Devon, Pa. – Oct. 11, 2021 – With Canadian mother-daughter duo Diane Creech and Vanessa Creech-Terauds, Leatherdale Farms performance horses Chrevi’s Christo (Chrevis Cavallo x Chrevis La VI — Matador), Robbie W (Rubin Royal x Rolling Home), and Fleur de Lis L (First Dance x EM De La Rosa — De Niro) made the trip to the iconic Dixon Oval in Devon, Pennsylvania, for the 2021 Dressage at Devon competition. The talented pairs dominated their respective divisions at the historic show, winning each of their entered classes over the weekend to reach a tally of six total blue ribbons.
In their first CDI outing since the conclusion of the Wellington’s Adequan Global Dressage Festival in April, Chrevi’s Christo, an 18-year-old Hanoverian gelding owned by Louise Leatherdale and Creech, took to the ring Friday to kick off the Grand Prix CDI3* competition with Creech in the saddle. The pair secured their first win in the Grand Prix to qualify for the Grand Prix Special with a score of 68.761%, earning high marks for their expressive piaffe and passage, smooth transitions, tempi changes and accurate halts.
Returning to the Dixon Oval on Saturday evening under the stadium lights, Chrevi’s Christo and longtime rider Creech also topped the leaderboard in the CDI3* Grand Prix Special, improving upon their Friday performance with a score of 69.659%. Receiving a score of 8.5 for their entrance, as well as numerous scores of 8 for their one and two tempi changes, canter half-passes and final halt, the combination ended their class schedule in Devon on a high note Saturday night.
“It truly was an exciting weekend to be able to have a perfect show,” Creech said. “Six out of six does not happen too often! We are celebrating the moment. As we all know, horses keep us humble. You are only as good as your last ride. So right now this feels very good.”
Creech also piloted Robbie W, an 18-year-old Oldenburg gelding owned by Leatherdale and Creech, to a first place finish in Friday’s FEI Test of Choice class with a score of 68.152%. The horse-and-rider combination was awarded the blue ribbon in the Test of Choice class on Thursday as well with a score of 66.466%, but returned on Friday to improve upon their score and snag their second win of the week.
In the CDI Under-25 Grand Prix, Fleur de Lis L, a 12-year-old Hanoverian mare owned by Creech and Leatherdale, made a clean sweep of the division with Creech’s daughter Vanessa Creech-Terauds. The pair has had an illustrious career thus far, first building their foundation in the junior rider division in 2016, and moving all the way up to the U25 Grand Prix division just last year. Earlier in the spring, Fleur de Lis L and Creech-Terauds represented Canada in the Wellington Nations Cup where they earned a team gold medal. The pair most recently topped the CDI U25 division at Caledon Dressage in Rockwood, Ontario.
They kicked off the week on Friday with a victory in the Intermediate II 16-25 test, earning a score of 67.147% with consistent marks given by the judges for their extended and collected gaits, flying changes, halts, and general impression. In the following day’s Grand Prix 16-25 test, Fleur de Lis L and Creech-Terauds took first place once again with a score of 65.897% to close out their weekend.
“Chrevi’s Christo and Robbie W felt so focused, and Vanessa with Fleur de Lis L looked fantastic,” Creech explained. “Dressage at Devon is a very special show. It was great to have the stands filled again and the crowd made the night riding light up. We are very grateful, that the Devon Horse Show continued their tradition even during Covid time.
“Mrs. Louise Leatherdale was very pleased to hear all about her boys’ and girl’s success,” she concluded. “We were very happy to share this weekend with her!”
