Ashker Returns to MADFest to Defend CDI3* Freestyle Win
The Virginia Horse Center is where she and Zeppelin posted their personal best in 2025.
Laine Ashker won the CDI3* Grand Prix Freestyle at last year's Mid-Atlantic Dressage Festival, and she and Zeppelin posted their personal best of 73.015% doing it. Saturday, she returns to the Virginia Horse Center in Lexington to defend both.
Ashker currently sits 43rd on the Series leaderboard with 8 points from one qualifier. A win at MADFest would move her to 22nd — still outside the top-18 cutoff for the CDI5* Final, but inside the range where qualification becomes a realistic conversation. The 12-year-old Oldenburg gelding has been consistent across six FEI starts, averaging 70.876%, and his best work came on this footing, in this ring.
The challenger is Ali Potasky and Inxs, a 13-year-old Dutch Warmblood who carries the field's highest average at 71.995%, but across just two FEI starts. Numbers do not lie, but it remains a question how predictive that two-run sample size can be. Potasky is 41st on the leaderboard with 9 points, so a win here would also jump her into 22nd.
The CDI3* Grand Prix Freestyle goes Saturday at the Virginia Horse Center. Live stream available on the USEF Network. Sign up for free as a fan to watch the action.
