Here, Ashker explains how her experience as a five-star eventer helps with her upper-level Grand Prix dressage movements and vice versa. You can also watch a video of her demonstrating this concept below.

From Drop Jumps to Pirouettes and Piaffe

“In eventing, especially when coming down to the head of a lake or dropping into water, you have to create balance in your horse. You can see in the video as I prepare for my left half pirouette turn, I stay behind my horse so he can more easily lift his shoulders for the turn. And then I ride him out. We repeat it one more time. I take my time and am very patient as I continue to stay behind him to keep his shoulders lifted.

“In piaffe, it’s the same idea. You want your horse’s shoulders to lift, not his head. There’s a big difference. And in order for the horse’s shoulders to lift, his back and rear need to drop. You horse can’t do this if you’re ahead of him all the time.

“Here, I’m going to demonstrate my position. You should always be able to draw a straight line from your shoulder to your hip and down to your heel. It’s very similar to our takeoffs over some cross-country jumps because it requires us to naturally balance our horses. The jumps actually help us do this. In dressage, we obviously don’t have jumps, so we have to use our position and posture to achieve that balance.

“In the piaffe, it’s a very light aid with the hand. Then, my legs alternate to ask my horse to lift his front legs. There’s a very fine line here between throwing him out of balance with my position. I continue to stay behind his motion to allow his shoulders to lift, and I might allow him to travel just a bit to keep the steps the same.

“In summary, if you do both eventing and upper-level dressage, be proud of being an eventer. Improving your position on cross country will only make your position that much better in your dressage work, no matter your level, and it will be more supportive for your horse.”

About Laine Ashker

Five-star eventer and dressage professional Lainey Ashker has competed in numerous FEI competitions at the five-star level, including the Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials CC14* and the Defender Burghley Horse Trials CC15*. The horsewoman, who trains out of her Keystone Acres farm in Chesterfield, Virginia, also won the National Eventing Championship (Advanced Level) in 2013 aboard her long-time mount, Anthony Patch. More recently, she won her first CDI in May 2023 aboard her upper-level dressage horse, Zeppelin.

For more with Laine Ashker, click here.

This video is brought to you by Absorbine.

In this video from her series on EQUESTRIAN+, Olympic dressage rider Kasey Perry-Glass helps a rider and her OTTB at training level work on helping him better use his hind end while maintaining balance, steady contact and an even tempo. After tuning up some basic aids, Perry-Glass also helps the pair improve their work at the trot and canter by addressing some common issues that sometimes arise specifically with Thoroughbreds.

Whether you’re just starting out in dressage, are working your way up the levels or could use some advice on your eventing dressage work, we hope these tips help set you and your OTTB for success.

Honing Your OTTB’s Dressage Fundamentals

“A lot of riders with Thoroughbreds who are built a little downhill tend to ride really forward, but that can often push their horses too far off their hind ends. So focus on keeping a consistent tempo with him so it’s more manageable for him to control his hind end.

“As you’re walking on a circle, take up a little bit of your outside rein to slow down his shoulders while also adding inside leg if he wants to cross behind. That way, you can adjust the speed of his front legs with your outside rein contact. This will help give him the idea of correlating your inside leg to his hind end.

“It’s really important to do lots of direction changes to practice keeping the contact the same on both sides. When he feels a bit stiff, try to push him with your inside leg and maintain that steady contact. Even if he pushes up against your hand, just say, ‘Nope, you’re going to stay here for a second.’ Then focus more on his hind end so he can settle into your hand.

“I love how you’re keeping your inside rein because a lot of people drop it too much. You have to use that inside rein to help guide him into a forward turn. Otherwise, he’ll feel a little blocked. Keep thinking forward, but push a little bit to see if you can maintain a few steps in that collection.

“Try and break through that tension he’s already giving you just to test him. If it’s going to be too much and overwhelm him, you don’t want to push it that far. But play around to see if it helps him learn to engage and bend his ribcage to the right.

“In the beginning, it’s going to feel a bit messy, but eventually you’ll be able to clean it up. Right now, you’re just focusing on finding that little bit of connection in the hind end. You can even make a fish tail of it when changing directions—anything to be creative while also getting his end moving more.

At the Trot: Lateral Work for Leg Desensitization with OTTBs

“The moment you feel a reaction like when he actually wants to bend a little bit toward the right, that’s when you should start changing direction, because it looks like he tends to be a little more hollow on the left and stiff on the right. So we need connect on the left rein.

“As you connect on the left rein, think about using your right leg to push him left and maintain a small connection on the right rein to help support your right leg. And this is going to be hard for him because he’s still trying to figure out where all his body parts are moving.

“He’ll probably want to go faster because it’s harder for him, but he doesn’t need to go any faster. So just wait it out until you feel that moment of give and that’s where you want him.

“Eventually, you want him to get desensitized to your leg, so you can encourage him with leg contact without him running away. Sometimes with Thoroughbreds they can get a little bit tense and tight when trying to understand this, especially after being racehorses. Your leg ultimately must be an aid to put his body in the proper position and not a cue to go guns blazing.

“Now, he’s become less sensitive to your leg, so you can actually think about putting your leg on with him feeling so electric. With more forward Thoroughbreds any type of lateral work you can do to get him used to your leg being on is really useful. And it also reiterates your hands, so you feel like you have a solid connection. At the trot, it’s the same idea—just feeling like your inside leg pushes him over and out of the circle.”

At the Canter: Work Through the Kinks with Your OTTB

“As you ask for the canter, keep your leg and seat down and stay connected on the right side. Keep him on a circle for the canter and be prepared that he’s probably going to try and break because this is physically hard for him as he’s building up these new muscles.

“Keep your outside rein super steady and your hands soft, and if he comes up like that, just push him back into your hand and continue to work through it. Then, give on the inside rein for just a moment. I know it feels really wonky, but it’s almost like you need to keep him cantering while you set his body up into the correct position.

“Even when he wants to get a little fussy, use that encouraging leg, but don’t change your hands. You can maintain a little bit of pressure just to have that connection, but you have to have that bit of leg and eventually he’ll start to drop down.

“These small things are great to work on to get him more aware of where his hind end is because ultimately as you’re doing all these serpentines and changes of direction, you want to be able to engage and push him over and into the bit versus having him hollow out against the bit.

