Ashley Holzer on Hansel added to USA Olympic Team Short List
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June 14, 2024
Ashley Holzer on Hansel has been added to U.S. Olympic team short list with just two competitions in Europe next week before the three-member team is announced for the Paris Games.
The addition of Ashley, a four-time Olympian for Canada before switching to ride for the U.S., and the 11-year-old KWPN gelding, was announced Friday by US Dressage.
Ashley along with fellow short listed combination of Katherine Bateson Chandler on Haute Couture and World Cup competitor Kevin Kohmann on Dünensee will make up the team for the CDIO5* Nations Cup at Rotterdam, Netherlands next week.
Five of the short listed combinations will compete at Kronberg, Germany the same time as the Rotterdam Nations Cup
Steffen Peters on Suppenkasper, the top scoring partnership on the short list, has been excused from more qualifying competitions next week so he can compete at the World Equestrian Festival in Aachen, Germany the first week of July. Olympic dressage begins at the end of July.
The addition of Ashley comes after strong performances in recent weeks, including at Hagen, Germany a week ago that was the only head-to-head event for the short listed riders.
Her four Olympics for Canada included her first, at Seoul in 1988, where Canada earned team bronze.
The complete U.S. short list is:
<Katherine Bateson Chandler of Wellington, Florida and Haute Couture, 12-year-old KWPN mare owned by Jennifer Huber and Katherine;
Anna Buffini of Rancho Santa Fe, California and Fiontini, her own 14-year-old Danish Warmblood mare;
Ashley Holzer of Wellington and Hansel, 11-year-old KWPN gelding owned by P.J. Rizvi;
>Adrienne Lyle of Wellington and Helix, a 12-year-old KWPN gelding and Lars van de Hoenderheide, 13-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding, both horses owned by Zen Elite Equestrian Center;
Anna Marek of Dunnellon, Florida and Fire Fly, 14-year-old KWPN gelding owned by Janet Simile;
Marcus Orlob of Loxahatchee, Florida and Jane, 10-year-old KWPN mare owned by Alice Tarjan;
Endel Ots of Wellington and Zen Elite’s Bohemian, 14-year-old Westfalen gelding owned by Zen Elite Equestrian Center, and
Steffen Peters of San Diego, California and Suppenkasper, 16-year-old KWPN gelding owned by Four Winds Farm and Akiko Yamazaki.
Final team selection will be announced by June 25.
