Karin Reid Offield has been involved with horses her entire life. She was born and raised in Aspen, Colorado and began riding at an early age. Her first love was jumpers and equitation and she traveled around the country competing at the highest level of shows.

During her junior years she relocated to schools in Arizona and California, enabling her to ride throughout the winter months and also providing her access to top coaching. Among her early mounts was Iron Warrior, who earned many tri-colors at prestigious shows, including Cow Palace, Bakersfield and the Santa Barbara National. Legendary horseman Ronnie Mutch was among Karin’s coaches. With his help, Karin finished in the Top Ten at the AHSA Medal Finals in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Throughout her riding career, Karin has always looked for ways to help promote horses to non-riders as well as young children.

After stints working in New York and North Carolina, Karin returned to Aspen to run a ranch where she not only rode horses, but also helped organize the youth program. Eventually her love of international competition won out and she returned to the show circuit in Wellington, Florida and began a long association with Carl Knee. During these years Karin competed from Canada to Florida and even galloped racehorses.

With her exposure to the best sport in the country, Karin began to think in terms of sports promotion and founded Equestrian Reels, a production company dedicated to equestrian sports. Among their projects was a behind the scenes look at show jumping in the United States.

Karin took this interest in promoting equestrian activities further when she co-founded El Rojo Grande Ranch in Sedona, Arizona. This was the culmination of a project that began in college when she designed an equestrian center as a course requirement.

El Rojo Grande Ranch was an international-quality equestrian facility that was designed for the community. With a dude string, authentic stagecoaches that were built on the ranch, and facilities for special events, El Rojo Grande Ranch became a model for how a synergistic partnership can be created within and by the local community.

Karin developed a variety of projects to encourage children to spend time with horses, including lessons, vaulting and demonstrations. Karin’s own career with horses took a new direction when she became intrigued with the classical traditions of international dressage. With lessons from a local dressage trainer, Karin and a pretty black horse from her dude string advanced through first level at the Arizona Dressage Association shows.

Karin soon committed herself to understanding the intricacies and nuances of dressage. Trainer Michael Etherly came highly recommended from U.S. Olympian Steffen Peters. Michael relocated to Arizona and the rest is history.

With Michael’s help Karin progressed steadily up the levels and began competing in California. In addition to her first black trail horse, Karin successfully campaigned several Quarter Horses until she received the warmblood stallion Alla C’zar as a gift. This was the beginning of an impressive string of mounts that have been carefully selected not only for their quality of movement, but their impressive characters.

Over the years Karin and Michael expanded their training program to Europe where they have worked with many classical trainers, including Master Egon von Neindorff and Olympic coach Jean Bemelmans. Karin has earned numerous USDF year-end awards from training level to FEI and has won four USDF Regional Championships at the FEI level.

Karin has recently expanded her training program to include coaching by six-time Olympian Robert Dover. In 2005, she qualified for the USDF Regional Championships at grand prix and will continue to show Hexagon’s Louisville and Tiamo Trocadero at CDIs on the east coast.

Throughout her dressage education Karin has worked to bring the sport to a wider audience, first by hosting dressage demonstrations in Arizona as well as by supporting a variety of educational programs, including the Dressage Foundation’s Advanced Young Riders Olympic Dreams European tour.

After selling El Rojo Grande Ranch and moving to Michigan, Karin formed Brek N Ridge Dressage, which was recently rebranded Offield Farms. Sponsorship of the 2005 FEI World Cup Dressage Final, Presented By Offield Farms is simply the next chapter in the story of one woman’s effort to make a difference in the advancement and promotion of the horse sports generally, and now dressage specifically.

2005 also marked the Karin’s CDI debut. CDI is a French term meaning, Concours de Dressage International—international dressage horse show. The CDI division at dressage shows is among the highest international rating by the international governing body of equestrian sport, the FEI. Very few riders in the world compete at the CDI level.

With Hexagon’s Louisville, Karin competed at the CDI Ox Ridge Show in August of 2005 and earned a second place in the CDI Grand Prix Freestyle. Her results in 2005 and early 2006 garnered her an invitation to compete at the 2006 USEF National Grand Prix Freestyle Championships. Only the 10 best riders in the country are invited to compete not only for the national title, but also for the chance to represent the United States at the World Cup Final. Karin placed sixth and eighth in the grand prix and the grand prix freestyle, respectively.

At the end of 2006 Karin and Louisville were the best in the country in two divisions. They earned the 2006 USDF Adult Amateur Grand Prix Horse of the Year and the 2006 USDF All Breeds Award (KWPN-NA) Adult Amateur Grand Prix Horse of the Year with a score of 65.204%.

In November 2006, Karin welcomed superstar Lingh to Offield Farms. The impressive bay stallion has a legion of fans worldwide. In 2005, the charismatic champion wowed American dressage fans with his second place finish at the World Cup Finals. While Karin has successfully ridden several stallions in her career, she has worked hard to develop a true connection and partnership with Lingh.

Throughout 2007 the pair competed at shows on the eastern seaboard as Karin worked to unlock the secrets to riding Lingh both in the warm-up and in the show ring. They earned the East Coast Riders Cup Grand Prix Championship at Centerline Events HITS on the Hudson when they won the Grand Prix. They also placed well in the CDI division at the NEDA Fall Festival CDI Saugerties.

However it was at Dressage at Devon that huge numbers of dressage aficionados witnessed the pair coming together. They finished seventh in the Grand Prix and fifth in the Grand Prix Freestyle. Karin was awarded the Valerie Kahan Memorial Trophy for the second consecutive year as the High Score Amateur Grand Prix rider.

With these solid showings, Karin decided to showi in Europe with her coach Robert Dover”s support.. Lingh and Karin traveled to the Netherlands to train with Olympic gold medalists Anky van Grunsven and were invited to participate in several national and international shows., The pair finished in sixth place in both the Grand Prix and the Grand Prix Freestyle at CDI-W Maastricht.

Now back in the U.S. the pair kicked off the Florida season with a fourth place finish in the Grand Prix Special at the Gold Coast Opener, the first CDI that is a qualifying event for the Selection Trials for the 2008 Olympic Games in Hong Kong.

If you would like to ride along with Karin on this adventure, send us your email address and we will update you with a Friends and Family Newsletter published and sent out following the events leading up to the Games.