“All of this can feel like super tedious stuff and people feel like they’re not progressing at all. But sometimes, especially with Thoroughbreds, even getting them to move their hind ends from the halt through light pressure is a big win because you can always build from there. When your guy wants to get a little high and is doing his racehorse turning stuff, don’t work too much in that moment because you don’t want to get him too worked. Just focus on small reiterations that will lead to long-term progress.”

For More:

• Watch the full episode of Kasey Perry-Glass working with this rider and her OTTB here.
• For more hands-on training videos and interviews with Perry-Glass, click here.
• Click here for thousands more training videos from top dressage riders and trainers on EQUESTRIAN+.
• Learn more about retraining OTTBs for a career in dressage here.

The Initial Idea for the US Equestrian Open Series

O’Mara explained that idea for the US Equestrian Open series was the convergence of several factors. Around the same time that a USEF Board of Directors ad hoc strategic planning group was looking into ways to grow equestrian sport in 2022, Olympic eventing gold medalist David O’Connor joined the USEF as the Chief of Sport. The organization gathered insights on the sport from these individuals and USEF staff members. O’Mara said they came to the realization that “we didn’t have something that was really being pitched to the non-equestrian world.”

Lowell noted that equestrian sport is difficult for mainstream audiences to follow. After studying other sports, the idea for appealing and understandable equestrian events became a focus of the organization.

“There was a desire to create a branded series for US Equestrian that would feature the Olympic disciplines so that we could have a major championship each year in the United States,” Lowell said. “It would allow fans to build and follow our three major sports and also would give our athletes in the United States an additional pathway opportunity that we could build on over time.”

O’Mara added that creation of the series aligns with the USEF’s vision statement that focuses on bringing the joy of horse sports to as many people as possible. The USEF hopes to grow the recognition and fan base of equestrian sport with this new initiative, which officially launched in the fall of 2024.

So why call it the US Equestrian Open similar to other U.S. Open sporting events?

“This is taking our sport and explaining it to the non-equestrian world in a way that they are familiar with from other sports,” said O’Mara.

Mapping Out the New “Supersized” Events

The USEF tailored the US Equestrian Open series format for each of the Olympic disciplines. Since there are already a handful of jumping series, the USEF aimed to create a “supersized” event. The result was the Rolex US Equestrian Open of Jumping. It takes place during final week of the Winter Equestrian Festival with two qualifiers leading up to the final. Several international and U.S. jumping riders compete at the Winter Equestrian Festival each year, so it seemed like a natural fit for the USEF’s initiative.

“We wanted it to be an event with a big audience and top athletes coming and make it at the true world-class level, where you’re getting the best in the world. And that’s why we ended up coming to Wellington,” said Lowell.

The strategy was different for the US Equestrian Open of Eventing and the US Equestrian Open of Dressage, which have a series of qualifiers all season long that lead up to the respective finals in the fall. The US Equestrian Open of Eventing final will take place at Morven Park International & Fall Horse Trials in Leesburg, Virginia, Oct. 9-12, 2025. About a month later, the US Equestrian Open of Dressage final will take place during Desert Dressage II in Thermal, California, Nov. 13-16, 2025.

Lowell explained that USEF partnered with event organizers to build on the established competition calendar rather than trying to add new events to the already busy schedule.

“We took those events that existed and created a product that’s easy to follow and can get fans engaged and then brought a lot of the media attention to it with the fan guides and the microsite, the podcast, the docuseries and the exposure on ESPN 2 and ESPN 3,” she said.

O’Mara pointed out that the year-long series give fans a chance to stay engaged by checking leaderboards.

“Our fans, and even non-equestrians, can now follow our sport,” said O’Mara. “You can look at the standings all year long, and there’s conversation about who’s moving up and down, much akin to other sports.”

Accolades for US Equestrian Open Winners

For the inaugural series, the USEF worked with Susanne Ross Blackinton-Juaire to create the US Equestrian Open trophy. It incorporates a horse-and-rider figure for each of the Olympic disciplines. Also, the USEF logo atop the trophy can rotate to face the respective discipline figure during each of the finals. Harkening back to studying other sports, O’Mara said he envisions tiers being added to the trophy base over time like the National Hockey League’s Stanley Cup.

In addition to a brand-new trophy, the US Equestrian Open winners will receive substantial prize money. For the Rolex US Equestrian Open of Jumping, $250,000 was added to the existing Grand Prix class’s prize money for a total purse of $750,000. The year-long series winners will receive $50,000 for both the US Equestrian Open of Dressage and US Equestrian Open of Eventing, and $200,000 in prize money is available for both finals.

“It’s the most money ever being given at this level of eventing and dressage,” said O’Mara.

According to O’Mara and Lowell, reception has been positive among riders and sponsors. O’Mara explained that riders at qualifiers recognize that they are earning points toward their rankings. Lowell noted that previous sponsors as well as new ones are excited to get behind the series.

While the initiative takes on big-picture goals, O’Mara stated that the focus ultimately goes back to the partnership between horse and rider.

“We all know half of the excitement about our sport is the emotion that the partnership between a horse and a human brings about in anybody. The horses are one of the athletes out there, so it’s a team sport,” said O’Mara. “That is interesting to people and there’s no other sport that can tell that story.”

To find out more about the US Equestrian Open series, visit the microsite.

Check out the respective quick guides for dressage, eventing and jumping to learn more about the series finals.

“With everybody focusing so much today on the front legs and the neck being in the right place, I thought it was really a good reminder that the only way we get those parts correct is if the horse is ridden properly, with connection through the whole body and starting with the hind end,” Schut-Kery said.

The reality that every correct movement starts with hind-end engagement and propulsion was a recurring theme throughout the two-day clinic, held at Galway Downs Equestrian in Southern California’s Temecula. It’s true for everything from a well-executed walk, corner or halt in a First Level test to a Grand Prix pirouette. And it’s true for successfully navigating any course question or obstacle that comes up on cross-country or stadium jumping. 

Focusing on hind-end engagement is one of a few training basics that must be achieved, Klimke emphasized. “If you don’t get the basics right, you get a horse that can do tricks but can’t do a half-halt.” And half-halts are one of Klimke’s most often used tools. 

A patient, individualized approach to those basics comes from a wellspring of love for the horse. “I love horses,” Klimke said. “I love to work with them, to feel and listen to them tell me what they need. Sometimes I think I have a good plan, but the horse says, ‘no.’ Then you have to open your heart to feel and think what your horse needs today.”

