By Chelsey Burris
There are few sports that you can enjoy from your youth through your golden years. At the recent US Dressage Finals in Lexington, KY, an 11-year-old and a 70-year-old rider both competed at the same show. With their ages spanning a full six decades, it proved dressage is truly a lifetime sport.
Preparing for the Show of a Lifetime
In Barn #18, Grace Christianson excitedly finished tidying up her horse’s braids and shining up her tail, something she always makes sure to do before leaving the stall. Her mount, 8-year-old mare FHF Roulee, leaned her dark muzzle down to snuggle the young equestrian. Grace was missing school this week, 6th grade, to travel from Indiana to the Kentucky Horse Park with her family for her first ever trip to the US Dressage Finals presented by Adequan®, the year-end championship show for dressage in the United States. At just 11-years-old, she was the youngest competitor at the national championship show in 2023. Her friends and family back home would be anxiously awaiting updates to find out how she was doing, and Grace and her mother, Elizabeth, were keeping them apprised with plenty of videos and photos.
Just a couple arenas away, Lyndon Rife was schooling his horse, Conflorsan, nicknamed Conner, for his two upcoming Finals classes. Lyndon, at age 70 (and just two weeks shy of his 71st birthday during the show), was the senior-most competitor on the grounds for the championships. In a dressage career spanning over 40 years, he’s brought horses along from Training Level to Grand Prix. In addition to earning his USDF Bronze, Silver, and Gold Medals, he has also helped his students earn more than forty USDF Bronze, Silver, and Gold medal awards. For his efforts to improve dressage in his home region, he was awarded Region 9’s Horse Person of the Year in 2009.
Trailering up from Texas, Lyndon brought his student, Elisabeth Dewar, and her horse, Don Darling, with him to compete, swapping out roles during the week from rider, to trainer, to coach, to handler as needed. “I enjoyed helping several competitors get down the path to the Alltech Arena or to the outdoor arenas. I am a pretty good anchor when it comes to leading horses!” he shares.
Back in her bedroom in Indiana, Grace’s wall is covered with ribbons and photos of her favorite horses. She has a massive collection of Schleich Horses and Breyer Horses, housed in homemade barns and arenas that Grace built when she was around 5 years old, which she and her friends like to play with when they come over to her house. Meanwhile, Lyndon’s barn and office walls have been adorned with ribbons, trophies, photos of his students, awards from the Dallas Dressage Club (his local Group Member Organization), and the many Adequan®/USDF Year-End and All-Breed Awards (for the Hanoverian, Trakehner, and Holsteiner associations) that he has proudly collected through his years in the saddle.
Six decades separated the youngest and oldest competitor at the show – but dressage is unique in that both these riders were on the national stage, ready to compete for top honors in a sport that requires finesse, dedication, and a strong partnership with your horse. Age is just a number in dressage.
Recognized-Show Debuts…42 Years Apart
Having been bitten by the horse bug at a young age, Grace’s life purpose has quickly come to revolve around equines. After riding dressage for about a year or two, she was already proudly telling folks that her goal was to one day win a gold medal in the Olympics. “She had to be only around 9 years old when that became her dream,” her mother, Elizabeth, said. After riding a variety of horses in her youth, it was partnering with Roulee that launched Grace’s showing aspirations into realities.
As 2023 began, attending the US Dressage Finals was beyond Grace’s wildest dreams. After loving horses since she was 3 years old, Grace got serious about her riding goals and made her recognized show debut in May 2023. It was a sparkling entrance to the dressage world, where she won her class. The fact that the show, the Harmony in the Park Spring I, was a qualifier for the Great American Insurance Group Regional Dressage Championships made the victory all the more thrilling. Over the summer, Grace dabbled in more shows in Kentucky and her home state of Indiana. Riding at Training and First Level, occasionally doing a First Level Freestyle (to positive female anthems including Meghan Trainor’s ‘Dear Future Husband’, Pink’s ‘Just Give Me a Reason’, and Demi Lovato’s ‘I Love Me’), and adding equitation classes to the mix, Grace and Roulee were routinely finishing in the top three, and more often than not, coming home with blue ribbons.
Lyndon made his recognized show debut, where he rode a Saddlebred mare in a Third Level test under judge Hilda Gurney in 1981, 31 years before Grace was born. In 2023, he rode the show circuit that has become familiar to him – with shows like the Dallas Dressage Club Spring I and National Dressage Pony Cup – while preparing to return to the Region 9 Championships. Making it to Regionals is always notable, but for Lyndon, it’s usually more of an expectation and a decision of, ‘Which horse should I bring along this year?’ than a pipe dream. He is a Regional Champs veteran, attending the show 29 of the last 30 years beginning in 1994. The only thing that was capable of ending his perfect attendance streak was being hospitalized in 2009 and then being limited to coaching when he lost too much training time to compete his own horses due to Covid in 2022.
