Oct. 28, 2026
Two American riders of U.S.-bred horses have each been awarded $30,000 from the Dr. Anne L. Barlow-Ramsey Grants administered by The Dressage Foundation.
The combinations are Hope Cooper of Acton, Massachusetts and O Romeo S and Mackenzie Peer based in Sherwood, Oregon with Sonnenberg’s Primrosa.
Both horses were bred by Sonnenberg Farm in Sherwood, Oregon.
Hope plans to use the grant for training with the seven-year-old stallion (Charmeur x UB-40) with Christoph Koschel, a German trainer who is based in Wellington, Florida over the winter and returns to Hagen, Germany for the summer.
Mackenzie and the six-year-old mare Sonnenberg’s Primrosa sired by Secret will also be in Wellington to train with Sabine Schut-Kery, a star of the U.S. team the Tokyo Olympics who is relocating from her California base to Florida for the winter.
Hope and O Romeo S competed at the World Young Horse Championships in the six-year-old division in 2025 and the seven-year-old division this year.
She is aiming “Ollie,” as O Romeo is nicknamed, for developing horse Grand Prix in 2027.
“This generous grant can make the difference between dreaming about developing Ollie to be one of the top horses in the world and hopefully one day becoming a top pair. Ollie is a once-in-a-lifetime horse, and this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Hope said.
Mackenzie and Primrosa were reserve champion in the U.S. Festival of Champions six-year-old division and has a goal of competing at the World Young Horse Championships in 2027.
“This grant will allow me to continue investing in our development as a partnership and pursue our goals in the FEI Young Horse program and beyond,” Mackenzie said “I’m excited to showcase the talent of U.S.-bred horses and work toward representing American breeding at the highest levels of our sport.”
The Dr. Barlow-Ramsay fund was created in 2008. Fourteen grants of $25,000 for training or competition were awarded until this year when the amount of funding for each combination was increased to $30,000.