Freely Forward

Hind-end engagement is not addressed in isolation. The horse needs relaxation, suppleness, strength and responsiveness to the aids to connect that engagement through the whole body. 

KIimke is a five-time Olympic eventer who also excels in international dressage. Her resume reflects the value of classical training in all Olympic disciplines. During the Masterclass, she worked with six sessions of two dressage pairs—from young horses to those nearing Grand Prix—and one group of eventers. 

Relaxation and suppleness were priorities for the horses. Riders were encouraged to be patient with their horses, clear in their aids and communication and precise in the timing of those aids. 

Patient, however, did not mean letting a well-trained horse ignore aids they understood. Klimke dubbed young rider Josephine Hinnemann’s 14-year-old Under 25 Grand Prix partner, Copa Cabana, “The Professor” because “he knows the good tricks to avoid doing what you want him to do.” 

“Tell him you mean it,” Klimke insisted, coaching Hinnemann to correct a lack of response with progressively stronger aids. First a squeeze of the leg, then a whomping kick, then, if needed, a tap of the whip. 

“Freely forward!” was a frequent Klimke encouragement. “You need a reaction from his hind leg into your hand, letting him grow up bigger in front of you.” The image of hind-end engagement manifesting as the horse growing bigger in front of the rider was another recurring theme.

Hinnemann got that so well by Sunday’s session, the crowd of over 700 spectators applauded. After achieving the beautiful, forward trot, Hinnemann should be able to “do nothing,” Ingrid said. “Just let your leg breathe on his side.”

Cavalletti work was core to each session, used in numerous configurations to achieve various goals rooted in building 

Ingrid inherited her conviction to cavalletti from her Olympian father, Reiner Klimke. Their book Cavalletti For Dressage and Jumping is now in its fourth edition (see Cavalletti to Strengthen and Supple sidebar below).

Relaxation

After rhythm, relaxation is the second component of the classical Training Scale. Klimke emphasized relaxation throughout the Masterclass. However, there was no cookie-cutter approach to achieving relaxation. Instead, Klimke suggested techniques suited to each horse’s personality. 

A proper warm-up achieves relaxation and is critical to training and competition preparation at every level in any discipline. “You need to get your horse moving from behind, stretching over the back, loose, swinging and ready for anything. Picture in your mind the horse with its nose on the ground, in a forward trot with the hind leg stepping up and underneath himself.”

Klimke encouraged riders to listen for their horse’s breathing, in sync with the rhythm of their gait, as a sign of relaxation. Riders must breathe, too—literally and figuratively in the quiet position of their legs, seat and hands. 

In one example of helping an amped horse relax, Caroline Hoffman’s Small Tour partner, the 10-year-old PRE Bugei VDOS, offered one-tempi changes when asked for four-tempis on a quarterline. Klimke encouraged Hoffman to breathe deeply herself while asking him to wait for her lead-change cues. She also told Hoffman to let him do his one-tempis on the other side of the arena. “He really wants to show off and do what’s interesting to him,” she said. “Thank him for presenting that to us. If this was one of my horses, now would be the time for a long gallop in the woods.”

Invisible and Effective Aids

“Try to ride with invisible aids,” Klimke counseled during the clinic. “Spectators should not be able to see them, yet the horse can feel it.” Maintaining shoulder, hip and heel alignment is the position from which the rider can execute those invisible yet effective aids.

Klimke asked several riders to remove theri stirrups, and she applauded their courage in doing so. Gaining a better feel for their horse through a deeper seat and a well-positioned, quiet leg was the objective. It’s a tactic Klimke uses frequently herself to sharpen communication with her horse. “I want you to sink into the saddle to create that positive seat aid,” she said. 

She taught a lower leg at or very near the girth with the heel down and solid weight in the stirrups. The toe should point in to enable pressure from the calf, not the spur.

She recommended saddles that have as little cushion for the riders as possible. Thigh and calf blocks that are too big can “pin you in.”

Hand position and use was part of Klimke’s emphasis on developing a horse that carries the weight of his own front end. “The weight of the reins” is the only load the rider’s hands should carry. 

Klimke wanted riders to hold the elbow just in front of the hip and to maintain a straight line from the hand to the horse’s bit. “You should be able to rest a ruler on that line,” she said. A “rubber wrist” allows movement toward or away from that straight line to the bit, facilitating light, subtle communication with the horse’s mouth.

If needed, a whip should be carried with the rider’s thumb over top of the whip. Klimke discouraged holding some of the whip’s length above the hand, saying it is as a great way to poke one’s eye out if the horse moves unexpectedly. Holding the thumb over the top of the whip enables the rubber wrist.

When needed, the whip should be use behind the rider’s leg, not on the horse’s croup.

Klimke also encouraged riders to address their own fitness. She currently has six dressage and six eventing horses. In addition to riding most of them every day, she follows DressurFit^®, a functional training for riders program advocated by fellow German dressage stars Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and her brother Benjamin Werndl. 

Although Klimke didn’t ride herself, she showed energy and enthusiasm from the first riders in the morning to fans waiting to chat or have an autograph and photo with her into the late evening. She trotted shoulder-ins and diagonal passes on foot to show the bend and body position in new exercises. 

The spectators reflected enthusiasm for her passionate approach to horsemanship. All left with notebooks full of training advice and the inspiration that, even at the very top of the sport, it’s love for the horse that begins and ends every day.

Sidebar: Cavalletti to Strengthen and Supple

Ingrid Klimke described cavalletti as part of every phase of her horsemanship education under her father. “As a kid, I saw these exercises from my father and they had a huge influence on the strength of our horse’s hindquarter and back, and on keeping horses healthy and fit throughout their lives.” 

She has refined the work with successive editions of the book Cavalletti for Dressage and Jumping, 4th Edition. The evolution includes creating her own cavalletti. The clinic included cavalletti at three heights in a variety of gymnastic exercises to fulfill various strengthening, suppling and training objectives. 

Arranged in straight, circle and serpentine patterns and set in different distances and striding options, the cavalletti served many functions. They helped horses learn to sit into their hind quarters and develop the strength to articulate their knees, shoulders, stifles and hocks. 

For upper-level horses, cavalletti can help establish the even rhythm needed for piaffe. An anxious, too-fast horse at any level can be slowed and relaxed by easy striding in a canter cavalletti. A short-strided horse can be encouraged to stretch and lengthen with longer distances. 

