Versailles, France – The U.S. Paralympic Dressage Team continued to make history at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, securing its second consecutive Paralympic team medal – this time topping the podium with a historic team gold medal. 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 earned incredibly competitive scores of 77% or higher in the FEI Grand Prix Test B, cementing the team’s impressive finish and securing the first team gold medal in the program’s history. Their final total score of 235.567 is the highest Paralympic team score ever achieved in the Para Equestrian discipline.
“This is the fulfillment of a long-held, well-planned dream that goes back to Tryon 2018, where we actually started making changes. In Tokyo, when we won bronze, I had a clear plan and strategy, and in my head I wanted to win that team medal. I just knew it had to be gold for us in Paris,” said Chef d’Equipe Michel Assouline. “It’s been three years of very hard work, planning, logistics, competition strategies, both for Europe and the USA. The horsepower, the coaches, the whole program had to be reworked to get to this point. It’s a weird thought – I expected it – but you never want to talk about it openly. I had it in my head that this was our goal, and here we are. This feels like an incredible achievement for everyone who has been involved in this program over the years.”
Roxanne Trunnell (Royal Palm Beach, Florida) and Fan Tastico H were the first pair for the United States to begin their afternoon of team competition. Trunnell and Fan Tastico H, who are still a very new pair, having only been together since early 2024, earned a competitive score to get the team off to a strong start. The duo received 77.000% from the judges and the 2017-born Oldenburg gelding (Fuersentball OLD x Weltmeyer), owned by Karin Flint and handled by Rafael Hernandez-Carillo, once again showed his potential with consistent work at the walk, with Trunnell taking the lead from the saddle.
“I really focused on him marching,” Trunnell said of her test. “He’s so cool at only seven years old; he just keeps getting better.” On the team’s success, she added that Chef d’Equipe Michel Assouline played a big part in the growth and confidence of the athletes in the program. “I think that’s all Michel. He got us in shape. He’s very strict. I think all his experience helped us.”
Fiona Howard (Boston, Mass.) and Diamond Dunes, a 2013-born Hanoverian gelding (De L’or x Wibella) owned by Dressage Family LLC and Hof Kasselmann and handled by Helen Claire McNulty, continued their dominance in Grade II as Paralympic debutants. The duo scored 80%, the highest score of the week in any class so far, marking another personal best the pair set this week.
“As soon as we started the first trot — even when we were just trotting around the arena — I really thought, ‘He feels 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. By the end, my muscles were really tired and I just thought, ‘Keep going, buddy!’ and he said, ‘I’ve got your back,'” Howard said. “He’s incredible; he’s amazing.”
The pair’s sensational jump to the top of the Class II rankings was meteoric and Howard praised the team support both in Paris and at home for Dunes’ success. With gold medal in hand, the pair’s personal best was the icing on the cake of a very enjoyable week so far.
“We have an incredible support team behind us, everyone from trainers, vets, farriers, our association, everyone is behind us 110%,” Howard said. “And of course we have an incredible team coach in Michel (Assouline). I think it’s really the teamwork. We all support each other and push each other. We’re there for each other through the ups and downs and I think that plays such a big part in it.”
Rebecca Hart (Wellington, Florida) 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 Paralympic continental championship (Paris 2024), faced the difficult task of claiming the gold medal after going head-to-head with a very strong Dutch team throughout the day. Hart and the 2008-born Hanoverian mare (Fidertanz x Rubina), owned by Rowan O’Riley and coached by Mackenzie Young, were determined to ensure the U.S. remained at the top of the podium. The duo earned their second-best personal score of the Games, earning 78.567%, fulfilling the dream Hart has been working toward for nearly 25 years as an athlete in the U.S. Para-dressage program.
“It still feels unreal. It was the culmination of years of work and I am so incredibly proud of all these girls because it was a collective effort to get this done. It would not have been possible without the efforts of each and every one of us,” Hart said.
When asked about the significance of the gold medal and what it could mean for the continued success of the US Para Dressage Program, Hart said, “I really hope that this success and these medals bring to Para the recognition and equality of the different disciplines in our associations and the realization that we are valuable and can deliver when it counts. I think that will help continue to grow the sport, bring in more sponsors, horses and people, and that is what I hope for in the future.”
Results
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