Dressage-News

May 8, 2024

By KENNETH J. BRADDICK

The United States Olympic dressage short list is a mix of experienced top sport competitors but mostly new rider and horse partnerships.

The seven riders and eight horses selected to go to Europe to vie for the Paris team were the top ranked combinations after seven months of a qualifying period, with one exception–bypassing Sarah Tubman on First Apple whose Pan American Games results from last October did not hold up at the deadline last week..

If Steffen Peters on Suppenkasper is selected for the team for Paris it will be his sixth Olympics, matching the number competed by Robert Dover.

Steffen, 59 years  old, of San Diego, California, and Suppenkasper, 16-year-old KWPN gelding, were on the Tokyo Olympics silver medal team and the 2018 World Equestrian Games team silver medal squad as well as at the 2022 World Championships and the 2023 World Cup Final.

Steffen’s Olympic record began in 1996 on Udon for team bronze then at the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Games on Ravel and on Legolas for team bronze in 2016 and Suppenkasper at Tokyo for the historic silver medal performance. His World Equestrian Games results are as impressive–on Floriano for team bronze in 2006; individual and freestyle bronze on Ravel at Lexington in 2010, on Legolas in Normandy in 2014 and Suppenkasper for team silver at Tryon in 2018. The pair were on World Championship team in 2022 that earned a start for the U.S. at the Paris Olympics.

World Cup Finals have been on Grandeur on 2002; on Floriano in 2007 and Ravel in 2009 on Ravel to become only the second U.S. rider ever to win title; Legolas in 2015; Rosamunde in 2017 and Suppenkasper in 2023. His Pan American Games path has been paved with gold–team and individual on Weltino’s Magic in 2011 and the same on Legolas in 2015.

Adrienne Lyle, 39, started riding Helix, 12-year-old KWPN gelding, and Lars van de Hoenderheide, 13-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding, in mid-January after arriving in sub-tropical south Florida from winter in Europe. Both horses and Zen Elite’s Bohemian were bought by Heidi Humphries’ Zen Elite Equestrian Center of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida late in 2023.

Adrienne is regarded as a world class competitor and trainer, mentored by the legendary Debbie McDonald. She has competed in two Olympics, on Wizard at London in 2012 and Salvino at Tokyo for team silver. She also rode Salvino on the silver medal team at the World Equestrian Games in Tryon in 2018 and at the World Championships in 2022, plus the World Cup Final in 2019.

Adrienne is married to veterinarian David Da Silva and gave birth to a girl, Bailey, last September.

Endel Ots, 38, had never competed in an international level Grand Prix until taking on the ride of Zen Elite’s Bohemian, 14-year-old Westfalen gelding. However, he focused on fulfilling expectations for Bohemian that had been competed by Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour for Denmark at the Tokyo Olympics and 2021 European Championships for team and individual bronze medals and freestyle silver.

Endel has experience competing internationally, however, on his family’s Lucky Strike at the 2015 and 2016 World Young Horse Championships and at the same championships in 2015 on Samhitas, a horse that was later sold and competed for Australia at the Tokyo Olympics. On Lucky Strike, he was selected for the U.S. team for the 2019 Pan Am Games but the horse was injured and thus withdrawn. Just weeks later, he rode Lucky Strike to the U.S. Intermediate 1 championship.

Anna Buffini,  29, took almost two years preparing Fiontini after she bought the Danish Warmblood mare, now aged 14, that had previously been competed by three European male riders for Helgstrand Dressage.

Anna was successful in Young Rider and Under-25 competitions, winning 12 times including team gold at the 2014 North American Young Rider Championships. In 2020, she bought FRH Davinia la Douce owned by former U.S. team coach Klaus Balkenhol of Germany and ridden to Grand Prix by his daughter, Anabel.  She rode Davinia on Nations Cup teams at Rotterdam in 2021 and in Aachen, Germany in both 2021 and 2022 and earning one of three places assigned to North America at the World Cup Finals in 2022 and 2023. She earned selection for the short list after six starts on Fiontini this year that placed her fifth on the ranking list.

Anna Marek, 35, of the Ocala area community of Dunnellon, Florida was selected on Fire Fly, 14-year-old KWPN gelding that she rode on the U.S. gold medal team at the 2023 Pan American Games and earned freestyle bronze. She has also successfully competed Fayvel, also a 14-year-old KWPN gelding, to gain a start as one of three U.S. combinations at the 2024 World Cup Final. Fayvel stayed in Europe after the World Cup so Anna can compete both in the European qualifications.

Katherine Bateson Chandler, 49, has decades of experience in international dressage. Haute Couture, 12-year-old KWPN mare, owned by Katherine and Jennifer Huber was previously competed by Dinja van Liere and was on the Netherlands team at the 2021 European Championships.

Katherine, who is coached by Carl Hester of Great Britain, was the long-time groom with Robert Dover and competed Rainier and FBW Kennedy after Robert competed them in Olympics. She rode Nartan on the U.S. team at the 2010 World Equestrian Games and has competed on 10 Nations Cup teams–nine on Alcazar–on both sides of the Atlantic.

The German-born Marcus Orlob, 42, took over the ride of Jane from Alice Tarjan who said she found the 10-year-old KWPN mare to be too strong for her. Alice, who has built a reputation of an uncanny ability to find spectacular young horses, had ridden Jane for a streak of 11 Middle Tour CDI victories. Marcus, as her long-time coach, rode his first CDI on Jane on at the end of March. Marcus competed on Shakespeare RSF on the U.S. team at Small Tour on the 2014 Nations Cup in Wellington.