Setting cavalletti on a curve or circle allowed horses or ponies of various stride lengths to do the same exercise. Ponies took the shorter distances on the inside track. Longer-strided mounts followed the longer distances on the outside track. 

Circle and serpentine work over cavalletti helped riders prepare for turns—whether they occurred in a jump course or dressage arena. They taught suppleness and responsiveness to bend and to change that bend smoothly and on short notice. Stride extensions and collections were yet another area where Klimke’s cavalletti exercises helped participants. 

On Saturday, horses were introduced to the cavalletti on a loose rein at the walk, first just one or two cavalletti, then building to sets of four placed on straight lines, curves and circles. Regardless the configuration, Klimke told riders to use their aids to ride their horses to the exercise straight and in the right rhythm, but then let them figure their way through the exercise.

Sidebar: ‘It’s OK to Have Mistakes’

Joey Emmert Evans rode her two 8-year-olds—a KWPN mare Khaleesi on Saturday and Fiderherz RTH, a Westphalian stallion, on Sunday. The Northern California professional dressage rider developed both horses herself. She knew it would be good for them and herself to ride in that “big” atmosphere of the Masterclass.

“There is some pressure to perform, and I generally love riding under pressure. I also realized it’s OK to have mistakes—to look like a bit of a hot mess in this moment. It’s valuable because even though it’s a little bit of an ego hit to me, hopefully I helped the audience with their own riding. I know we all have moments where we’re in this same boat.” 

Klimke complimented Evans’ quiet position and aids. Also, she dubbed Khaleesi “the Dancing Queen” for the mare’s fluid, forward gaits and overall elegance. “She’s hot to begin with and anxious and this was her first trip off our property,” Evans said. 

Letting go to achieve relaxation was Klimke’s idea that came to life for the rider. “The first day, my mare was really trying to hold it together. Ingrid could see that and encouraged me to allow her some freedom to move her body and take a breath. It was nice for me to trust the mare and myself, even knowing what we were doing didn’t look perfect, it was an exercise to make the horse better.” 

Evans sensed that Klimke’s eventing experience gave her a different definition of forward movement. “I think us dressage riders can get stuck in the precision and collection. We can ‘nerd out’ on a 20-meter circle.

“Ingrid had a looseness that was a nice difference. She had me get into a two-point and let her move. Khaleesi’s gaits are big enough on their own, so it’s a matter of getting her in the right place, relaxed and moving through her body.”

This article was originally published in the Spring 2024 issue of Practical Horseman.

When you sit on your horse, imagine that you are the center tower of a suspension bridge. You have cables that stretch both forward and backward to various points on your horse’s topline that allow for movement between you and the cables. This helps to create balance, self-carriage and collection in your horse while you remain stable in the saddle.

Illustration by Sandy Rabinowitz

Stephany Fish Crossman is a U.S. Dressage Federation bronze and silver medalist as well as one of only nine accredited coaches for Mary Wanless’ Ride With Your Mind Biomechanics System in the U.S. She currently is based in Okeechobee, Florida. 

This article originally appeared in the Summer 2024 issue of Practical Horseman. 

Studying the two pictures, I congratulate Amanda and Caliente on their development. Caliente appears to have grown! His neck and chest have developed and even though the angle does not allow full view of his back. The croup appears well muscled and round. The movement has changed, too. I can see that his hind legs move more purposefully—with less dust and more lift—and the shoulders are carried better. 

Then and Now

In my critique of the earlier photo (Photo A), I commented that Amanda’s basically correct seat was a bit passive. She needed to become more active and part of the horse’s movement in order to move up to Second Level. In the more recent photo, I can see that she has accomplished this. 

Amanda’s seat now looks deeper and more connected. She looks like she is supporting Caliente. Her lower leg is a bit turned out and her hands could be carried more freely. However, the overall impression of more connection and higher-quality movement is what strikes me most when I compare these two pictures. Amanda’s homework was well done. But as my own trainer tells me: “This looks good—now try to make it better!”

To offer insight for further development, let’s study the pictures. Even though Caliente’s topline has developed well, he is, again, slightly behind the vertical. Especially in this phase of the canter (the landing stride) the poll needs to be the highest point and the nose should be reaching forward.

Amanda is concentrating on performing well. She is aiming to keep the horse together, create more engine from behind and help him in a more collected balance. But she needs to be careful that she does not close his frame in the front. Her slight habit of looking down gives her seat and Caliente a downhill focus. She should try to look up proudly over her horse’s ears. This can make a difference and give the canter a more uphill focus and direction.

Rider’s Aids

Another tip is in regard to the timing of her hands in connection to an upright balance in her body in canter. In an ideal canter, the horse has a round jump. Imagine horse and rider are like two balls that are stacked on top of each other. When the bottom ball starts rolling forward, the ball on top needs to roll in the opposite direction to be able to stay in balance on top. This is a very important image, because many riders roll their seat and hands in the same direction as the horse. This leads to heaviness in the movement and a more downhill canter.

To encourage self-carriage and uphill quality within the stride, Amanda should stretch up with her body and push her hands forward and up during the landing phase of the canter. With more “forward” and “up” thinking in her body, it will be easier for her to correct her leg position and have her horse more in front of her leg, too.

When the horse has jumped off the ground in canter and is in the moment of suspension, it is already determined where he will land. At this point, if the rider interferes with the landing, she can only disturb the horse’s balance. The rider cannot change anything after takeoff, but she can give the next stride a better direction. That means when riding the canter, always think ahead. Work for the next stride and stay out of the horse’s way in the landing. For example, looking down slightly is focusing on the landing, but if you look ahead to where the next stride should be, you are changing the timing of the aids.

Independent Hands

To check that you are sitting with independent hands, you must be able to feel the exact same contact in both reins during takeoff and landing. In this picture, it looks like Caliente is jumping a bit into the rein during landing and then, to avoid the stronger contact during landing, lowers his head and brings his nose more behind the vertical. If you were to watch this in a video, you would see that it leads to a slight up-and-down nodding of his head in canter. This nodding motion implies that he is not fully balanced from behind. 

Progress Overview

I can see that Caliente’s topline and neck muscles have improved a lot within a year. I imagine that he will continue to improve. However, in situations such as riding a dressage test, old habits often become visible again. 

