The USA’s Para Dressage Team arrived in France on a mission that was about a decade in the making―to earn team gold and respect for their accomplishments at the Paris 2024 Paralympics. They came into the Games ranked number one in the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) world standings, and undefeated in international team competition in 2024. Yet, the international press wasn’t quite as on board as they could have been in touting the U.S. Team’s accomplishments to that point.
After four days of intense competition against the best in the world the first week of September, the four U.S. riders came away with the full gamut of Paralympic medals: team gold and six individual medals (four gold, one silver and one bronze). This was the first-ever team gold medal and only the second Paralympics equestrian team medal for U.S. Para Dressage (they won team bronze in Tokyo). They also earned a Paralympic record high score in the team competition in France, 235.567 (team scores are determined by adding their three riders’ scores together; U.S. riders earned 77.000, 80.000 and 78.567).
Not only that, but they won more Paralympic medals at one event than the U.S. Para Equestrian Team had ever won before (seven). This easily topped the USA’s medal counts from previous Games. Before 2024, the USA had won three Paralympic equestrian medals each in Atlanta in 1996 (three individual) and Tokyo in 2021 (one team and two individual).
Suddenly, the U.S. Team was no longer flying under the recognition radar. Everyone was aware of what their Chef d’Equipe and Technical Advisor Michel Assouline already knew months before, “This is the completion of a long-time, well-planned dream, going back to Tryon 2018 [World Equestrian Games], where we started to actually make changes. In Tokyo, when we won bronze, I had a clear plan and strategy in place and in my mind, to earn that team medal. I just knew it had to be gold in Paris for us.”
“It has been three years of very hard work, planning, logistics, competition strategies, both for Europe and in the U.S.,” he continued, “The horsepower, the coaches, and the whole program, had to be revamped to get to this point. It’s a funny thing to think―it’s what I expected―but you never want to talk about it openly. I had it in mind that this was our goal and here we are. This feels like such an amazing accomplishment for everyone who has been involved with this program over the years.”
Meet the U.S. Riders
Para riders are officially classified into one of five ability grades before they compete, with Grade V being the most able-bodied and Grade I the least. Each team had to have at least one rider from Grades I, II or III and no team could have more than two from any one grade. Riders representing the USA were:
◆ Grade I, Roxanne Trunnell, 39, (Royal Palm Beach, Fla.) and Fan Tastico H, a 2017 Oldenburg gelding (Fuersentaball OLD x Weltmeyer) owned by Karin Flint and cared for by Rafael Hernandez-Carillo
◆ Grade II, Fiona Howard, 25, (Boston, Mass.) and Diamond Dunes, a 2013 Hanoverian gelding (De L’Or x Wolkentanz) owned by Dressage Family LLC and Hof Kasselmann and cared for by Helen Claire McNulty
◆ Grade III, Rebecca Hart, 39, (Loxahatchee, Fla.) and Floratina, a 2008 Hanoverian mare owned by Rowan O’Riley and cared for by Mackenzie Young
◆ Grade IV, Kate Shoemaker, 37, (Wellington, Fla.) and Vianne, a 2016 American-bred Hanoverian mare (Vitalis x Ramiro’s Bube) owned by Nocordia USA and cared for by Katherine Barrett
The USA had no riders in Grade V. Find more information about the U.S. Para Dressage Team riders, horses and staff here.
In addition to Assouline, the U.S. Para Dressage Team was supported at the Paris 2024 Paralympics by Team Leader Laureen Johnson, Team Veterinarian Dr. Kim Snyder, Human Physiotherapist Joanne Frantz, and Personal Care Assistant Tina Wentz. Additional officers and staff from the United States Equestrian Federation present at the Paris 2024 equestrian venue included President Tom O’Mara, Director of FEI/High Performance Sport Hallye Griffin, Senior Director Social Media & Sport Communications Carly Weilminster and Digital Content Manager Devyn Trethewey. And the riders were cheered on by a large contingent of their coaches, family and friends, and horse owners, as well as U.S. Paralympians from other sports. Vianne’s (Shoemaker’s horse) breeder Catherine Haddad Staller was also in the audience.
Venue and Schedule
The Paris 2024 Paralympic equestrian venue was the same as for the Olympic Games, the beautiful and historic Palace of Versailles about 15 miles southwest of the center of Paris. The Palace and Grand Canal served as a backdrop to the competition going on in the arena, and the riders were in awe of performing in such an iconic place.
