March 9, 2025 – Ocala, FL – The 2025 Florida Youth Dressage Championships presented by Discover Dressage and Hampton Green Farms honored the overall and division champions at World Equestrian Center – Ocala (WEC) on Sunday, March 9, during the WEC March Dressage CDI4* presented by Hampton Green Farms. Sixteen-year-old Lark Heckman of Ocala, FL, rode her horse Franzissimo to the overall championship in the 2025 Florida Youth Dressage Championships in her first Fédération Equestre International (FEI) competition.
In their first test, the Junior Team competition, they scored 63.818%. They added a score of 67.529% in the Junior Individual competition, and with a third score of 67.295% in the Junior Freestyle, won the championship. With the scoring used for the junior division and above, her team and individual scores counted for 40% and her freestyle score counted for 20%, which gave her an average score of 65.959% for the overall championship.
Heckman found Franzissimo, a 10-year-old Oldenburg gelding by Franziskus x Belissimo M, a year ago when she went to Wellington, FL, looking for an equitation horse. Heckman only competed in the hunter/jumper discipline, so she was unfamiliar with dressage. But having tried “Mo” and seen him in his element of dressage, she decided to keep him as a dressage horse and began training with Nicky Buckingham.
Franzissimo, a licensed stallion in Germany, was gelded and brought to the U.S. Mo had not shown in the U.S. until Heckman began competing him in April 2024 at Training Level Test 1. They ended up qualifying for the US Dressage Finals, where they won the Training Level Championship in November. They then completed Second and Third Level tests, and Heckman received her U.S. Dressage Federation Bronze Medal.
Two weeks ago, Heckman and Mo did their first Junior Level test at the national level, including their first freestyle, where they had their music from this week’s FEI freestyle – designed by EquiDance and set to music by the Swedish rock band Ghost – but a completely different floorplan.
“The music suits his personality,” said Heckman. “When we play the music, he fires up and gets into it and loves doing it. He does get excited sometimes, which is why we had the mistake in today’s freestyle and cantered during the trot half-pass.”
While Heckman showed in the hunters this past summer with her trainer Kim Burnett, Mo is the only horse she currently owns. She plans to continue her dressage career and has set goals of qualifying for the North American Youth Championships and the Festival of Champions.
“Dressage has been fun and different,” she said. “Mo did Prix St. Georges, so he taught me how to do everything. I like that dressage is more technical. I always rode equitation because of that, and I enjoyed flat work, so now it’s a mix of both. My other goal is to take him through Young Rider Grand Prix. He isn’t trained that far, but we are beginning to introduce it at home.”
This was Heckman’s first experience at the Florida Youth Dressage Championships, and she said her overall win was exciting and unexpected. “I’ll definitely be back next year for it,” she confirmed. “It’s really nice that Discover Dressage and Hampton Green Farm put it on for us. Their support and dedication to youth dressage is great.”
Gianna Foley (USA) rode Happy Khan, her own KWPN gelding by Zhengis Khan x Jazz, to the Children’s division championship in their second FEI competition together. The pair, who are the same age at 13 years old, scored 69.465% in the Children’s Preliminary Competition – B test, 68.975% in the Children’s Team competition test, and a personal best of 68.496% in the Children’s Individual competition test. The Children’s division counts the average of technical score of the three days’ competition, giving Foley an overall score of 64.700%.
The Young Rider division championship went to 18-year-old Cheyenne Duncan (USA) and Skikkild’s De’Nozzo, her own 11-year-old Danish Warmblood gelding (De L’Or x De Noir). In their first FEI Young Rider show together, they scored personal bests of 65.971% in the Young Riders Team competition test and 65.383% in the Young Riders Individual competition test. Since Duncan did not compete in the Young Rider Freestyle class, she was ineligible for the overall championship.
International dressage returns to WEC – Ocala on April 9-13, 2025, with CDI4* competition as well as USEF/USDF-rated classes. See the full 2025 dressage competition calendar at WEC – Ocala here.