As I look at this new picture, I would tell Amanda to trust her horse. She can seek further improvement by pushing her hands and her horse’s neck forward to achieve a more uphill frame. Her scores will improve with this. 

Amanda should be proud of her development and should reflect this in her own posture, too. Then her upper body will open up and she and Caliente can shine with more power and harmony. 

About Susanne von Dietze

Susanne von Dietze is a leader in equestrian biomechanics. A physiotherapist, licensed Trainer A instructor and judge for dressage and show jumping, she gives lectures and seminars throughout the world, including at the prestigious German Riding Academy in Warendorf. She is a native of Germany and now lives with her husband and three children in Israel, where she competes at the international level. She is the author of two books on the biomechanics of riding: Balance in Movement and Rider and Horse, Back to Back. 

This article originally appeared in the Spring 2024 issue of Practical Horseman.

For equestrians, the Palace of Versailles venue has historic connections to horses and their place in European culture. It’s relatively easy to get to for most of eventing, dressage, show jumping and para-dressage’s power-player countries. The City of Light stages look ready to showcase equestrian sports at their finest.

The appeal of Paris, however, has nothing to do with why the United States’ 16 horses and riders will be there. They’re there to fulfill dreams drafted in childhood and realized through years of hard work, patience, persistence, broken bones, broken hearts, big bills, bad days and a million other things about which the rest of us have only a small inkling.

And they’re there because they had the right horse, the right plan to bring him along, the right backers and funding, and a National Federation focused on nurturing horses and riders at various levels of the ever-narrowing Olympic pipeline.

Given that we’re talking about horses—they probably had some old-fashioned good luck, too.

But first, let’s start with Paris …

Versailles as a Venue

It’s unlikely that U.S. equestrians will be among the 10,500 athletes floating down Paris’ Siene River in the Opening Ceremony for the 2024 Olympic Games. Especially the eventers. The procession is Friday, July 26, the same day as eventing’s First Horse Inspection and the day before their Games begin with dressage on Saturday, July 27. 

But equestrians have a sweet venue to enjoy—the grounds of the Palace of Versailles. If you’ve visited King Louis XIV’s palace as a tourist, picture looking about two miles down the gardens and Grand Canal to the Park at Versailles. An arena on the Étoile Royale esplanade will stage eventing, dressage, show jumping and para-dressage. 

Eventing’s cross-country phase will run up and down the Grand Canal and through the surrounding forests and grass expanses. 

A UNESCO World Heritage site, Versailles perfectly fits the organizers’ desire to blend culture with sport. It’s about 21 miles from the Olympic Village in the heart of Paris, and it can take an hour to 90 minutes of travel time to reach. 

King Louis XIV used the approximately 10,000-acre park as a getaway and to enjoy his own horses and equestrian activities. The Great Stables of the Palace of Versailles have been home to the National Equestrian Academy since 2003. Its Royal Stables are now a stage for the Academy’s artistic equestrian performances. 

Competition Overview

Dressage and jumping teams did final tune-ups at European competitions, some of which were observation events that narrowed their short lists to the three horse-and-rider pairs, plus one traveling reserve.

The eventing team had a final observation event at Stable View in South Carolina in late June. Their next stop will be a training camp in Vittel, France, a week before the Games. They based there before the FEI World Championships, too.

Eventing, dressage, show jumping and para-dressage teams consist of three horse-and-rider pairs. As was first the case in at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, all their scores count toward team standings—there’s no longer a fourth pair and the option of a “drop score.” A traveling reserve pair is on site and ready to go, but the rules and—in some cases—penalties for their deployment vary by discipline.

Eventing

Announced June 3, the U.S. Olympic Eventing Team is Will Coleman and Off the Record, Boyd Martin and Fedarman B, and Caroline Pamukcu and HSH Blake. Liz Halliday and Cooley Nutcracker are the traveling reserve. In addition, there are several alternates, including team riders considered “direct reserves” with a second horse.

The U.S. has a long history of international team and individual medals, but it’s been 20 years since their last team podium appearance at the Olympics—bronze in Athens in 2004. Team silver at the 2022 World Championships and the 2023 Pan Am Games to qualify for Paris put the team on pace to reclaim Olympic podium territory. 

Chef d’Equipe Bobby Costello is confident the Paris squad has all the right stuff. Even before the team was announced, he said, “We will have the top horses and are fielding a very competitive team.” 

Paris will present a few new challenges. With all dressage going on one day, Saturday, July 27, there’s less time to walk Pierre Le Goupil’s cross-country track. But a compressed schedule is something all major players have dealt with at CHIO Aachen, Costello noted. 

The third day of competition includes two jumping rounds. The first will determine the team medals. Then the top 25 from that round will come back for another round to determine individual medals. 

Gregory Bodo of France and Santiago Varela of Spain will co-design Eventing’s stadium jumping finale. They’re also designing the courses for the show-jumping discipline. 

Cross country will run up and down either side of Versailles’ Grand Canal, crossing it twice on temporary bridges constructed for the Games. Sharp turns and switchbacks are likely on the flat terrain, potentially favoring adjustability and nimbleness. “But I tend to feel that a great horse is a great horse who can compete over many different types of venues,” Costello observed. 

The demands of Olympic eventing are basically five-star difficulty and scope for dressage and show jumping. For cross country, there’s only a slight step down in the width and number of jumping efforts involved. “It’s a very fine line,” Costello said.

Overall, a total of 16 teams made up of 48 athletes will compete for team medals. Team athletes will also compete for individual medals. An additional 17 individual athletes can compete for individual medals.

The eventing competition schedule (subject to changes) is as follows:

Dressage

Announced June 25, the U.S. Olympic Dressage Team is Adrienne Lyle and Helix, Marcus Orlob and Jane, and Steffen Peters and Suppenkasper. Endel Ots and Zen Elite’s Bohemian are the traveling reserve combination.

Coming off Tokyo’s historic silver medal, the U.S. dressage team will focus on returning to the podium starting with Paris and continuing on the road to Los Angeles 2028. Chef d’Equipe Christine Traurig says the same qualities that ultimately put pairs on the team will determine their success in Paris. 

“In today’s view of our sport worldwide, it is the bond and harmony between the horse and the rider that needs to shine when a pair performs at the top of their potential and ability. It is the lightness, the ease, the seamless flow from movement to movement that makes a performance not only brilliant but also beautiful. That is what we strive for in our riders and horses, and they are known for it.” 