“I had to take a couple of days to get used to this venue. It is such a surreal experience to ride into this venue with so much history and the majesty of this arena,” said Hart, who rode Floratina to two individual gold medals and as part of the gold-medal U.S. Team.
A first horse inspection of the para dressage horses on September 2 was followed by two days of individual competition, with Grades I, II and III competing for medals on September 3 and Grades IV and V on September 4. Then, there was a rest day on September 5, followed by the para dressage team competition on September 6. The final day, September 7, was reserved for a second horse inspection, then the top eight riders from each grade performed their musical freestyles to determine a final set of individual medals.
U.S. Rider Performance Synopses
It should be noted when considering the U.S. Team’s remarkable success in 2024 that all four riders were mounted on horses relatively new to them. Hart had been paired with Floratina the longest, around 15 months. Shoemaker and Vianne had debuted together internationally in February 2024, while Howard and Trunnell first competed their mounts, Diamond Dunes and Fan Tastico H, internationally in March 2024. The young ages of two of the U.S. horses, Fan Tastico H (7) and Vianne (8), also make the performances of the U.S. riders all the more impressive.
Roxanne Trunnell and Fan Tastico H (Grade I)
At this year’s Paralympics, the USA’s Trunnell and “Fanta” finished in the silver position (78.000) in the Grade I Individual Test on the first day of competition, which also qualified them to compete in the freestyle on the final day. Then, the pair laid down a solid trip in the Grade I Team Test (77.000, second best score in that class) to help the U.S. Team win gold. Finally, in their Grade I Freestyle, ridden to the music of The Lion King, they scored 77.307 for fifth place, just 0.44 percent out of bronze. Trunnell holds a Masters in psychology with a focus in equine-assisted psychotherapy.
Trunnell, a native of Richland, Wash. who was competing in her third Paralympics, spoke after the team competition about her young horse and what the guidance of Assouline has meant to the U.S. Team, “I just really concentrated on him marching [during the test]. He’s so cool at only seven; it’s just going to get better and better. I think it’s all Michel. He got us in shape. He’s very strict. I think all his experience has helped us.”
Fiona Howard and Diamond Dunes (Grade II)
Howard, who made her Olympic debut in France, and “Dunes” topped all three classes in Grade II for the USA, earning three personal bests in the process. They won gold in the Individual Test (76.931), gold in the Freestyle (81.994) ridden to music from Avatar, and helped their team to gold with 80.000 (the highest mark in the Team Test in any grade). Howard grew up in Great Britain, but lives full-time in the USA now. Her mother is American and her father British, so she holds dual citizenships. Howard studied at Northeastern University in Boston, Mass. Before focusing on dressage, Howard competed in para reining.
Crediting her horse as a great partner in every interview throughout the week, Howard gave him credit for knowing his job well and helping her every time they performed. She also reflected on how much the people and horses in her life have helped her through difficult times. “When I was in the hospital, I didn’t really know what my life was going to look like. I was alive, but I wasn’t actually living a life. So, I just kind of took it one day at a time, and people believed in me. My doctors believed in me; my support team here believed in me. I have to give a lot of credit to the people around me, because I wouldn’t be here without them. Horses have been a reason to just keep going. They’re always there for you. Every morning, I wake up and I’m grateful to be around them. Every moment I spend with them just kind of inspires me to keep going.”
Rebecca Hart and Floratina (Grade III)
In Grade III, the USA’s gold streak continued with Hart, a five-time Paralympian, and “Flora” winning their Individual Test (77.900, a personal best). And, they sealed the deal for the U.S. Team’s gold, scoring 78.567 (another personal best) to achieve the needed points to boost the USA past the Netherlands for the win. Hart, who majored in business in college, is originally from Erie, Pa. She’s worked as a barista for Starbucks for a number of years.
Hart and Floratina also won gold in their Freestyle (83.534, a personal best), performing to soundtrack from Driving Miss Daisy. Hart said they had one tense moment as they warmed up around the outside of the dressage arena right before their Grade III Freestyle Test. The mare spooked at something and broke into a canter moments before they turned to enter at A, but they rallied to win the class.
“That was so wonderful. I was a little concerned when we started cantering [in the warm-up], but I was like ‘she will come back to me, she always does,’” shared Hart after their test, “It’s just electric [in the arena]. I told her she was fine. She went ‘are we OK?’ and I said ‘yes, we’re fine’ and she said, ‘OK, I trust you.’ It was such a magical moment. I got her back under control and gave her a pat. I told her she was a good girl, and I could feel her take a breath. Then, we hit the markers the way we needed to.”
