Kelly Layne, on Australian Olympic and World Games teams, Competes under USA Stars ‘n’ Stripes for First Time
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Feb. 23, 2025
Kelly Layne, who competed on Australian teams at the Tokyo Olympics and the 2006 World Equestrian Games in Germany, this weekend rode under the U.S. Stars ‘n’ Stripes for the first time.
Kelly, 49 years old, did so at this week’s Global Dressage Festival in Wellington, Florida where she is based with her husband, Steve, a former U.S. Air Force pilot. Her two children are Americans, her son Will in the U.S. Navy and her daughter Katie, married and living in Dallas.
The first competition identifying her as riding for USA came the same weekend she was the official chef d’equipe for the Australian team in the Nations Cup at Global.
Kelly and Steve moved to Colorado two years after the 2006 WEG, and a couple of years later moved on to Wellington.
“I’ve been living in the United States for 17 years. My husband’s American, of course he’s always wanted me to do this,” Kelly said.
“And I feel like I have gone at this sport alone for a long time. I watch the Americans with the pipeline programs, the development programs, and I’ve never been eligible for any of it. I feel like I have some really good horses.
“I think with the Olympics coming up, the next four years are going to be very exciting for dressage in this country. I want to be a part of it. I want to be a part of the grants, the pipeline, the development programs. I feel like I have never been eligible for any of it. That’s one side of it.
“The other side of it is not just about competing. I’m also interested in coaching, training, and I want to be a part of that, too. I think I have a lot of experience to bring from my time as a team member of Australia. I can bring a lot to young horse programs, young rider programs. And I’d like to do that.
“I’ve, again, never been eligible for any of it, but felt like I could apply for those jobs. Of course, in Wellington you’re in the center of dressage in all of the Americas and one of the major centers in the world.
“In the last 10 plus years, I have put at least three horses in the top 10 in the US in the rankings, but it doesn’t mean anything.
“So I would just like to be a part of it, something that I think is exciting coming up in this country. I see nice horses and I have a lot of American clients and American owners. “
That includes going to the U.S. national championships of every level and to make herself available for the numerous financial grants programs at all levels.
Two other Australians who have made their homes and developed dressage businesses in Wellington, Nicholas Fyffe and Ilse Schwarz, have also become U.S. citizens.
The Layne home in Wellington was severely damaged by a tornado that hit Wellington and other parts of Palm Beach County last year. One of her clients made available a home close to the Global facility and stabling and arenas where Kelly has been based for years next to the show grounds.
