Dressage-News

By KENNETH J. BRADDICK

DÜSSELDORF, Germany, June 26, 2024–When Marcus Orlob was growing up and becoming more involved in riding he began receiving horses in training but didn’t have one of his own, nor the money to buy one. His parents bought an inexpensive “family” horse that mother, father and Marcus all shared in riding.

Now, at the age of 42 he’s riding 10-year-old Jane owned by Alice Tarjan, one of his students, who asked Marcus to take over for the Grand Prix just months before the Olympic Games in Paris.

Amidst a group of mostly proven Grand Prix horses and riders, the horse that Alice developed fresh from the Netherlands as a three-year-old bred specially for dressage to an undefeated string of 11 CDI Medium Tour victories over 2023 and developing Grand Prix, Marcus was asked to start Big Tour. No expectations of the German-born and raised Marcus who growing up had been coached by Johan Zagers and Hubertus Schmidt.

From the first international competition at the end of March, Marcus focused Jane on fulfilling the U.S. federation’s criteria of scores trending upward. Their first Grand Prix at the Global Dressage Festival in Wellington, Florida produced a result of 64.478%, then got higher over the next two months despite some unexpected bumps along the way such as the wrong music for a Freestyle at the World Equestrian Center in Ocala, Florida.

By the last qualifying competition in Kronberg, Germany a week ago everything came together.

The score for the Grand Prix was a competition winning 73.913%, a mark second only to Steffen Peters and Suppenkasper for all Americans this year. The Grand Prix Special was even more spectacular, 75.340% not only clinching a double victory but with the highest score of everyone in the qualifiers seeking to be on the team of three for Paris. Chef d’Equipe Christine Traurig, herself an Olympic team medalist, was there to watch and make her recommendations.

Marcus and Jane were named to the United States team, along with Steffen on Suppenkasper and Adrienne Lyle on Helix, both multi Olympians and together on the silver medal team at the Tokyo Games.

Even before Paris at the end of July, Marcus gets to ride on his first official U.S. team, at the CDIO5* Nations Cup at the World Equestrian Festival in Aachen, Germany, the most prestigious horse show. Marcus switched to riding from Germany to the Stars ’n’ Stripes in 2015.

Since he’s been back in Germany for the Olympic qualifiers, he has based himself at the stables of Alex Wirtz on the outskirts of Düsseldorf where he competed from about age 14. It’s close to where he stays with his sister, and his old trainer is there “so everything was easy for me to come to this place.”

In the stables that are undergoing renovations several decades after founding, he recalls his first trainer “was really mean to me.”

“You have to try harder if you really want to compete,” Marcus said he was told by the trainer who was also a judge and taught in the style of very old fashioned classical German, “because if we go out, we need to win.”

“I saw other people in the barn compete, and I wanted to do the same. I think I got more desire and motivation to be better, to win.

“And then when we went out to compete, the first time in training level I was not that good. But then second time in training level and first level I won both classes and then he was like, ‘Wow, you actually have it in you’. Then I went straight up to what’s about equivalent to second level, third level and pretty fast to fourth level. It was just just coming very easily and people in the barn asked me to help by riding their horses.”

While training with Johan Zagers and spending time during summer vacations at the stables of German Olympic rider Hubertus Schmidt he was competing up to national Grand Prix. At 24 he went to the German riding school in Warendorf for two weeks for his German Bereiter test. There, he met Shannon Stevens an American dressage rider who urged him to go to the U.S. where he could coach and develop horses. Hubertus agreed as a way for Marcus to improve his English and learn the needs of Americans who bought many horses in Europe.

“I didn’t really want to go because at this point I had great horses here, where I was riding Grand Prix, and obviously my family, my friends, everything,” he said. “And then I talked to my dad and he said, ‘you know, you’re still young, why don’t you go for a year?’ Then I said to Shannon, ‘you know what, I will come for a year’.”

That was in 2008. He and Shannon married, began a training business together and eventually bought a farm in Annandale, New Jersey and spends winters in Florida

Eight years ago Alice Tarjan, who also lives in New Jersey, asked him to help with her stallion Harvest, one of the string of horses she has a knack of acquiring as youngsters scouring the Internet that she trains up the levels.

“From there on we started working with more and more horses,” Marcus said. “When she had some problems with the stallions I got on.

“Alice got Jane in Holland, another one she bought online without trying it. She tried to ride it the first day, but the mare was very spooky and hot. So she sent me to quarantine to ride her.

“I said, ‘whoa, wow, wow, you’re right, she’s very spooky and hot, but not mean, typical young horse.’ After quarantine, she rode it at home the first three years alone.

“When she was more advanced, Alice asked me to have a look and help her out. When I saw Jane I said, ‘you did a great job.’ She competed her very successfully through Medium Tour. And really good feedback from the judges, they always loved her.“

However, when starting national Grand Prix, there were issues with both canter and trot extensions. Alice says she did not want to really open up because she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to stop the mare.

By the end of February this year, Alice opted to turn the reins over to Marcus to compete in the Olympic qualifiers.

“Alice,” he recalls telling her, “this is almost impossible with the goal to make the shortlist. I have to do the first international show in three weeks. We don’t really have time. I don’t know her at all riding-wise; I know her from the ground.”

Alice’s response: “You have nothing to lose. If it works out, great, and if not, not so great, but whatever.”

“She was very relaxed and honest about it. So okay, I said, you’re right. I have nothing to lose. Let’s give it a go.”

“The good thing is that Alice doesn’t put any pressure on me or on the horse.”

“I think Alice wants to win, but not force it. There’s no pressure and I think this is great. Sometimes the difficult part is you have owners that want you to win. And I think then you have so much pressure from the outside what may be is at some point too much.”

Marcus said he has had to learn quickly to find the right buttons to connect with Jane.

“I would say you have to treat Jane a little bit like a princess, it has to be a little bit on her terms. It was really helpful that Alice helped me at the shows and said, ‘if she wants to look, let her look. Don’t push her too early. She will let you know when it’s time to push.’ She’s very sensitive. I think when she allows you to push, it’s amazing. But you need to give her a little bit of time.”

For Marcus growing up in the German style of riding, working with Jane has “for sure been a bit of an adjustment, you have to do it a little bit her way.”

The training schedule of Jane starts with the horse walked on a long rein for 20 minutes then goes into the arena to supple a lot in the walk, give a good stretch then a lot of transitions forward, back, just to get her more adjustable and then play a lot with the canter that Marcus thinks is Jane’s biggest weakness at the moment, trying to get more jump and do a couple of flying changes, tempi changes, because that was tricky in the beginning but not now. A couple of trot half-passes, a little bit forward and back and a little bit of piaffe/passage—total work time of about 30 minutes.

“It seems like that she’s happy and wants to work,” he said, “And she gives me even more in the ring, like there’s always more gas if I wanted it. So I think this way she’s very happy and not tired, full of energy. It seems to work. She actually goes into the ring ready to work. I think it’s very rare to have horses like this. Most horses you have to time exactly to the minute to get the maximum in the ring and then the battery is empty. With this one I can guarantee you I can salute and enter right away again and do another test and she will be fine.

“She is only 10 so I really try to have certain fitness but I try not to overdo it.”

Jane will spend up to 30 minutes on a treadmill at a slight incline in flat as a pancake Florida. And Marcus hand walks her in the afternoon.

The horse is fed Cavalor Performix, regular hay and alfalfa and a bran mash mix from Cavalor at night. The only supplement is some Adequan before a show.

Before a competition he feeds Jane a carrot and then more carrots and apples afterward.

With Jane only 10, the World Championships in 2026 and the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 are goals beyond Paris.