Regional Championships – The Veteran and the First Timer
Back in the Midwest, the prospect of the upcoming Regional Championships was nerve-wracking for young Grace. In September, it would be her first real acid test at the Region 4 Championships in Iowa. “Going to Regionals, I didn’t want to get my hopes up, so I tried not to expect much. I just wanted to get in the arena and do well,” Grace explained. “This was Roulee’s first Regionals too, and she’d had a 7-hour trailer ride, which I knew was a lot on her body and mind. Most of all, I wanted her to have a good experience. I was never expecting, or even hoping, to qualify for the Finals…”
What Grace expected and what happened were as different as a wooly Haflinger and a sleek Hanoverian. Grace and Roulee notched wins in the First Level TOC Freestyle and the Dressage Seat Medal Semi-Finals in her age category (13 and under), placed 4th in the Training Level Jr/Young Rider class, 8th in the First Level Open Freestyle Jr/YR, 5th in the First Level Jr/YR, and 2nd in the Training Level TOC AA/Open/Jr/YR. This was more than enough to punch her ticket to Kentucky for the national championships. She was on cloud nine When asked how she felt about her trip to Regionals, Grace gave all the credit to her dance partner. “I was so proud of Roulee; she is the best mare! That’s what it’s all about. It’s all about the horses.”
Grace’s mother, Elizabeth, who has had a front row ticket to watch Grace blossom through her passion for horses, was extremely proud of her daughter. “I was just in awe of her poise, her talent, and her ‘grace’ at Regionals! She’s such a good teammate, a good friend, and cheered everyone on while also taking great care of Roulee to make sure she was having a positive experience at such a big, busy show.”
In Texas, Lyndon and Conner entered three classes at the 2023 Regionals and came away with a first place in the FEI Intermediate I Freestyle Open and a second place in the FEI Intermediate I Open. “In 2022, I missed riding in the Regional Championships because I had COVID. In 2023, I was really busy with our move and overseeing all of the construction at our new facility, but luckily I did just enough showing to qualify,” Lyndon shared. The excitement was building for him to return to Finals, a show he adored. “I didn’t think Conner would be super competitive at the Finals, but I decided to go along with one of my students because it’s always a great experience, and I missed being there.”
Finals Bound
Honing in on the national championships, Grace had eagerly informed her teachers that she’d be out of school for Finals in November. Meanwhile, Lyndon was busy arranging for others to manage his stable of 20+ horses while he was away showing.
The week of the competition, Grace and her family excitedly drove down from Indiana. On the 4-hour trek, Grace alternated between going over her dressage tests and doing her homework for the days she’d be out of school for the show. Her family listened to country music, their favorite tunes from the 80’s, and Michael Jackson songs to get hyped up on the trip.
Lyndon and his team made their voyage up from Texas, settling into Barn #18, which was coincidentally the same barn that Grace and Roulee were stabling in. He worked on getting himself, his student, and their horses acclimated to the sweeping showgrounds and chilly weather at the Kentucky Horse Park. While not deliberately, Lyndon and Grace were likely to have crossed paths heading to or from the schooling rings or along their barn shedrow, not realizing they were the bookends in age for the whole competition, spanning over hundreds of competitors.
The Centerline of Champions
Nicknamed ‘The Centerline of Champions’, the US Dressage Finals is the year-end dream for many riders across the country. Lyndon was up first, with his initial Finals ride of 2023 on Friday, November 10, in the Intermediate I Open Championship, held in the renowned Alltech Arena, a hallowed space for dressage enthusiasts. Donning a dapper navy show coat with gold accents and aboard the 17-year-old Conner, the pair finished a respectable 10th, earning a neck sash.
Lyndon and Conner share a unique bond. Conner belonged to a student of Lyndon’s who unexpectedly passed away. Since Lyndon was already familiar with the gelding, he decided to purchase him and keep him in the barn that the horse was already accustomed to. The Holsteiner had struggled with recovering from an injury, and it took multiple vets to help him fully heal. “He was off for over a year, and we weren’t sure if he’d ever come back sound again,” Lyndon said. Being able to share the Finals experience with a horse who had been through so much was especially rewarding for the Region 9 horseman.
The pair were back in action in Saturday’s Intermediate I Freestyle Open Championship, where Lyndon and Conner danced their way through a dynamic freestyle featuring music from the band Queen. Among a big competitive field, they didn’t place in the ribbons, but Lyndon was still quite pleased with the outcome, particularly since there was a time not long ago when Conner’s future was uncertain.
“Conner is a special horse for many reasons,” he shared. “He has a lot of personality, which can be good and bad, but I enjoy him, and I especially enjoy giving him a good home, as I know this would make Michele (his previous owner who passed away) very happy.”
