United States Eventing Association

Leesburg, Va.—Oct. 11— Heavy rain overnight and into the morning turned the final day of the 2026 USEA/USEF Developing Horse Eventing National Championships into a true test of the young horses' confidence, athleticism, and determination at Morven Park International. When the final scores were tallied in the CCI2*YH-S division, it was MHE Excel Star Noble Ikon, owned and ridden by Morgan Houberg, who emerged victorious, climbing from 11th place after dressage to claim the 6-year-old national championship title.

The Irish Sport Horse gelding (Ganesh Hero Z x Ces Chippy DI), affectionately known as "Niko," entered Sunday's cross-country phase in seventh place after jumping double-clear on Saturday to maintain his dressage score of 34.0. Despite the heavy rainfall and muddy conditions, Niko delivered a clear jumping round across the country, adding just 16.0 time penalties to secure the championship victory.

For Houberg, who purchased Niko as a 4-year-old from Ireland in July 2024, the result was particularly meaningful. Not only was it the first national championship title for the young horse, but it also marked Houberg's first FEI victory.

"I knew going out there that my horse would come home," Houberg said. "He leaves the box and he searches for the flags, but never did I think that he would win it. Today showed me how brave he is."

Niko's boldness was one of the first qualities that caught Houberg's attention when she tried him as a youngster, even if his enthusiasm for jumping occasionally outweighed his willingness to listen.

"He liked to run off at fences when I tried him. I had no brakes," she laughed. "He saw the fence, his ears went up, and he ran at them. And I was like, I can fix the rest."

Since then, the pair have steadily progressed through the levels, including an appearance in the USEA 5-year-old Young Event Horse (YEH) Championship last year. Houberg spent much of the spring focusing on Niko's education through show jumping lessons and cross-country schooling before beginning his FEI career at the CCI1* level in April. As his confidence and strength continued to develop, Houberg found that Niko was increasingly eager to take on bigger challenges.

"To be honest, he just got really strong and just kept telling me that he wanted to jump bigger fences and didn't seem fazed by stepping up," she said.

That confidence proved especially valuable on Sunday. Houberg had already walked the course in the downpour and knew the conditions would be far from ideal, but she was prepared to adjust her plans based on how Niko responded.

"I kind of figured if at any point, if he gave me signs that he was losing confidence out there, that I would pull him up," she explained. "But I kind of feel like at this point in his career, he needs to feel when it's not perfect. Regardless of winning or not, there might come a day when it does matter a little bit more, and he will need to feel good going out there."

Niko answered the challenge, giving Houberg further confidence in his future. She jokingly shared that she had texted her team back home following the competition to announce that Niko was now "hurricane broke."

With the season now complete, Houberg plans to focus on preparing Niko for a move up to the Intermediate level next year. She also hopes that, if finances allow, the pair might eventually make the trip to France for the FEI WBFSH Eventing World Breeding Championship for Young Horses at Le Lion d'Angers.

Another USEA YEH graduate who demonstrated remarkable determination in Sunday's difficult conditions was the Westphalian mare HM Belterra (Bandelero JSF x Murray Hillbilly XX), ridden by Chris Talley and owned by Kimmy Risser who co-bred the mare with Jim Rankin, who finished in second place. The pair began the championship in 12th place following dressage on a score of 35.3 but steadily climbed the leaderboard throughout the weekend. A double-clear show jumping performance on Saturday moved HM Belterra into ninth place heading into cross-country.

Affectionately known as "Terra," HM Belterra has proven herself to be a versatile young athlete with an eagerness to tackle whatever challenges are presented to her. Just two weeks before Morven Park, the mare competed at the Preliminary level at the Jump Start Horse Trials during the week before making a special appearance in a hunter derby that weekend.

The hunter outing was a longtime wish of Risser's, whose breeding program at Hickory Manor has produced successful hunter prospects. Although Talley had initially resisted the idea of taking Tara into the hunter ring, the opportunity to make her breeder's dream a reality proved too tempting to pass up.

"All I really care about is getting one photo of her looking like a derby horse," Talley recalled Kimmy saying. "It was probably the fastest derby anybody's ever seen, but in typical Terra fashion, she jumped beautifully."

With heavy rain creating muddy footing and standing water throughout the course at Morven this weekend, Talley admitted to having reservations about running the young horse at all.

"My plan up until tacking her up was to not run," Talley said. "I tried to do everything in my power to find a reason not to given all the elements. But with the young horses, I think there comes a moment where you have to test that, and for me it's better to test it at a Preliminary or two-star versus at the Kentucky Five-Star, which is kind of the end goal for the young horses."

Despite Terra's naturally bold disposition, Talley emphasized that her strong sense of self-preservation was an important consideration in making the decision to compete. Rather than committing to completing the course regardless of the conditions, Talley planned to assess how the mare felt throughout the warm-up and adjust accordingly.

"She is a very game horse, but she has probably the most self-preservation in a horse that I've ever ridden, which is an incredible quality," Talley explained. "I never want to put any of my horses in a bad situation. But especially with Terra, she's careful, she's bold, she's scopey, and she does have that self-preservation. So my thought was today that if at any point in the warm-up or walking down or anything she questioned me at all, I'd save her for another day because I do think she's one of the nicest young horses I've ridden, and I think she has the potential to go all the way."

Cooley Night Owl, an Irish Sport Horse gelding (Dignified Van't Zorgvliet x Barnadown Looks) owned and ridden by Brittany Crandall, completed the championship in third place. The 6-year-old, known as "Arlo" around the barn, entered Sunday's final phase in second place on his dressage score of 29.3 after producing a double-clear show jumping round on Saturday.

"I think that cross-country course was the most difficult one I've ever done just due to the weather conditions and the ground," Crandall said. "I've never done anything like that with my horse in terms of weather conditions, footing, and then of course adding his first two-star in there, so he dug in deep and he got it done. It's my first time running him in mud like that too, and I thought he handled it really well. It was a very good learning experience as well, for both of us."

Crandall imported Cooley Night Owl from Ireland in November 2024 after discovering him during a trip to find her next eventing partner. At the time, the then 4-year-old had primarily competed in show jumping and had limited cross-country experience.

"I found Arlo on the last day at the last hour, and I just immediately knew he was the one," Crandall recalled.

The pair began their eventing partnership at Beginner Novice in the spring of 2025, gradually progressing through the levels before contesting the USEA 5-year-old Young Event Horse East Coast Championship that fall. This season, Cooley Night Owl continued his education at Modified and Preliminary, with Morven Park serving as an important milestone in his development.

"He's a very cuddly, affectionate, loving guy. Very easy to ride and a really good jumper, in my opinion," Crandall shared. "He's taken a little bit longer to develop in the cross-country. He's just been a little spooky with ditches, but he's really come along this year."

For Crandall, the weekend offered plenty of reasons to celebrate beyond the third-place finish. Cooley Night Owl earned a personal-best score of 29.3 in his first CCI2* dressage test and followed it with a double-clear show jumping performance, a phase Crandall admits causes her the most anxiety. As an adult amateur who balances a full-time job with eventing, seeing her hard work with Arlo pay off throughout the weekend was particularly rewarding.

The experience also gave Crandall confidence in her plans for Arlo's future, which include a potential CCI2*-L at Virginia later this month before continuing his progression toward the Intermediate and CCI3* levels next season.

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