Individual Gold Medals for Rebecca Hart, Fiona Howard & Silver for Roxanne Trunnell in USA Domination of Paris Paralympics Opening Day–UPDATE
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Sept. 3, 2024
Individual gold medals for Rebecca Hart on Floratina and Fiona Howard on Diamond Dunes and silver for Roxanne Trunnell on Fan Tastico H for USA dominated the opening day of Paralympic Games dressage in Paris Tuesday.
Rebecca and the 16-year-old Hanoverian mare Floratina earned a personal best score of 77.900% in Grand Prix Test A (Grade III) and the first gold in the rider’s fifth Paralympics being staged at the same magnificent Palace of Versailles grounds that hosted Olympic dressage.
The 39-year-old rider competed at the 2008 Beijing Games in Hong Kong, London in 2012, Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and Tokyo 2020 where she was on the bronze medal team. She has competed in three World Equestrian Games, most recently winning both a bronze and a silver medal in Tryon in 2018, becoming the first American Para dressage competitor to win a WEG medal. Becca competed in the World Championships in Herning, Denmark in 2022 earning individual and team bronze medals.
She has been national Para Equestrian Champion eight times.
Rebecca is based at Fair Sky Farm in Loxahatchee, Florida where Rowan O’Riley owns Floratina (Fidertanz x Rubina). Jennifer Baumert, a 2019 Pan American Games team and individual medalist, coaches Rebecca.
Fiona Howard on Diamond Dunes, 11-year-old Hanoverian stallion, won individual gold in the Grade II competition on a personal best score of 76.931%.
As an equestrian growing up in England to an American mother and British father, Fiona earned bronze at the 2013 European Reining Championships for Juniors and Young Riders at the age of 14.
However, when she 19 she was diagnosed with dystonia that left her with no control of her limbs and migrated to the United States for treatment at Boston Children’s Hospital. She had grown up riding and took up the sport again three years ago while studying psychology at Northeastern University.
Fiona, now 25, moved to Wellington, Florida to train with Kate Shoemaker, a 2020 Paralympic bronze medalist and on the Paris team. Diamond Dunes is owned by Dressage Family LLC and Hof Kasselmann of Hagen, Germany.
Roxanne Trunnell, 39, of Royal Palm Beach, Florida and the seven-year-old Oldenburg gelding Fan Tastico H took silver behind Rihards Snikus of Latvia on King of the Dance.
Roxanne and the horse (Fuerstenball OLD x Weltmeyer) owned by Karin Flint posted a personal best score of 78.000% in Grand Prix Test A in Grade 1.
Paris is Roxanne’s third Paralympics with double gold and team bronze at Tokyo. She competed at Rio in 2016. Her trainer is Andrea Woodard.
