When I first laid eyes on my gelding Laeser (that’s pronounced lay-ser, not la-seer or lee-ay-czar—I’m looking at you show announcers...) I was stunned by his handsomeness and privileged to...
Of the three Olympic equestrian disciplines, dressage is generally the least-loved outside the horse world. “Horse Dancing,” as it’s regularly called by non-equestrians, lacks the suspense of a potential refusal...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qM1fF0LiH9o Turning down that final center line Charlotte Dujardin (GBR) knew she'd left it all in the ring at the Deodoro Olympic Park in Rio de Janiero, Brazil. The defending...
A cohesive sports team is typically characterized by a high level of mutual respect, admiration, shared goals, and a driven work ethic. And, if you're on the American Olympic dressage...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQFsqUWWsPM You might say Fiona Bigwood is married to her job. Her spot on Great Britain's formidable Dressage team in Rio is evidence of that, but it's her commitment to...
“The elusive 80 percent! We captured it…it exists,” laughed Laura Graves. The US rider and her veteran partner Verdades broke the 80 barrier in the Grand Prix Special in Rio,...
Lots of athletes have pre-competition rituals to settle jittery nerves. For Russia's Inessa Merkulova's 12-year-old Trakehner Mister X, that ritual involves his owner reading novels to him before their Grand...
At just 21, Sönke Rothenberger (GER) is the greenest rider on the German Olympic team. His horse Cosmo, just nine, is the youngest competing in dressage. Together, they beat a...
If there’s a time when an athlete aspires to peak, it’s at the Olympics Games. Dressage rider Steffen Peters (USA) did exactly that. Competing in his fourth Olympics, Peters delivered...
Palestine is making Olympic history in Rio by debuting their first equestrian competitor. But there’s a controversial catch—he’s a German-born businessman who just obtained a Palestinian passport in 2011. Dressage...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brXU2nQV_lE The British Dressage Team is currently in the process of defending its Olympic gold medal, and yet, still made time to make quite the fashion statement. Each of the...
At the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles, a young attorney turned military officer and World War I veteran named Hiram Tuttle added another feather to his cap by winning the individual...
As an equine fitness specialist my job is always to ask how we can improve the horse’s body. One of the simplest ways we can do this in daily riding...
When news broke last week that Bromont will no longer stage the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games, it sparked strong speculation that the games would return to the Kentucky Horse...
2014 was an amazing year for me. I made the US dressage team for the first time. I competed on my first European tour and in my first championship. And...
In any discipline, reaching a plateau is an inevitable part of the training process. A horse and rider can’t grow in leaps and bounds with every single ride. The plateau...
Gripes? Gosh, I’ve got them. Let’s begin with people not picking up after their dogs and end with partners not cleaning out the lint filter on the dryer…and you can...
Some horses aren’t cut out for dressage. Like this horse, who isn’t a fan of musical interludes, nor non-alphabetic letter arrangements. Apparently. https://youtu.be/9AFJX-ArN24 The wallflowers of dressage, like our friend...
The first time that I competed seriously to make a team was in 1983. I was trying out for the Pan American Games on a Grand Prix horse called Romantico....
When Olympic gold medalist Charlotte Dujardin (GBR) asked Tom Hunt to put together a new freestyle compilation for the Rio Games presumably she asked him for something that would make your...
