Age Is Just a Number

At the 2023 US Dressage Finals presented by Adequan®, Region 9 rider Lyndon Rife was the senior-most competitor on the grounds, with the show held just two weeks before his 71st birthday! We sat down with this Region 9 legend to learn about his amazing story.

Tell us about your background with horses. When did you first start riding, how long after that before you began riding dressage, and have you ridden other disciplines along the way?

I started riding backyard ponies and horses while growing up in Texas. I pretty much ran wild – riding bareback, swimming with horses, and racing on an old sand airstrip. My family moved to Michigan when I was in high school, and after I graduated, I started the pre-vet program at Michigan State University. I became interested in shoeing horses at that time and attended shoeing school to learn more and provide income to help pay for college. Eventually, I left college to shoe horses full-time, and I became more and more interested in training horses after being exposed to more types of riding. I took my very first riding lesson at twenty-six years old from Beth Tait, a Wisconsin trainer teaching new students for Chuck Grant over the summer. When she returned home, I began riding with Chuck. 

When I first started riding with Chuck, I wasn’t interested in competing. I wanted more time to ride, so I began working full-time at Greenfield Village where I shod the carriage horses and worked on restoring the carriages. This allowed more time for riding in the evenings and sometimes, I would ride until midnight!

I really enjoyed being around the horses and training circus tricks, as well as all of the dressage movements. My first horse was half Arabian, half Quarter Horse. At the time, I was mainly riding western and wasn’t particularly interested in dressage, but I heard that Arabians excel in it, so I decided to try. In my first dressage lessons, I showed up in blue jeans and cowboy boots. I often rode in group lessons with up to twenty other students and had a blast. I rode in Chuck’s “Horse Capades,” which was just plain fun! 

After several years, I decided to enter a competition. I was probably around 28 or 29 and rode my Saddlebred mare in a Third Level test under Hilda Gurney at my very first show. I had taught her all of the circus tricks, and she always tried 110%.  I was having so much fun that I was really surprised when Hilda stopped me for a chat at the end of the test.  She told me I had no business riding at Third level and that my horse was trying really hard in spite of me not sitting well enough or understanding the movements.  At that same competition, Bodo Hagen was showing several horses and they seemed to dance when they moved.  I realized at that moment that I wanted to be a full-time student of dressage and try to make my horses look effortless in their work the way Bodo’s did that day.  A whole new chapter in my dressage education began! I decided to become more serious, gave up shoeing horses full-time, and took a job at Tempel Farms riding Lippizans. From that point on, I was a dedicated dressage trainer. I moved back to Texas thirty years ago and have been operating LTR Dressage with Julie Madriguera, my wife of twenty years, ever since. 

What is it about the sport of dressage that you love most?

I love the long-term development and partnership. Riding with Chuck Grant kindled my desire to learn how to communicate what I wanted to the horses while still being fair. Over the years, I have always sought out help to learn more correct training. Whenever training methods didn’t seem in the horse’s best interest, I shied away and reminded myself that I train because of my love for the horses – not for what the horses can do for me. 

What are some of your biggest accomplishments during your dressage career?

I have achieved my USDF Bronze, Silver, and Gold Medals. Over the years, I have also earned Great American Insurance Group/USDF Regional Championships or Reserve Championships at Training Level through Grand Prix! In 1997, I won the USDF Horse of the Year (HOY) Championship at Third Level and Intermediate I (with freestyles we made on our tape deck at home!), and I have earned many other placings in HOY standings. Additionally, I have accumulated many Adequan®/USDF All-Breeds Championships for the Hanoverian, Trakehner, and Holsteiner associations. 

Tell us about your trip to the US Dressage Finals last fall year, as well as your past trips to Finals. What do you like about this competition, and what makes it special?

