Dressage in the Olympics?

Chad is a troll, ignore him. Lol.

Anyway, I'm fairly certain there are olympic tryouts. I read a news article about Reed Kessler being the youngest admitted on to the US Show Jumping team and if I recall correctly it included something about tryouts in Florida. I'm not sure how these tryouts would work but I'm guessing they would run similarly to a show.

The best place to start now is showing. Work your way up into the big shows like WEF and Devon. People will see you, think "my goodness, I need her on my team" and you'll be there in no time.

Some Colleges also have equestrian team, so maybe you could tryout for one of them. Olympics is a huge dream. And thats great. I would love to become a professional show jumper and live off grand prixs, but thats also a big dream. If you're dreams don't scare you, they aren't big enough!

Yes, Jordan, there are selection trials for dressage, just as there are for the other horse sports in the Olympics and other international competitions such as the WEG. What you would have to do would be to participate in a certain number of them and either win or obtain scores that are high enough to put you in the top three places in each one. Qualifying for a selection trial in dressage is like qualifying for any other horse sport. You start at the bottom with small shows, and gradually work your way to the top. Selection trials vary by location and by time. Many of them get held in Florida during the winter and early spring of each year, and others get held in California. This year, for example, they held selection trials for the World Cup during the Winter Equestrian Festival in Palm Beach. I think the final trial was held in late March or early April, if I remember right.

Next winter and spring, there will be selection trials held for the upcoming World Equestrian Games in Normandy, France. The US and other countries must choose their representative teams early enough in the year so that the teams have time to train and compete together for a while before they are asked to compete for medals. But getting a spot on the Olympic or WEG team requires more than just being in the right place at the right time for a selection trial. You need the right horse or horses, the right kind of coach, and you'll need sponsorships so that you can travel and ship your horse to various venues. You'll also need LOTS OF MONEY- dressage is one of the most expensive sports in existence, and for good reason.

PS: For the writer above me, there are plenty of ways to learn dressage without necessarily riding with an Olympic caliber rider or coach. Most people can't afford such things anyway, unless they happen to be independently wealthy or they are related to someone who is. I got most of my training by being a working student for a top judge in the sport. My former employer is retired now, but she still rides and trains students. It's not fair to say that everyone who wants to ride in the Olympics has to train with an Olympian, because that's not always the case.

In order to be recognized, you'd have to be showing, which means you'd be riding with an olympic level trainer. Lendon Gray used to have a working student program that educated kids with this goal. I suggest you approach a trainer with whom you wish to work and start by asking if they hold a working student program