It definitely was a longshot.
When Alice Tarjan handed her talented mare, Jane, to her trainer, Marcus Orlob, three months ago, it seemed unlikely the new combination would be among the eight U.S. competitors making the cut for a trip to Europe as part of the Olympic selection procedure.
Yet that is just what happened after the qualifying process ended last weekend at the 3-star TerraNova show in Florida.
This week, Marcus, a naturalized American citizen, heads to his native Germany to work with Jane for a month before the shortlisted U.S. riders face off against each other for the benefit of the team selectors in Hagen, Germany in June.
Marcus Orlob and Jane. (Susan J. Stickle Photography)
“I am excited and looking forward to getting to know the horse better and spend some time training,” said Marcus.
“It was so busy the last couple of weeks, showing, showing, showing. Now I can finally experience a little bit and connect with her more.”
The Annandale, N.J., resident will be in Dusseldorf, where his family has a home, working with former Brazilian team coach Johan Zagers.
“It’s another step. Olympics? I don’t think it’s realistic, but you never know. The horse is doing great and has so much more potential,” he said of the 10-year-old Dutch warmblood (DesperadoXMetall).
While Marcus admitted he “lost his head” and went off-course at one point in his most recent show, “there are moments where I connect with her some more and she got a couple of eights and a nine. There are good moments coming. I am excited for Jane now.”
The talented mare had been trained through the levels by Alice, but because Jane could be strong in the arena, the horse’s owner felt Marcus should work with her. Jane’s first CDI with her new rider was only March 28, two months after Alice was showing her at Intermediate A.
The purpose of going to Europe early is for Jane “to have a couple of easy days and then focus on, hopefully, good training,” Marcus said.
The top eight horse/rider combinations on the U.S. Olympic dressage ranking list announced Monday include three other pairs that are new this year, but veteran Olympian Steffen Peters leads the shortlist roster, as he has throughout the qualifying period with his 2021 Tokyo Games mount, Suppenkasper.
His average for the qualifying period was 73.620 percent to 72.702 for second-place Adrienne Lyle with Helix. Adrienne is also fourth on 72.028 on Lars van de Hoenderheide, behind Endel Ots and Zen Elite’s Bohemian (72.041). They all new pairings.
Adrienne Lyle and Helix. (Susan J. Stickle Photography)
The top eight riders are supposed to go to Europe to prepare for the Olympics, but Adrienne has two horses (both owned by Zen Elite) which moves Marcus up a notch from ninth place (70.761 percent).
Anna Buffini and Fiontini (71.494) are fifth. Like Steffen, Anna is a Californian. Neither she nor Steffen came East to compete this year. Pan American Games individual bronze medalist Anna Marek is number six on the list with Fire Fly (71.040). With the exception of the two Annas and Steffen, the rest of the top group rode in the final qualifying show.
Katherine Bateson-Chandler and Haute Couture (70.979) are seventh overall and Sarah Tubman with First Apple is eighth (70.817).
Endel Ots rides the most celebrated of the three Zen horses, Bohemian, guided to fourth in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics by Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour of Denmark. He capped his campaign with a victory in Terra Nova’s Freestyle, where he was marked at 75.670 percent.
Endel Ots and Bohemian. (Susan J. Stickle Photography)
Appropriately, Endel’s music included a bit of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” It was the first ever international freestyle that the rider had performed. His highest mark for a routine that included a piaffe pirouette on the last centerline was 79.35 percent from judge Christof Umbach at E.
“That was a really fun experience and a little surreal,” said Endel, whose freestyle (which included a little French interlude looking toward Paris) was crafted by his trainer, Albrecht Heidemann and Terry Gallo.
Adrienne won the Special with Lars (71.723), while Marcus was second on 69.872.
Noting that Saturday was a “blistering hot day,” Adrienne commented that while Lars completed his qualifying criteria for the Olympic short list with his Special victory despite the weather, Helix “did the freestyle just as thunderstorms rolled in.” She said “he found the plants blowing in the wind to be quite scary, but still managed to pull off a podium finish and complete his qualifying criteria.”
Helix, who was marked at 72.560 percent, to be third in the freestyle, won the Grand Prix on Friday.
Saying it was time for a big sigh of relief after qualifying criteria were completed, Adrienne thanked Zen’s owner, Heidi Humphries, and her own mentor, Debbie McDonald, as well as her grooms.
Kasey Perry-Glass, who had been a team regular with Doublet, now retired, was second in the freestyle on her new ride, Heartbeat W.P. (72.615).
The Freestyle is a requirement for Olympic candidates, but it doesn’t count in their overall standings. It’s the Grand Prix and the Special, which determines the team medals at the Games. The Freestyle secures individual medals, which are considered less important than team medals in the big picture.
Click here for Olympic dressage ranking list
Click here for TerraNova Grand Prix results
Click here for TerraNova Grand Prix Special results
Click here for TerraNova Freestyle results