The 45 team pairs representing 15 countries, and 15 pairs competing as individuals, begin with the Grand Prix test. It will take place over two days, Tuesday and Wednesday, July 30 and 31, with 30 rides each day.

The top-10 ranked teams in the Grand Prix next ride in the Grand Prix Special on Saturday, August 3, to determine the team medals. Then, the top-18 contenders who qualify for the Grand Prix Freestyle will compete for individual medals on Sunday, August 4. 

Scores in the mid-70s and above are likely the minimum for making the team podium. In Tokyo, the team gold-winning Germans had an over 80% team average in the Grand Prix Special. The U.S.’ team silver resulted from a 78.490 average, with Sabine Schut-Kery and Sanceo securing the silver on a career-high 81.596. 

The movements in the Grand Prix Freestyle that decide the individual medals offer the potential for higher scores. In Tokyo, Germany’s Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and Dalera earned gold with a 91.732. Her countrymate Isabell Werth and Bella Rose earned an 89.657 for silver. The U.K.’s Charlotte Dujardin and Gio earned bronze with an 88.543. 

Except for potentially hot weather, Traurig expects no unusual challenges beyond the immense pressure of competing on the world stage. “It’s going to be spectacular, and it’s anticipated that Paris will welcome the most spectators ever at an Olympic Games,” she says. “The organizers will go out of their way to have everything perfect.” 

The dressage competition schedule (subject to changes) is as follows:

Show Jumping 

Announced July 6, the U.S. Olympic Show Jumping Team is Kent Farrington and Greya, Laura Kraut and Baloutinue, and McLain Ward and Ilex. Karl Cook and Caracole de la Roque are the alternate combination.

U.S. show jumping marches into Versailles with consecutive team silvers from Tokyo in 2021 and Rio de Janeiro in 2016. They also have a strong Olympic track record since 1960 team silver in Mexico City.

Thursday’s team qualifier will see three pairs from 20 teams tackling a Table A against-the-clock track. (In a Table A competition, faults are penalized in penalty points.) Up to 17 jumping efforts may vary between 1.40 and 1.65 meters, with at least two verticals measuring 1.6 meters. Spreads can hit 2 meters, and 2.2 meters for a triple bar. There is no jump-off in this team qualifier.

The top-10 finishing teams advance to the Finals on Friday, August 2, plus any teams tied on penalties and time for 10th place. All start with zero penalties.

Teams tied on penalties for first place will jump off in the team final round. Additionally, teams tied for penalties and time for third will jump off. In the final team standings, teams with three pairs completing will place over teams with only two pairs completing. 

For the individual qualifier on Monday, August 5, 75 pairs may start—a maximum of three per country, plus those riding as individuals. Again, it’s Table A against the clock, with no jump-off to break ties of penalties and time. The top 30 pairs from this round start the individual final on Tuesday, August 6, with a clean slate. Ties on penalties for first place will jump-off, with the slower pair going first. Ties on penalties and time for third place will jump off before the jump-off for first.

Gregory Bodo of France and Santiago Varela of Spain will co-design the jumping tracks. Varela is highly regarded for his horse-friendly and dramatically beautiful courses for eventing’s jumping phase and show jumping in Tokyo. 

The show jumping competition schedule (subject to changes) is as follows:

Para Dressage

Under Chef d’Equipe Michel Assouline, the U.S. has earned unprecedented success. This includes team bronze and two individual golds for Roxanne Trunnell at the Tokyo Paralympics. Additionally, they earned team bronze at the 2022 ECCO FEI World Championships. In May of this year, the U.S. Para Dressage Team topped the podium at the Mannheim CPEDI3* in Germany. In early June, the team again won the top honors in the Hagen CPEDI3*.

Para dressage is part of the Paralympic Games, which is August 28–September 8. The Paralympics’ one equestrian sport, para dressage, is four days of competition, September 3–7. One team member must be classified as Grade I, II or III—the most physically impaired of para dressage’s five grades. And the team may not include more than two riders from any Grade. In a team of four riders, only the top three scores will count for the team medal. Individual medals are determined by the results of the Para Grand Prix A and Para Grand Prix Freestyle. Team medals are determined by the Para Grand Prix B.

Announced July 12, the U.S. Paralympic Equestrian Team consists of Rebecca Hart and Floratina, Fiona Howard and Diamond Dunes, Kate Shoemaker and Vianne, and Roxanne Trunnell and Fan Tastico H. The three U.S. team combinations will be determined after the Para Grand Prix A Tests on Wednesday, September 4, 2024.

The para dressage competition schedule (subject to changes) is as follows:

The Logistics

Enabling the U.S.’ 16 horse-and-rider pairs to be totally in the moment on competition days requires years of advance planning from the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s support staff. 

The to-do list ranges from booking flights and lodging or stabling to soliciting snack preferences from the riders. Nudging the many owners of potential team horses to complete a detailed accreditation process four months before their horse might strut its stuff in Paris is another of myriad items to be checked off the list.

The timetable for moving horses in and out of the stables is tighter than normal, said Hallye Griffin, USEF director of FEI Sport and chef de mission for the Olympics. The eventing horses, for example, need to be moved out by 10 p.m. on Monday, July 29, the same day as the team and individual show-jumping rounds and medal ceremonies. 

And the move-out needs to be done with sensitivity toward the athletes’ experience, which looks different depending on whether they medal or not. “We focus totally on the medal competition and the horses and athletes that day,” Griffin noted. “We never do a tear down, take down the banners or pack up the vet truck, etc. until the competition is over.

“If we’re managing a victory, first off everyone wants to come to the barn,” Griffin continued. “There’s a very tight accreditation process and we need a clear plan to keep the barn a workplace. We decide and communicate where everyone would come to meet for a celebration, where the owners can come say hello to their horses. And we make sure the grooms feel a part of it.” 

This year, the horses are stabled by discipline, not by country, adding a logistical layer to each discipline’s stable space. Grooms stay in organizer-provided on-site lodging, so they can get to their horse 24/7 if needed. Their well-being and support is critical to the U.S. team’s success, Griffin emphasized.

A seemingly mundane shipping container plays a key role in U.S. Equestrian Team success. In early May, it left New York filled with equipment—from pitchforks and wheelbarrows to coffee and panini makers.  