Kate Shoemaker and Vianne (Grade IV)
Riding as an individual for the USA, Shoemaker, who grew up in Eagle, Idaho, was competing in her second Paralympic Games. She and Vianne came into the Games having never finished lower than third in their brief international career together. But an uncharacteristic spook during a movement which is scored double put them in fifth in the Paralympic Grade IV Individual Test (72.222). The rest of their Individual Test scored very well, however, and they qualified to move on to the Grade IV Freestyle on the last day. Riding to the music of Forrest Gump in their Freestyle, they danced together beautifully to earn a personal best score and the bronze medal (80.170). Shoemaker is a veterinarian with an equine sports medicine practice in Wellington, Fla.
Shoemaker was beaming after her freestyle ride on Vianne, “I could not keep the smile off my face. From the moment after the first halt, I was just like, ‘I’m here, with my favorite horse in the world,’ and the feeling, she just gave me so much joy. I have always felt so much emotion surrounding the music from Forrest Gump, but also the movie. The movie’s all about overcoming, and keeping going, and getting to something. I think that’s what our freestyle did today. It was overcoming, and getting to the end―to the joy and the peace―that’s where we were at today. I really hope that the music just spoke to everybody, and they could feel that it was coming from our souls.”
Other Paris 2024 Para Dressage Winners
In addition to the double-gold rides of Howard and Hart from the USA, there were standout performances by these riders who earned both individual and freestyle gold and scored over 80 in their freestyles: Rihards Snikus and King of the Dance, Latvia, Grade I; Demi Haerkens and Daula, the Netherlands, Grade IV, and Michele George and Best of 8, Belgium, Grade V.
Team silver went to the Netherlands (232.850) and team bronze to Germany (223.751). Find a full list of medal winners from the Paris 2024 Para Dressage competition here.
On To Los Angeles
The Olympics and Paralympics move on in four years’ time to Los Angeles, Calif., USA. This will be the third time for LA to host the Olympics (they also staged the Games in 1932 and 1984), but the first time for them to host the Paralympics (the 1984 Paralympics were held jointly by Stoke Mandeville in Great Britain and at two facilities on Long Island, N.Y., USA).
The 2028 LA Olympic Games will run July 14-30 and the Paralympic Games August 15-27. The LA 2028 equestrian events are likely to be at Galway Downs in Temecula, about 85 miles south of the center of LA. The International Olympic Committee and FEI have yet to confirm that all four equestrian sports (dressage, eventing, jumping, para dressage) will be included in LA 2028, so fingers crossed. To keep up with news of LA 2028, sign up for their newsletter here.
Rewind and Celebrate Again
After the U.S. Team’s gold-medal win, Hart shared her hopes for the impact the team’s success might have on the future of para equestrian sport in America and worldwide. “It was the culmination of years and years and years of work. I am so wildly proud of all these girls, because it’s been a group effort to get this done. It wouldn’t have happened without each one of us putting our best foot forward out there. What I’m really, really hoping is that this success, and these medals, bring para recognition and equality of the multiple disciplines within our federations. And, the realization that we are valuable, and we can deliver when we need to. I think that will help just grow the sport more, bring in more sponsors and horses and people. That is what I’m hoping for looking towards the future.”
Want to re-live the success of the U.S. Para Dressage Team at the Paris 2024 Paralympics or catch up on news of any equestrian action that you missed? Visit our Paralympics main page to find all of the news.
In mid-September, NBC reported an unprecedented increase in viewing of the 2024 Paris Paralympics over previous Games with overall viewing up 31-percent across all of their platforms (television broadcasts and livestreaming) from Tokyo three years earlier. Equestrian sports were mainly livestreamed on Peacock, and again, the 2024 Paralympics set records for views, with livestreams 11 times more than those of Tokyo in 2021. Replays of the Paris 2024 Paralympic equestrian competition may be viewed by subscribing to Peacock; for more information, head here.
For a complete synopsis of all the entry lists, officials, rules, schedule and results of the Paris 2024 Paralympics equestrian competition check out the Para Equestrian Sports Book.
Support the U.S. Equestrian Team in future competition by going to the United States Equestrian Team Foundation’s website to learn more.
Thanks to CareCredit for our spring and summer equestrian coverage.
