimo SQF (by For Compliment x Rotspon), which she debuted in Florida in 2015 and brought along to Coloroda with her. The horse is now owned by Debi Elliott. Rachel Pennington's 2014 born Hanoverian mare Francesca SQF (by Fidertanz x Belissimo M) joined Eden's string in 2022 after being show in Texas by Sara Sasso Toolin in 2018 through 2019.

Bianka SQF is (wrongfully) listed as bred by German Rolf Deecke but was reared by Petterson. The mare got first shown by Celina Collins in 2020 before Lesley took over the ride in 2021. She produced her up the levels and finished 11th at the 2024 U.S. Developing Prix St Georges Horse Championship. A year later they were fifth in the same division.

The Dallas, TX based breeder Jill Petterson unfortunately passed away in August 2025 and did not get to see Bianka win bronze. Petterson did celebrate great breeder's success when she saw her Faro SQF win team silver at the 2019 Pan American Games. Rider Nora Batchelder took him to Grand Prix level and then sold him to Caitlin Farnambucq in 2025.