Next, it was Grace’s turn. Nicknamed “Lil Grace”, she and her mount, Roulee, stood by the gate, waiting for the judge to signal they could enter the ring for her first ever Finals class, the First Level Junior/Young Rider Championship. She took her inaugural ride down the Finals centerline on Saturday, November 11, a day she will always remember. Grace narrowly missed the ribbons in her debut, finishing in 11th place with her American Warmblood. This is especially remarkable given that her mare is also in her very first season of showing.
With the initial jitters for both horse and rider out of the way, the girl-power duo returned to the arena Sunday for the Training Level Junior/Young Rider Championship. This time, she and Roulee moved in perfect harmony, with Grace’s beautiful, light blue show jacket standing out against her horse’s dark, shiny coat. Against a competitive group, including many riders who were much more seasoned, the youngest competitor on the Finals showgrounds held her own, finishing with an incredible 70.278% and earning 5th place honors.
Going in and out of the arenas, Grace and her good friend Andrea Balas would jokingly ask each other, “Are you nervous yet?” Much like, ‘break a leg,’ it was their way of wishing each other good luck.
Getting to take a victory lap in the prestigious Alltech Arena with a sash around Roulee’s neck was awe-inspiring for young Grace. As they stood near the horse tunnel, Grace shared, “I was hoping Roulee would be okay. She can be a very tense horse – she took a big breath as we walked into the Alltech, and I was like ‘It’s okay, girl.’ As we made our lap, I was over the moon – to see the huge arena, all the shops lining the top, and all the people. All I could think of was, ‘Wow, this is the arena where we watched the Grand Prix riders last night. I can’t believe we get to be here!”
The Finals Experience
For those who have attended the Finals before, they know it’s much more than a show – it’s an experience. One of Grace’s favorite parts was making so many new friends – from competitors, their families, show volunteers, and staff. She was thrilled to meet so many new people and go through all the shops on the concourse, making sure to take lots of photos and selfies with everyone so that her family could make a gallery with all their new ‘#FinalsFriends’ when they got back home. “We really enjoyed the whole experience. Everyone was so nice,” Grace’s mother reported.
Grace’s parents, her barn family from Forrest Hill Farms, and her trainer Jennifer Kaiser all came out to the show to support Grace and cheer her on. Back home, not all of Grace’s friends and classmates understand what drives her ambition. “Some of my classmates think, ‘Where have you been? We’ve been in school without you for days!’ My friends who don’t ride don’t really seem to understand the horse world. My mom picks me up during the time that I should be in PE class to drive me to the farm, and my friends sometimes ask me if I’m skipping out on my workout. I tell them, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll be getting plenty of exercise around the barn and on my horse!’ My best friend brought me a gift to say congratulations after the Finals. She isn’t a horse person, but she loves hearing my stories and is so supportive of me.”
A Finals veteran, Lyndon made his Finals debut in 2015 when the competition was only in its third year. For the most recent edition, he said, “I really enjoyed being there with my wife Julie, my student, and her family. Riding in the Alltech Arena was great, and it was fun to watch the competition. We had attended Finals a couple of times before but had taken a long break, so it was a good feeling to come back. It’s always nice to visit with people from other regions that we don’t get to see very often, catch up, and maybe get some inspiration.”
Speaking of inspiration, Grace added, “We hope to be back next year, and we really hope Lyndon is there as well. I’d love to meet him in person! He’s an inspiration to me!”
An Eye Toward the Future
When thinking about the younger generation, Lyndon had this wisdom to impart. “I would advise young people starting out to enjoy the horses and remember that learning is first. Learn to be an advocate for your horse and shy away from any training or competing practices that aren’t in the best interest for the long-term health and confidence of your equine partner.”
The future looks bright for Grace. To go from a young equestrian who had never competed in a recognized show to taking a victory lap at the US Dressage Finals in the span of just 7 months, the world is her oyster as she embarks in her second season in 2024. She has aspirations to return to Finals and raise her placings, qualify for the US Dressage Festival of Champions in the FEI Children’s division, improve her test scores overall, and acquire a sponsor this year. “Most importantly, I want to have fun and enjoy the season with my wonderful horse; it goes by way too fast!” she said.
Meanwhile, Lyndon and his student returned to Texas, where they will spend the winter training, welcoming some new horses into the program, and welcoming more students into the barn to learn under Lyndon’s tutelage. It’s back to business as usual, as it has been for the master horsemen for the last 4 decades.
There are very few places where the national championship for a sport would feature competitors with a full sixty-year age gap between them. But in a world of magnificent, dancing horses, these two riders, aged 11 and 70, added an extra dose of magic to the already electric stage.