At Versailles, the shipping container will likely be the team hub as it was in Tokyo. “It saved us in Tokyo,” recalled USEF’s Carly Weilminster, senior director of Sport Communications and Social Media. Athletes, grooms, physios and staff gathered to socialize, charge phones and stay cool in the air-conditioned unit. 

Riders will stay in hotels near Versailles, not in the athlete village. Also, few are expected to participate in the Opening Ceremonies parade on July 26. However, team priorities include helping the athletes enjoy the full Olympic experience with watch parties and other activities. 

“We want the athletes to be relaxed, rested and ready to perform, so everybody has a hotel with air conditioning,” explained Griffin, who will be on site in Versailles for three weeks. Shuttles to the venue were scheduled months ago with options for impromptu stable visits, too. 

What’s at Stake?

Olympic preparation occupies a huge part of the USEF staff’s time and lives, even though many of their roles also serve lower levels of the sport on a year-round basis. Olympic success drives a lot of what happens with the much wider base of equestrian sport in the States.

“A lot of the work that happened around Tokyo and the success there helped drive our membership,” noted Griffin. Memorable moments include videos of the grooms helping horses on their flights to Tokyo and the “Rave Horse” viral sensation around dressage stars Suppenkasper and Steffen Peters. Olympic exposure and success consequentially can be key to growing the fan and participant base. 

They also play a role in improving the odds that equestrian sport keeps its place in the Olympics. 

Equestrian has been part of the Games since 1900—fittingly in Paris—and have been continuously part of the Olympics since 1912. But the land and logistics involved in staging equestrian competition make it vulnerable. Popularity with fans and accessibility to participants around the world weigh heavily on any sport’s continued place in the Olympic Games.  

Sidebar: A Groom’s Experience

Margo Thomas’ first Olympics was Tokyo in 2021, caring for Laura Kraut’s partner on the silver-winning U.S. team—Baloutinue. Tending to only one horse was the most tangible difference in her role at the Tokyo Games versus the usual five-star competitions.

“You can pay every attention to detail to make sure everything is going to go right,” Thomas said.

The Olympics bring a new level of pressure. Evidently Thomas found herself managing it better after the first round of jumping in Tokyo. “Getting through the first night was a relief and made it easier to focus on the horse and not my own nervousness about being at ‘the Olympics!’ 

“I’ve learned over the years how important it is to keep my own emotions and jitters under control because I don’t want to bring that energy to my horse,” Thomas shared. “They’re empathetic creatures, and it’s better to take a deep breath and focus on the task at hand, try to let go of the pressure of what’s going on outside the stall.” 

Other than getting their grooms’ time to themselves, the Olympic horses get their usual routines to every extent possible. “We try to follow all the same protocols and just make sure they’re happy and comfortable,” Thomas shared. Monitoring Baloutinue’s mood and behavior for anything unusual was a key task in Tokyo, as it is at other competitions.

Grooms lived on site at the venue in Tokyo, as they will at Versailles. “I was close enough that I could almost see the barn out of my window.” 

Grooms need to be aware of FEI and, in some cases, Olympic-specific rules regarding approved tack and apparel. What bits, bridles and other tack, can be used was announced as set in stone a few months before the Games, and is accessible for double-checking on the FEI Horse App.

There’s strong camaraderie between grooms at the Olympic level thanks to friendships fostered on the international circuit. “You want your team to win at the end of the day, but I have friends who groom for other countries, and I am sometimes nearly as excited for them when their horse jumps a clear round.”

Check out more coverage of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

This article originally appeared in the Summer 2024 issue of Practical Horseman.

The shoulder-in is the first lateral movement involving collection that you encounter as you move up the dressage levels. Introduced at Second Level, it is one of the most important movements for you and your horse to master.

First, it allows you to move the horse’s shoulders. This is necessary for more advanced collection that requires, among other abilities, the mobility and elevation of the shoulders.

It also allows the rider to displace the shoulders without the horse thinking that he must move in the direction the shoulders are pointed. Moving the shoulders to the inside is also necessary for the horse to bend correctly.

But there are lots of things that can go wrong with shoulder-in. Let’s look at a few of these problems and some possible solutions:

1 Problem: My horse has too much angle.

This is a control and line-of-travel issue. The horse is working hard to avoid collection by changing the angle. Think of riding your outside hand to the corner of the arena with your inside leg. I find it helpful to look where I am going rather than looking over the horse’s ears. If you are doing shoulder-in on the centerline, then ride your outside hand to C. Often, you can help the horse understand that the inside leg and outside rein control the angle by only doing a few steps of shoulder-in, straightening a few strides, and then repeating the shoulder-in.

2 Problem: My horse has too much bend in his neck.

As a rider, you need to pay more attention to the relationship between your upper body and the horse’s shoulders, neck, and head. I have a visual I use called “the gunslinger”: imagine you are on Main Street ready to draw your guns in a gunfight with your shoulders square and facing your opponent. It’s the same when you are riding a straight line: your horse’s shoulders, neck, and ears line up with yours. If you were to draw your guns on a straight line, you should be able to shoot exactly over each of your horse’s ears.

In shoulder-in, the rider must turn her shoulders and the horse’s shoulders, neck, and ears toward the opposite corner of the arena. Here the gunslinger analogy remains true. You should have a direct line from your shoulder, elbow, and hand to the horse’s shoulder and ear on each side. If you have too much neck bend, the horse’s outside ear will be in the middle of your chest, not in front of your outside shoulder and hand. You either have too much inside rein or are allowing too much neck bend with the outside rein.

3 Problem: My horse tilts his head.

This imperfection is due to a lack of suppleness in the horse’s poll. The poll is usually the last piece that becomes supple in a horse. This being said, it is impossible to supple the poll with the neck up in the beginning. Work on poll-suppling exercises during the warm-up phase of your training session. Sometimes head tilting can be addressed by simply changing the flexion for a few strides and then returning to the correct position.

4 Problem: My horse’s haunches fall out.

Again, this is a line-of-travel issue and an “escape” for the horse. It can usually be solved with a reminder from the outside leg in the preparation for the movement. I also find it helpful to do a little head-to-wall leg-yielding on one long side and then a shoulder-in on the next long side. You may need to have a bit less displacement of the shoulders for a while until the horse becomes more supple and obedient to the exercise.

5 Problem: My horse falls to his outside shoulder.

This can happen when the horse resists taking the weight on his inside hind leg and uses the outside shoulder to maintain balance, instead. Check this first: Do you have too much neck bend? This will usually result in the balance going to the outside shoulder.