In 2022, I missed the Regional Championships because I had COVID. This year, I was really busy with our move and overseeing all of the construction at our new facility, but I did just enough showing to qualify. At the Region 9 Championships I wound up winning the Intermediate I Freestyle and the earning the Reserve Championship in the Open Intermediate I on my Holsteiner gelding, Conflorsan (Conner). I didn’t think Conner would be competitive at the national level, but I decided to go with my student, Elisabeth Dewar. Elisabeth and her horse, Don Darling, placed fourth in the Adult Amateur Intermediate I championship!

I really enjoyed being there with my wife, Julie, my student, and her family. The competition management and facility all did a great job. Riding in the Alltech Arena was great, and it was fun to watch the competition. We had attended Finals a couple of times, but we had taken a long break, so it was good to come back. It was also good to catch up with people from other regions we don’t see very often, catch up, and maybe get some inspiration. I also enjoyed helping several competitors down the path to the Alltech or outdoor arenas. I am a pretty good anchor when it comes to leading horses!

Conner is a special horse for many reasons. My student and good friend Michele Miles owned him and dreamed of being able to ride him successfully despite his quirky behavior. Unfortunately, he was being rehabbed from an injury when Michele passed away unexpectedly. He had about a year off, and no one was sure if he would return to work, but in 2022, I purchased him from her husband and got him back to work. Conner has a lot of personality – which can be good and bad – but I enjoy him, and I enjoy giving him a good home because I know it would make Michele happy.

Tell us about starting LTR Dressage and some of your favorite moments and memories associated with it.

I decided to move to Texas to be closer to my family and began building my dressage training business out of the Las Colinas Equestrian Center. After about seventeen years of working out of other people’s facilities, my wife and I were able to buy our own farm in North Texas. Last year, after thirteen years of operation, we sold it and began developing our new training facility a few miles away from the old one. It is beautiful, and we are so happy – but it is a LOT of hard work!  Whenever I feel frustrated by the business, I must remind myself how I started. 

I love teaching my students, and I always strive to learn more in order to help them learn more. I have helped many juniors, adult amateurs, and professionals achieve their goals in riding and competition. Over the years, I have also guided many young professionals to start in the training and competition arenas. In the thirteen years at our former facility, we helped riders earn twenty-six USDF Bronze, Silver, and Gold medals! They have also been winners at the regional and national level. A big part of our program is learning more about correct training and how to take better care of the horses. 

LTR Dressage organized the Texas Dressage Classic competition and held it for nine years. At one point, we awarded $26,000 in prize money, featuring a $10,000 freestyle competition. LTR Dressage has also been an active organizer of clinics and symposiums through the years. We hosted symposiums with Kalman De Jurenak (former Hanoverian Verband trainer and Olympic coach for Australia and New Zealand), US Olympian Steffen Peters, German Olympian Heike Kemmer, Olympic coach Ernst Hoyos, US Olympian Lisa Wilcox, and Jane Savoie. In 2009, I was awarded the Region 9 Horse Person of the Year for my efforts to improve dressage in the region. 

What is your all-time favorite moment in the saddle?

I have a lot, but it might be riding in the symposium with German Olympian Ulla Salzgeber on my student Amy Bock’s Hanoverian gelding, Prestige. 

Share about some of your favorite or most influential equines who have been a part of your journey.

The most influential horse on my journey was the Hanoverian breeding stallion Lehnsritter. A client, who was buying him in payments from Lilo Fore, had him in training with me, but he eventually abandoned him and all of his bills. I was able to work with Lilo to take over the payments to buy him. He was a special horse, but he struggled with some issues from his previous rider and could only do late flying changes as an 11-year-old. Regardless, I trained him up to Grand Prix, and he won the American Hanoverian Association Horse of the Year Championships through Intermediate II and Regional Championships through Grand Prix. After I stopped competing with him, my wife earned her USDF Silver medal and the Regional Reserve Championship at Prix St. Georges with Lehnsritter. 

Want to learn more about Lyndon’s story? Stay tuned for a great article about him and the youngest rider at the 2023 US Dressage Finals, coming soon to YourDressage!