Versailles, France – The U.S. Paralympic Dressage Team continued to make history at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games by securing their second consecutive Paralympic team medal – this time topping the podium with a historic team gold. The team combinations of Rebecca Hart and Floratina (Grade III), Fiona Howard and Diamond Dunes (Grade II), and Roxanne Trunnell and Fan Tastico H (Grade I) each achieved incredibly competitive scores, all at the 77% point or higher, in the FEI Grand Prix Test B to solidify the team’s impressive finish and collect their first team gold in program history. Their final combined score of 235.567 is the highest Paralympic team score ever recorded in the para-equestrian discipline.

“This is the fulfillment of a long-held, well-planned dream that goes back to Tryon 2018, when we really started to make changes. In Tokyo, when we won bronze, I had a clear plan and strategy in place, and in my head, to earn that team medal. I just knew that it had to be gold in Paris for us,” said Chef d’Equipe Michel Assouline. “It’s been three years of very hard work, planning, logistics, competition strategies, both for Europe and in the US. The horsepower, the coaches, the whole program had to be rethought to get to this point. It’s funny to think about it – it’s what I expected – but you never want to talk about it openly. I had in my mind that this was our goal and here we are. This feels like a great achievement for everyone who has been involved in this program over the years.”

Roxanne Trunnell (Royal Palm Beach, Fla.) and Fan Tastico H were the first combination in the United States to begin their afternoon of team competition. Trunnell and Fan Tastico H, who are a brand new combination and have only been partnered since early 2024, produced a competitive score to get the team off to a strong start. The pair earned a 77.000% from the judges, and the 2017 Oldenburg gelding (Fuersentball OLD x Weltmeyer), owned by Karin Flint and groomed by Rafael Hernandez-Carillo, once again showed his potential with consistent work in the walk with Trunnell guiding from the saddle.

“I just focused on his marching,” Trunnell said of her test. “He’s so cool at seven; he just keeps getting better and better.” Regarding the team’s success, she added that Chef d’Equipe Michel Assouline has been a big part of the growth and confidence of athletes in the program. “I think it’s all Michel. He’s got us in shape. He’s very strict. I think all his experience has helped us.”

Fiona Howard (Boston, Mass.) and Diamond Dunes, a 2013 Hanoverian gelding (De L’or x Wibella) owned by Dressage Family LLC and Hof Kasselmann and cared for by Helen Claire McNulty, continued their dominance in Grade II competition as Paralympic debutants. The pair earned an 80%, the highest score of the week so far in any class, marking another personal best the pair set this week.

“As soon as we started the first trot, even just trotting around the ring, I was like, ‘He’s feeling really good.’ I went in and remembered what my team said: Just trust him,” she said. “What a feeling when you can just trust your horse and he just kept giving and giving. At the end, my muscles were really tired and I was just like, ‘Keep going, buddy!’ and he said, ‘I got you,'” Howard said. “He’s unbelievable; he’s amazing.”

The pair’s sensational leap to the top of the Grade II standings was meteoric and Howard credited the team’s support, both in Paris and at home, for the trajectory of her success with “Dunes” and with the gold medal in hand today, the personal best test was just the icing on the cake of a very good week so far for the pair.

“We have an incredible support team behind us, everyone from trainers, vets, farriers, our federation, everyone is behind us 110 percent,” Howard said. “And obviously we have an incredible team coach in Michel (Assouline). I think it’s really the teamwork. We all support each other and we push each other. We’re there for each other through the ups and downs and I think that plays a big part.”

Rebecca Hart (Wellington, Fla.) and Floratina, the most experienced pair on the team, and Flora, one of the few horses in history to ultimately win team gold medals at both an able-bodied continental championship (Lima 2019) and a para continental championship (Paris 2024), were put in a tight position to capture the gold medal after a neck-and-neck battle throughout the day with a very strong Dutch team. Hart and the 2008 Hanoverian mare (Fidertanz x Rubina), owned by Rowan O’Riley and cared for by Mackenzie Young, were determined to ensure that the U.S. podium position remained firmly at the top. The pair earned their second personal best score of the Games with a 78.567% to fulfill the dream that Hart has worked toward for nearly 25 years as an athlete with the U.S. Para Dressage Program.

“It still feels surreal. It was the culmination of years and years and years of work, and I’m so incredibly proud of all of these girls because it was a collective effort to make this happen. It wouldn’t have happened if we didn’t all put our best foot forward,” Hart said.

When asked about the impact of the gold medal and what it could mean for the continued success of the US Para Dressage Program, Hart said, “What I really, really hope this success and these medals bring to para is the recognition and the equality of the different disciplines within our federations, and the realization that we have value and that we can deliver when needed. I think that will only continue to grow the sport, attract more sponsors, horses and people, and that’s what I’m hoping for as we move forward.”

Results

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