Indian Rock, Competed at Paris Olympics by Holland’s Emmelie Scholtens, Bought by Zen Elite Equestrian for 22YO American Christian Simonson
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Dec. 23, 2024
Indian Rock, the Dutch stallion competed at the Paris Olympics by Emmelie Scholtens of the Netherlands, has been bought by Zen Elite Equestrian to be ridden by the 22-year-old American Christian Simonson.
The 11-year-old Indian Rock joins the Zen Elite lineup that includes Helix ridden by Adrienne Lyle on the United States team at Paris, Bohemian ridden by Endel Ots that was reserve on the Paris Games team and several other horses from Grand Prix mounts to youngsters. Zen Elite is currently based in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida but has bought a farm in Wellington that is being prepared as the home for the high performance horses.
“We are overjoyed to welcome the newest superstar to the Zen Elite family: the 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗥𝗼𝗰𝗸 (Apache x Vivaldi),” Zen Elite stated.
“Rocky” is about to embark on an exciting new journey here in the USA, teaming up with the incredibly talented Christian Simonson under the expert guidance of Adrienne Lyle. We’re eager to see this promising partnership thrive and accomplish amazing things!
“First, however, we’ll take the time to bond with this stunning stallion and shower him with some Zen love. We’re thrilled to have him as part of our family and can’t wait to see what the future holds.”
The sale was arranged by Micha Knol of MRK Dressage, a Dutch rider based in Wellington.
Heidi Humphries, the owner of Zen Elite, expressed thanks to Emmelie Scholtens and Ad Valk “for doing such a wonderful job with him and trusting us with this new partnership. Here’s to new beginnings and bright horizons–we’re so excited to share this journey with all of you!”
Heidi told dressage-news.com Christian and Indian Rock “clicked the moment Christian sat on him.”
All of us at Zen Elite are very excited about this pair and the future of dressage.”
Emmelie Scholtens first competed Indian Rock internationally as a five-year-old at the World Young Horse Championships.
The duo began Small Tour in 2021 and moved up to Grand Prix the following year.
The pair competed on the Netherlands’ team at the World Championships in 2022, the European Championships in 2023 and the Olympics this summer.
Christian Simonson, who is based in Wellington and coached by Adrienne Lyle, has been highly successful.
He was on the U.S. gold medal team at the 2023 Pan American Games, and has competed in four North American Youth Championships.
A year ago, Zen Elite bought Fleau de Baian as a mount for Christian. The horse had been developed by Adelinde Cornelissen.
