America’s top-ranked dressage horse, Indian Rock, isn’t part of the U.S. contingent headed to Europe this summer.
The stallion’s owner, Heidi Humphries’ Zen Elite Equestrian Center, posted Thursday on social media, “After a lot of discussion with the team, we’ve decided not to include Indian Rock in our summer championship team plans this year.”
The U.S. is sending a group of horses to Germany to train in preparation for August’s world championships at Aachen. The squad that will compete at Hagen includes Rocky’s rider, Christian Simonson, on Fleau de Baian, Jordan LaPlaca (Gold Play), Meagan Davis (Toronto Lightfoot) and Anna Marek (Fayvel).
“Rocky has given us an incredible season, and we couldn’t be more proud of everything he has accomplished. He has exceeded our expectations in every way, and we feel the best decision for him right now is to enjoy a well-earned break and some time to simply be a horse,” the Zen statement said.
The 13-year-old Rocky finished second in the Zen Elite World Cup Finals in April with Christian in the saddle, then went on to the U.S. national championships in May. While he won the Grand Prix at that competition, Rocky had a couple of tricky moments in the Special the next day, and Christian made an error of course during the test. Rocky did not appear for the Freestyle two days later.
Rocky got a kiss from his rider after winning the Grand Prix at the national championships.
“We believe that building great horses for the long term means knowing when to continue forward and when to give them the opportunity to recharge,” the Zen statement acknowledged.
Rocky, part of the 2024 Dutch Olympic team and the eighth-ranked horse this month in the international standings, “has taken us on an amazing journey this year (one we couldn’t have dreamed up any better), and we want to set him up for continued success in the years ahead,” the Zen statement continued.
“We are incredibly grateful for the support of our entire team and the many people who have cheered Rocky on every step of the way.
“This summer, we’ll be proudly cheering on the rest of Team USA, including Christian and our handsome `lion,’ Fleau de Baian.”
Felix, as he is known, won the Freestyle and finished fourth overall in the national championships. Christian is ranked seventh among the world’s riders.
Christian Simonson and Fleau de Baian.
“Thank you for being part of Rocky’s story. @christian.simonson, @adrienne.lyle and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for this very special horse” the Zen statement concluded.
The loss of Rocky is another blow for the U.S. world championships team, which also won’t include Jane, Alice Tarjan’s mare ridden by Marcus Orlob in the 2024 Olympics. Jane was out with an injury during the winter after showing in Florida. She is rehabbing and isn’t part of the U.S. group going to Europe.
Meanwhile, U.S. National Grand Prix Champion Ellesse Gundersen, with her homebred Quintessential 4, did not apply to be on the world championships team. There is no “wiggle room” to get her on the team, USEF reported.
Fayvel did not compete in the championships at WEC, but is a well-traveled veteran. Meagan and Toronto Lightfoot were third overall in the championships while Jordan was fifth.
Ashley Holzer, second in the national championships with Hawtins San Floriana, will be going to Britain rather than Germany in order to train and compete under the eye of her coach, Carl Hester.
Named to ride as individuals in the 4-star at Hagen are Kasey Perry-Glass (Heartbeat WP), thirteenth in both the Grand Prix and Special, who did not compete in the Freestyle at the championships, and the second-highest ranked U.S. dressage rider internationally, Genay Vaughn, thirty-ninth in the world standings. She did not ride Gino in the Freestyle at the national championships after finishing tenth in the Grand Prix and fourteenth in the Special.
Riding in the 3-Star at Hagen will be Ellesse; Christian’s trainer, Adrienne Lyle, who swept competition at that level at the World Equestrian Center in May with Helix, and Quinn Iverson (Gremlin 41). Katie Duerrhammer (Rosebank VH) will ride in the 1-Star there.
