DeRosa Daily Equestrian Olympic News
Horsesdaily Veteran Olympic Reporter Diana DeRosa Brings Us Into Her World

Bad Things Shouldn’t Happen to Nice People

When I think about this year’s Dressage Team one thing always comes to mind, Steffen Peters, Courtney King, and Debbie McDonald are three of the nicest people in the dressage world.  Every time I talk to them or see them they are always gracious, smiling and interjecting a joke or two.  So, when they didn’t earn a team medal it felt like an injustice had been done to them.  In fact it was just not to be.  While both Courtney’s and Steffen’s rounds were brilliant, Debbie just couldn’t make it work.  A series of mistakes throughout the test earned them a score in the low 60s.  It was an unexpected outcome for a combination that has always pulled through in the past.

Unlike 43 year old Steffen and Debbie, 53, Courtney is young (30) and new to the higher ranks in dressage.  She’s come up pretty quickly.  My first recollection of Courtney was in 2006 when I was handling the PR for the Washington International Horse Show and there was someone named Courtney King who was among the competitors.  When I heard she’d been named to the 2008 Olympic dressage team, I was in shock. How could someone so new rise this quickly, I wondered.  Yet when I saw her ride Idocus and Mythilus  at the Final Selection Trials it was clear just why.  They both have a presence, brilliance and precision that make them stand out in a pack.

Courtney King and Harmony's Mythilus Start Things Off Just Right Despite The Odds