All US horses cleared for launch at Paris 2024 Olympics dressage horse inspection
Text and photographs by Jennifer O. Bryant
The four dressage horses (three team members and one reserve) selected for Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics were officially accepted into the competition at this morning’s first dressage horse inspection, conducted beside a quiet lane behind the stables at the westernmost end of the Château de Versailles gardens property.
After yesterday’s cool and rainy weather for the eventing dressage competition, “the jog,” which commenced around 7:30 a.m. with a lingering chill in the air, brought out the freshness in a number of horses, although the American horses comported themselves like pros. They are:
Helix, a 2012 KWPN gelding by Apache, ridden by Adrienne Lyle
Jane, a 2014 KWPN mare by Desperado, ridden by Marcus Orlob
Suppenkasper, a 2008 KWPN gelding by Spielberg, ridden by Steffen Peters
(Reserve combination) Bohemian, a 2010 Westfalen gelding by Bordeaux 28, ridden by Endel Ots.
This US team is a mixed bag of newbies and old hands. The anchor is indisputably Steffen Peters, 59, of San Diego, California. Paris 2024 is his sixth Olympic Games, and he won team bronze in Atlanta 1996 (Udon) and in Rio 2016 (Legolas), and team silver in Tokyo 2021 with his Paris partner, Suppenkasper. Peters and “Mopsie” also won team silver at the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games in Tryon, North Carolina, and represented the US at the FEI World Dressage Championships Herning 2022 in Denmark.
Next on the experience and hardware list is Adrienne Lyle, 39, of Wellington, Florida, who rode Wizard for Team USA at London 2012 and who with Salvino was a teammate of Peters’ at Tokyo 2021 and Tryon 2018. Lyle and Salvino, who was retired from competition earlier this year, were the highest-placing US pair at Herning 2022. Lyle’s mount for Paris is a relatively new ride, as she’s only been paired with Helix since late 2023.
Making his Olympic Games debut is Marcus Orlob, 42, of Loxahatchee, Florida. A native of Germany and a Bereiter FN, Orlob has notched numerous wins including at the US Dressage Festival of Champions since immigrating to the US. Among his students is fellow dressage professional and 2023 FEI World Cup Dressage Final competitor Alice Tarjan, who owns Orlob’s Paris mount, Jane.
Fellow Olympics first-timer Endel Ots, 38, of Wellington, Florida, is the reserve rider for Paris. Also well-decorated nationally, Ots was the reserve rider for the 2011 Pan Am Games and was slated to compete at the 2019 Pan Ams. His mount for Paris actually is the international veteran of the pair: Bohemian competed extensively for Denmark under Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour, including at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
Five horses were sent to the holding box after the horse inspection. Three—Austria’s reserve horse, Amplemento; Spanish team horse Malagueno LXXXIII; and Polish team horse Love Me—will need to be reinspected prior to the start of the Grand Prix to determine whether they are fit to compete, as the FEI rules phrasing states. Moldovian individual competitor Abercrombie received extensive scrutiny by the FEI veterinary officials but was eventually re-jogged and accepted. And the host nation was surely biting its collective nails when French team horse Gotilas du Feuillard was sent to the holding box, with a sigh of relief when the 13-year-old son of Totilas was re-presented and accepted.
Stiff Competition
As you would expect, a competition that brings the crème de la crème together in one arena takes the standard to a whole new level. Let’s take a sneak peek at whom we’re up against here in Paris.
Germany (Jessica von Bredow-Werndl/TSF Dalera BB, Frederic Wandres/Bluetooth OLD, and Isabell Werth/Wendy) and Denmark (Vayron/Daniel Bachmann Andersen, Freestyle/Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour, and Zepter/Nanna Skodborg Merrald) are expected to duke it out for team gold and silver.
Even with the dropping of British superstar Charlotte Dujardin on Imhotep from Team GB’s roster following Dujardin’s recent FEI suspension after a four-year-old video surfaced of her whipping a horse from the ground while teaching a lesson, Great Britain (Glamourdale/Charlotte Fry, Fame/Carl Hester, and Jagerbomb/Becky Moody) is considered a strong contender for team bronze.
That leaves teams including the USA, Sweden, Spain, and the Netherlands in the scrum jostling for the other placings. Of course, it’s a horse show, so you never know what’s going to happen. One nation’s bad luck can be another’s lucky break.
It will all start to unfold on Tuesday, July 30, when 30 combinations will contest the Grand Prix beginning at 11:00 a.m. Paris time. The remaining 30 will start Wednesday, July 31. The Grand Prix will serve as the qualifier for the team final (the Grand Prix Special) and the individual final (the GP Freestyle). The top 10 teams from the GP will advance to the Special, and the Special alone will decide the team medals. Likewise, the Freestyle alone will decide the individual medals; the top 18 individual finishers in the GP will qualify for the Freestyle.
We’re raring to go and wish the best of luck to Team USA! Is there anything you’re burning to know about the competition in Paris? Drop me a comment and I’ll do my best to find out!
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