Aug. 19, 2026
By KENNETH J. BRADDICK
With the World Championships in the rear view mirror, United States dressage has embarked on a road with the intention of leading to the podium at the Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028.
Both the U.S. federation and individual owners are investing in horses, riders and programs at what appears to be an unprecedented level to return the sport to the high level successes displayed by earning silver at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and the 2018 World Equestrian Games In Tryon.
Unlike the World Championships where USA dressage had not recovered from retirements of top horses, lessons have been learned not to repeat the poorly created selection procedures of 2026, a team of four that had to replace two combinations just days before competition at Aachen, Germany.
As importantly, immersing top prospects in the atmosphere and programs to compete at the highest levels of the sport as is normal in Europe but sometimes lacking in the more laid-back environment, even in Florida which has become the center of dressage competition in the Americas.
In addition to official training with the team coach Christine Traurig and others as well as rides before top rated judges US Equestrian has set up a session for late in the year with prominent Dutch sports psychologist Carolien Munsters to help Improve performance of sport horses by exercise testing and intensive monitoring of training sessions and competitions.
Organizers of the Global Dressage Festival in Wellington have indicated plans to underwrite more top Europeans to compete at the newly created extension of the main show ground
The search is well underway for highly capable riders and the emerging pool of horses that appear talented enough to shine on the world stage, even if not yet at Grand Prix.
Among them are:
—Gremlin 41, the 11-year-old Oldenburg gelding competed by Quinn Iverson in Wellington. The pair began competing in national classes four years ago and after achieving Grand Prix this year logged their first wins–at a German CDI4* in early August.
Rosebank VH, an 8-year-old Swedish-bred stallion competed by Katie Duerrhammer. Katie and Rosebank have been successful at Small Tour in both the United States and Germany where the pair won both Prix St. Georges and Intermediate I. Katie on another horse was on the U.S. team at the 2022 World Championships that earned one of the six places to qualify for the 2024 Olympics.
Jane, the proven 12-year-old Dutch-bred mare ridden by Marcus Orlob that is recovering from an injury at the New Jersey farm of owner Alice Tarjan. The horse that has logged 30 starts among them at the Paris Olympics in 2024 since beginning Big Tour 2 1/2 years ago has 12 victories on both sides of the Atlantic including two at the Aachen show grounds.
Toronto Lightfoot, 13-year-old Oldenburg gelding that Meagan Davis rode on the World Championship team. Meagan first competed the horse at Small Tour four years ago and moved up to international Grand Prix two years later. The duo was on the U.S. gold medal team at the Nations Cup in Wellington in March this year and for bronze at Hagen, Germany in July.
The most ambitious investment has been by Heidi Humphries‘ Zen Elite Equestrian Center of Fort Lauderdale, Florida about an hour south of Wellington. A training center is being completed in Wellington.
Adrienne Lyle and Christian Simonson with several Zen horses will be in Europe into September, stabled in Germany close to Isabell Werth, the most successful equestrian in history who continues to star by leading the German team to gold at the World Championships and capturing Freestyle bronze. Isabell is coaching the pair with their horses several times a week.
The first impact on the international stage for Zen was initially with Helix ridden by Adrienne at the 2024 Paris Olympics and the 2025 World Cup Final in Basel, Switzerland, as well as Zen Elite’s Bohemian that had been developed to Olympic and championship level by Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour and was reserve for the U.S. team with Endel Ots.
Zen owns Indian Rock, 13-year-old Dutch-bred stalliont hat with Christian aboard became reserve champion of the 2026 World Cup.
Fleau de Baian, first competed by Christian in the Under25 division, became the top scoring American combination at the World Championships and the only one to advance to the Grand Prix Special.
Christian is also riding Don Machiavelli, an 11-year-old German-bred gelding (Harmony’s Don Noblesse x Sandro Hit) also owned by Zen that is being ridden by Christian under the tutelage of Adrienne. Don Machiavelli has not yet competed internationally.
My Vitality, another Zen horse, a Dutch-bred nine-year-old stallion that Adrienne Lyle competed successfully on Florida’s winter circuit at Intermediate II this year and is directed toward Los Angeles. There are some similarities, she says, to Salvino, the horse she partnered on the 2018 WEG and 2021 Olympic silver medal teams.
