After a riveting day of team competition and impressive performances from riders across the board, the Otterbein University Dressage Team was named the 2023 Diller Equine IDA National Champion — the third consecutive national title for the team, which also took home the title in 2019 and 2022. (Competition was suspended in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.) 

Concluding on April 23 at the Virginia Horse Center, the National Championships saw 26 schools from around the nation compete in individual and team competitions, with 12 schools competing to be the IDA National Champion.

Riders Valerie Golden, Jenna McPeek, Emma Young, Aubrey Dickens, and coach Jennifer Roth earned Otterbein $10,000 worth of hay feeders from Diller Equine and went home with Collegiate saddles from Weatherbeeta Group, custom jackets from Sew You Custom Gifts, and a coach’s shadbelly from Kerrits.

Otterbein’s riders performed well at the individual level, as well. Two of the Dressage Team’s riders, Riley Leibeck and Valerie Golden, were National Champions in respective levels. Here are the full individual results:

• Riley Leibeck: Upper Training Level in Equitation, 1^st place
• Valerie Golden: First Level Individual, 1^st place 
• Kalin Macqueen: First Level Individual, 7^th place 
• Jenna Mcpeek: Upper Training Individual, 6^th place 
• Elliana Linn: Lower Training Individual, 3^rd place 
• Taoni Hickey: Lower Training Individual, 8^th place
• Hannah Mohler: Intro Individual, 6^th place

Congratulations to Otterbein’s outstanding Dressage Team!