Kristy Oatley pictured riding her current Grand Prix horse, Du Soleil, at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

© Eric Knoll

Take #2: Brisbane Olympics 2032 Dressage

By Heath Ryan

With Brisbane highly likely to get the Olympics in 2032, now is the time to start planning the dressage high-performance program that will give you a serious opportunity to be one of those Australian team riders selected.

To ride for your country at the Olympics when it is hosting them is probably the number one biggest dream you could possibly aspire to!

Last month I did a high-performance training program — or roughly outlined one — which focused on the Australian three-day event team. Eventing in Australia is red hot and has historically won both team and individual gold medals. Actually, lots of them! My goodness, the Australian eventing riders are indeed red-hot good!

So, what about the dressage riders? As individual gold medallists we are a long way away. Well, 11 years is also a long way away and individual gold medals are definitely something we could do if we plan to do it. When I say we, please don’t think that anyone other than you — yes, I mean you who is reading this column will be motivated enough to put a gold medal plan into action. Honestly, you cannot wait for Equestrian Australia or the Australian Sports Commission or the Australian Olympic Committee to start marshalling and training our superstars for 2032. That is a nice dream but that is guaranteed not going to happen....

Read the full article here in the April issue of Equestrian Life!