The US Equestrian Open Podcast

Laine Ashker is doing something no one else in the US Equestrian Open has done: competing in two disciplines at once.

Annie sits down with her on this episode of the US Equestrian Open Podcast to talk about the road to a first four-star win at Maryland with Lovedance, and a Grand Prix dressage career built on Zeppelin that's already taken her to the Open Final in Thermal.

Two horses, two sports, one rider trying to qualify for both finals in the same year. Laine talks through what changed after stepping back down a level with Lovedance, the affirmations practice that's turned her season around, and how eventing and dressage have quietly been making each other better all along.

Highlights

• Winning at Maryland with Lovedance
• Building Zeppelin's Grand Prix freestyle
• The affirmations that changed her season
• Riding two sports at the top level
• What dressage and eventing teach each other

Guests

• Laine Ashker – five-star eventer and Grand Prix dressage rider, the first athlete to compete in both disciplines of the US Equestrian Open

Four disciplines. Dozens of names. One long exhale as Aachen finally starts feeling real. Annie and D sit down with every world championship team announcement now in hand, and the dressage squad alone gives them plenty to chew on.

A fifty-year gap between the youngest and oldest riders on one team? That's not a typo, that's just where this sport is right now. Ashley Holzer's four-decade arc from Seoul to Aachen sits next to Christian Simonson's early-twenties breakout, and somehow it all has to gel into a team.

Then there's the strength-in-depth problem nobody but Germany gets to have: an Olympic champion sitting as second reserve. Annie and D can't decide whether to be impressed or worried for everyone else.

And with Rebecca Farm kicking off, the languishing in-between period officially ends this weekend.

Highlights

• Dutta Corp. US Dressage Team breakdown
• Fifty years, four riders, one team
• Germany's ridiculous reserve list
• Eventing, jumping, para, driving and vaulting round-up
• Mill Street Under 25s preview
• Rebecca Farm predictions kick off

The US eventing team for Aachen is out, and on this episode of the US Equestrian Open Podcast, Annie Bishop and Diarmuid Byrne break down every name on the list.

Cooley Nutcracker steps in where Commando 3 was expected, and the panel digs into why that shift might matter more than it first appears. Diabolo gets the underrated tag he's been quietly earning for two years, and Phillip Dutton's case for experience over exposure gets its own hearing.

Then there's Lillet 3, the ten-year-old some fans already had down as a lock, and the gap between her ceiling and her floor. Annie and D close it out by weighing Great Britain, Germany and the US against each other heading into the championship, medal chances and all.

Highlights

• The US Aachen team, name by name
• Cooley Nutcracker in, Commando 3 out
• The case for an underrated Diabolo
• Phillip Dutton's experience argument
• Lillet 3's high ceiling, low floor
• Early medal chances across nations

Christmas comes early as the first Aachen team is announced. Annie and Diarm react to the US jumping squad, discuss the biggest selection talking points, and look at what it means as World Championship teams begin to take shape. They also review the latest eventing action from Maryland, where Laine Ashker secured her first four-star victory, and discuss what the results could mean ahead of US team selection.

Then Annie catches up with dressage rider Claire Darnell, currently third on the US Equestrian Open leaderboard. Claire reflects on the unexpected season she and Harold have enjoyed, why she nearly stepped away from the horse at the start of the year, the story behind her Hunger Games freestyle, and why an 80s soundtrack is next on the playlist.

Highlights

• The US jumping team for Aachen is announced
• Maryland Horse Trials review and what it means for US eventing selection
• Claire Darnell on Harold, her breakout season and nearly taking a different path
• The story behind her Hunger Games freestyle and why it's changing this summer
• What makes a great freestyle, developing horses from young stock and life in Wellington

Guest

• Claire Darnell - US Grand Prix dressage rider based in Wellington, Florida, currently third on the US Equestrian Open leaderboard with Harold

This week on the US Equestrian Open Podcast, Annie and Diarm look ahead to Maryland Horse Trials and what's at stake in the latest eventing qualifier as the leaderboard battle continues.

There's also discussion around Rotterdam and another major statement from Marilyn Little and La Contessa as selection conversations continue.

Plus, Annie catches up with Stephanie Goodman after becoming the first combination to win on their four-star Open debut at Aspen Farms. Stephanie reflects on building her program in Idaho, the horse that brought her back to the sport and why Elwenda keeps proving her wrong.

