Jessica Forend of Oak Bluffs has competed in the Intercollegiate Dressage National competition for the past last three years as part of Johnson & Wales Intercollegiate Dressage Team — and she is the first rider to ever win her division each year.

Ms. Forend was champion in the first level division in the individual contest that took place as part of the national competition on April 24 and 25.

“Jessica is a wonderful test rider, she has the ability to stay calm and cool and go for it at the same time; we are really proud of her here at Johnson & Wales University,” said her coach, Crystal Taylor.

Among the 12 teams competing, Johnson & Wales also fielded a team of competitors, led by Ms. Forend finishing third on the team that placed sixth at the nationals in Laurinburg, N.C.

The 21-year-old regional high school graduate trained with her mother, Lisa BenDavid-Scannell, at Arrowhead Farm in West Tisbury from age six until leaving for university. Her mother noted that “In individual dressage competition, the rider must compete using an unfamiliar horse, drawn at random. In a true test of skill — he or she is given just 10 minutes to become familiar with the horse before entering the show ring. No one rides their personally owned horses.” She added:

“Many people just have no idea the level and the accomplishment that has just been achieved.”

Throughout the years, Mrs. BenDavid-Scannell said, her daughter has ridden in professional clinics with Tom Davis, Gerd Zueter, Renata Lansborough and many others as well as her Johnson & Wales trainer Crystal Taylor.

Ms. Forend has her horse stabled near the school but will be bringing her home to Bittersweet Farm in Edgartown at the end of the month, after graduating cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in equine business management.

In the fall, Ms. Forend will be moving to Frenchtown, N.J., to work for World Cup team member Betsy Steiner.