The best exercise I know for correcting this issue is to change from shoulder-in to haunches-out (renvers) for a few strides. When you return to the shoulder-in, you should have the correct balance.

6 Problem: My horse loses cadence and regularity.

This is a simple issue of lack of lateral suppleness. When the judge sees a loss of regularity (purity of gait) in a lateral movement, it does not influence the gait score, but does influence the submission score. You will need to go back and work on bending exercises such as circles, serpentines, and figure eights before adding bending with collection to your training plan.

7 Problem: My horse loses impulsion.

This is normal. Most green or young horses need to slow down a bit to learn something new. Try to go forward first out of the corner and then do a few strides of shoulder-in, straighten, and go forward again. Using a bit of a more-forward working or collected trot will help the horse “think” forward first.

8 Problem: My horse’s haunches fall in off the track.

This horse is really sneaky. He allows you to begin the movement in a good way, happily bringing his forehand off the track. However, he then “cheats” simply by moving his hindquarters slightly in, and is soon just going straight down the second track.

Be sure your outside leg is not sending the wrong message. If this is not the issue, then you need to work again to emphasize the inside leg to the outside rein. Go back to the leg-yield with some bending into the shoulder-in. I am not big on pushing the haunches back onto the track when this mistake occurs. I believe the horse should always be straightened by placing the shoulders in front of the hind legs. So when this problem crops up, you can just bring the shoulders more to the inside until you have a three-track movement. You might end up on the centerline but you will have made your point!

This excerpt from Dressage for the Not-So-Perfect Horse by Janet Foy with Nancy J. Jones is reprinted with permission from Trafalgar Square Books (www.HorseandRiderBooks.com).

To be with a horse over such a long time builds a strong relationship. You can see in the picture that they trust each other and are focused on their task. What struck me first was how special it is to see such a big horse being ridden by such a light rider, and it looks like Laura is riding with very light aids.

In this photo, I can see that the canter is round with good engagement from behind. To be critical, horse’s neck could reach out a little more and he could carry his nose more in front of the vertical.

Sitting Deeper and Giving Forward

Laura is sitting light—almost too light. Her seat could be connected deeper into the saddle. Her upper body has a slight forward tendency, which I prefer to sitting too far behind. But this sitting forward does not allow her to push with her arms toward the horse’s mouth in the landing phase, which would help her encourage Bronte to reach forward to the bit.

To understand and feel the connection of sitting deeper and the forward-giving tendency of the hands, Laura should try this: Place a chair in front of a table and sit down with your hands upright on the table as if holding the reins. Without allowing your hands to move, start pushing them forward. This will cause the shoulders to push down, the chest to lift, the weight on the seat bones to shift slightly to the back and the abdominal muscles to become engaged while the feet push more with the heels into the floor.

The same exercise can be done while standing facing a wall: bend the knees slightly as if in riding position, place the knuckles of the hands against the wall and apply a gentle push forward against the wall.

The slight forward tendency of her seat in the picture reveals that if Laura gave forward with her hands now, she would tip more forward, drop the contact and not be able to support self-carriage in an uphill manner.

Laura needs to understand that “giving” the reins is not a mere forward pushing of the arms but is connected to her seat. “Giving” the reins, like in the above exercises, will make her use her weight aids and her seat more. Remember: Every half-halt finishes with giving. Giving the reins and connecting this to her body will help Laura connect deeper with her seat and control the horse more from her seat.

In the canter (like the walk), the rider needs to give the hands forward during each landing stride to allow for the horse’s natural neck movement. To truly control the horse on the seat, you need to use the giving moment of each stride, which enhances self-carriage and lightness of the horse. 

The second detail I notice on Laura’s seat is a slight outside rotation of her right leg. This rotation does not allow her to fully open and stretch through her hip, and it makes a deeper connection of her pelvis difficult.

When performing the standing exercise from earlier, Laura will feel how the forward tendency of her hands can help her to ground more down to her legs and allow her to drop the heel down. In the human walking pattern, the push-off from the back leg is most effective with a slight inside rotation of the hip. This is true for the outside leg in riding, too. 

Using more internal rotation and stretch of her hip, her seat will connect deeper and she will be more effective in collecting the canter.

In a training situation, I would ask Laura to canter with the reins in her inside hand and connect herself deeper into the saddle using the outside hand pulling on the back of the saddle. She should concentrate on feeling the exact moment the horse’s outside hind leg lands on the ground with her weight on her outside seat bone. It is true that in the canter, you shift the weight toward the inside seat bone, but this is only possible when pushing off the outside seat bone first.

To feel the importance of the outside seat bone, a simple unmounted exercise is helpful. Skipping the canter (pretending to canter yourself) is a great way to realize what is happening with the balance in canter. When skipping the left canter, your right leg is on the ground first and the left leg comes down later. When you skip and push most of your weight to the left forward leg, you tip more forward like a horse cantering on the forehand. But when skipping with most weight on the right hind leg, it feels more uphill and like a collected canter with more lightness in the front leg.

For the horse, this means more collection from behind and more self-carriage through the shoulders and lighter movement of the forehand.

For Laura, connecting more with her outside seat bones, opening her hip with slight inside rotation of her leg and learning the timing of pushing the hands forward in each landing phase of the canter will be the keys to further improving the canter work.

As a bonus, riding with more lightness of the forehand will hopefully help Bronte stay healthy so they can enjoy many more years together.

About Susanne

Susanne von Dietze is a leader in equestrian biomechanics. A physiotherapist, licensed Trainer A instructor and judge for dressage and show jumping, she gives lectures and seminars throughout the world, including at the prestigious German Riding Academy in Warendorf. She is a native of Germany and now lives with her husband and three children in Israel, where she competes at the international level. She is the author of two books on the biomechanics of riding: Balance in Movement and Rider and Horse, Back to Back. 

This article originally appeared in the Spring 2022 issue of Practical Horseman.

Below is a photo gallery the top 10 CCI5*-L horses and riders from the day two dressage.

CCI5*-L competition at the 2022 Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event will resume tomorrow, April 30, at 12:50 p.m. EST with the cross-country phase.

Thanks to Kent Nutrition Group, Mane ‘n Tail, and Cosequin® for our coverage of the 2022 Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event, including rider interviews, competition reports, horse spotlights, photos, videos and more!⁣