Simonson and Indian Rock Lead U.S. Dressage Standings in 2025

There’s no doubt that 23-year-old Christian Simonson and his performances on Indian Rock was the outstanding dressage partnership of 2025 for all of the Americas with six victories in six Grand Prix starts. And posting the highest Grand Prix score, 81.405%, by a rebuilding American elite program in almost two years.

Christian is based in Wellington, Florida where he’s coached by Adrienne Lyle, the three-time Olympian and whose team mate, six-time Olympian Steffen Peters, were the last Americans to post higher Grand Prix results that they did in early 2023.

Christian and Indian Rock were named U.S. Dressage Federation Grand Prix Champion of the Year with Adrienne and Hussmanns Top Gun awarded the Prix St. Georges title.

Christian’s success has been a bright spot in a year marked more by the lack thereof for a nation whose teams this century have claimed Olympic silver (Tokyo 2020) and three bronze medals (Sydney 2000, Athens 2004 and Rio de Janeiro 2016, two World Cup champions (Debbie McDonald 2003 and Steffen Peters 2009) as well as Laura Graves on Verdades as the only non-Western European to rank No. 1 in the world.

Since Tokyo, USA has not been a factor in Olympics or world championships.

Christine Traurig, the German-born trainer who was an Olympic team medalist for USA, inherited a lineup of riders and horses whose ranks were depleted by retirements when she was appointed team coach. With prospects that appeared limited in number, she insisted in 2025 on high standards to qualify for financial and training support.

The US Open was touted as a means by the US federation to help in development of the three Olympic disciplines by offering a total of $750,000, split equally between dressage, eventing and jumping. For jumping, tying its $250,000 to $750,000 offered in the Rolex Grand Prix at the end of the 2025 Winter Equestrian Festival focused more on the size of the purse rather than the impact on the sport. Eventing had a justified ballyhooed final at an East Coast venue and a popular lineup. Dressage attracted more than 80 entries over the course of the year, mostly on the East Coast. Scant starters in West Coast qualifiers but earning the same points and the location of the final in the desert of Southern California had its effects. No top U.S. combinations participated and the rules to qualify were changed so that in 2026 fewer entries in competitions could mean fewer points, as demonstrated by the first in the list for 2026 that was in California with only five entries and thus provided minimum points.

Low points throughout the year were significant: the death of the spectacular 11-year-old Lider Seven to be ridden by Laura Graves and viewed as a successor to her Verdades, a disappointing performance by Adrienne and Helix at the World Cup Final leading to the horse being returned to Europe, and health issues that forced Steffen Peters to take a year off riding.

However, the luck of being host of the Los Angeles Olympics and automatically receive a team berth in 2028 gives the United States the luxury of more than 2 1/2 years to deal with the ups and downs of top sport in a nation with deep pockets and several world quality riders.

Known prospects for the World Championships in the summer of 2026 include Christian and Indian Rock, Marcus Orlob who, with owner Alice Tarjan has taken the last 18 months working on the Olympic mount Jane to overcome nerves while both developing the equally spectacular but calmer JJ Glory Day to Grand Prix,

Endel Ots is getting ready to return to the competition arena with Bohemian, Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour’s former mount that was reserve for the U.S. Olympic team at Paris, after almost a year recovering from an injury.

Like Indian Rock, Helix and numerous other top horses being trained by Adrienne Lyle, Bohemian is owned by Zen Elite Equestrian owned by successful Florida entrepreneur Heidi Humphries.

Longer term are Don Machiavelli, a 10-year-old gelding bought by Zen Elite for Adrienne to move up to Big Tour, and Rosebank VH, a Swedish stallion, that will be eight in 2026, is showing amazing promise with Katie Duerrhammer, another student of Adrienne’s, who competed on the 2022 World Championship team with Quartett.

So, too, is Sabine Schut-Kery, a star of the Tokyo Olympics on Sanceo, with several prospects, the most outstanding being Sonnenberg’s Jersey an 11-year-old stallion that is ready for Grand Prix.

Photo: Christian Simonson on Indian Rock competing in Florida. © Ken Braddick/DRESSAGE-NEWS.com