For Immediate Release

 

Aspen Native Trains with Olympic Medalist in Pursuit of Dressage Dreams

Dressage rider and Aspen native Karin Reid Offield, daughter of Roy Reid and the late Kay Reid, has spent her life pursuing her love of horse sports.  And this spring she was able to move closer to her goals of being a top international level rider when she was accepted into 1992 Olympic Team Bronze Medalist Michael Poulin’s training program.  “I spent three weeks working with Mr. Poulin at his training center near Daytona Beach,” Karin said.  “We worked on improving small details, which resulted in higher scores at our competitions in Florida.”

Florida is home to the prestigious winter circuit with competitions from Orlando to Miami. It is not uncommon to find several Olympians preparing their horses in one arena.  Karin challenged herself and her horses when she made the 2000-mile trek to Florida with the goal of competing against the best riders and horses in the country.   Karin’s work with Michael Poulin, as well as her regular coach Michael Etherly, resulted in good ribbons on all of her horses.

Dressage is a sport like no other.  Intense physical challenges to both horse and rider are complicated by the fact that neither partner speaks the other’s language. Instead both partners must create a language that they both can understand.  Karin explains, “Dressage, when it’s done well, looks effortless, but really it is a very challenging, silent conversation between two athletes striving for harmony. We teach the horses a basic language-- the rider’s leg means go and the reins mean whoa.  All of the complex movements are a refinement of these simple concepts.” 

Dressage is presented in an artistic fashion, but it tests horse and rider’s ability to perform complex figures and athletic maneuvers.  It is one of the few sports in which men and women compete equally against each other and has been an Olympic sport since 1912.  The United States has earned the team bronze medal in dressage at the last three Olympics.

In 2002, Karin earned two United States Dressage Federation Regional Championships, with her two chestnut horses Icon and Tiamo Trocadero.  “Winning a Regional Championship is the result of a year’s effort,” Karin stated.  “We have to earn qualifying scores at competitive shows and then do our very best at the year-end event, so I’m very proud and honored to have accomplished such a feat!  My coach Mike Etherly and I have worked together for six years.  He has kept pushing me to be a better horseman and as a result a better rider.”

Becoming a better rider requires exposure to the best riders in the world, which entails riding in Germany.  The Germans have claimed dozens of team and individual Olympic gold medals during the previous decades.  Karin and Michael Etherly did a two-week tour last fall of several of the top German training schools, including the Riding Institution in Karlsruhe in Southern Germany.  Karin recalled, “This was the highlight of my riding career.  Master Instructor Egon von Neindorff is an icon in the sport and to ride his highly trained Lipizzaner horses was a dream come true.”  Karin and Mike also attended the International Academy for Equestrian Studies in Warendorf and visited the German Olympic Training Center.

After the busy Florida season this spring, Karin brought her horses back home to Harbor Springs, Michigan.  At her BreknRidge Farm, which overlooks Lake Michigan, Karin’s horses will enjoy time in the grassy fields.  “These horses are such athletes and they work really hard,” Karin said.  “Now they will have time to simply be horses.  They are all knee deep in green grass and they are loving it!”

Karin’s plans for the summer include training with Olympic Medalist Steffen Peters when he visits Michigan and qualifying again for the Regional Championships in Lexington, Kentucky, which features competitors from seven states.  “I love this sport so much.  I would love to someday represent my country at the Pan American or maybe even the Olympic Games.”

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Photo Caption and Credit

Karin Offield  was winner of two United States Dressage Federation Regional Championships in 2002.  This year she has been training with an Olympic medalist in pursuit of her goals of representing the United States.

Photo copyright by phelpsphotos.com (we can provide the release if needed.)