Highlights: • Maryland Horse Trials preview • Open leaderboard implications • Rotterdam and jumping selection discussion • Stephanie Goodman on her Aspen Farms win • Elwenda's journey to four-star success

A record-breaking weekend at Aspen, Aachen conversations getting louder and a reminder of why freestyle remains one of the sport's biggest stages.

This week Annie and Diarm look back on Aspen Farms, where Stephanie Goodman and Elwenda DP made history by becoming the first combination to win on their four-star debut at the Open. There's discussion around what made the result so special, why Aspen continues to deliver moments people remember and how the series picture is starting to take shape.

Then attention turns to jumping, with Nations Cup season heating up and the pressure building as Aachen selection edges closer.

Plus, Annie sits down with current US Equestrian Open Dressage leaderboard leader Ashley Holzer for a conversation on partnership, building trust with Flo, the story behind her Neil Diamond freestyle and why she believes freestyle is one of the sport's most powerful ways to connect with fans.

Highlights • Aspen's record-breaking four-star debut winner • What the result means for the Open standings • Aachen selection conversations begin • Nations Cup storylines to watch • Ashley Holzer on Flo and partnership • The story behind her Neil Diamond freestyle • Why freestyle matters

This week, Annie returns from Bromont with reflections from one of North America's most iconic venues and why places like Bromont continue to play such an important role in producing the next generation of championship and five-star horses.

There's discussion around standout performances across the weekend, exciting young horses coming through the levels, and what makes venues with terrain, history and progression opportunities so valuable to the future of the sport.

Plus, attention turns west to Aspen Farms and another important qualifier weekend, with leaderboard movement, rising combinations and valuable points on the line as the season continues to take shape.

Highlights

• Looking back on a special weekend at Bromont
• Why venues like Bromont and Morven remain so important
• Exciting young horses and combinations to watch
• The role of pathway programmes in developing future stars
• Aspen Farms preview and key combinations
• Leaderboard implications and qualification picture
• One eye already turning towards championships and the final

From Rome to Bicton, championship conversations are getting louder.

Annie Bishop and Diarmuid Byrne look back on a huge weekend across the US Equestrian Open, where underdogs delivered, established names kept the pressure on, and a few horses may have changed the picture heading into the summer.

There's discussion around La Contessa's growing case for team selection, standout performances from the US eventing squad at Bicton, and why some of the sport's most exciting stories might just be coming through the pathway.

Plus, Noah Rattner joins the show to reflect on the Ginny Rattner Memorial Dressage CDI at DevonWood, and why creating memorable experiences around competition matters just as much as the sport itself.

Highlights:

• Mexico's upset win in Rome
• Why La Contessa is becoming impossible to ignore
• A standout weekend for the US team at Bicton
• The horses making names for themselves on the pathway
• Aspen Farm storylines to watch
• Noah Rattner on community, competition, and building for the future

Aachen delivered exactly what we hoped for, world-class sport, major championship clues, and a reminder that August is coming fast.

Annie Bishop and Diarmuid Byrne look back on a huge week in Germany, where Richard Vogel and United Touch S may have shifted the balance ahead of the World Championships. From Greya's growing rivalry with Europe's biggest stars to the US combinations making their case for Aachen selection, there is plenty to unpack as the summer picture starts to take shape.

Plus, Tommy Greengard heads to Bicton for Nations Cup action, Tamie Smith's summer plans take shape in Europe, and the US Equestrian Open storylines continue to build across jumping, eventing, and dressage.

Highlights:

• Why Richard Vogel and United Touch S changed the conversation after Aachen
• The growing rivalry between Greya and Europe's top combinations
• Lillie Keenan's huge statement weekend in Germany
• Tommy Greengard and That's Me Z heading to Bicton
• Tamie Smith's European summer plans with Lilette
• What the US Equestrian Open standings could look like through the summer

Championship season is starting to take shape.

On this week's U.S. Equestrian Open Podcast, Annie Bishop and Diarmuid Byrne look ahead to a huge week at CHIO Aachen, as the U.S. jumping squad heads to one of the sport's biggest stages and the road to Aachen in August starts to come into focus.

There's also reaction to the newly announced U.S. dressage long list, before Annie sits down with one of the most talked-about young riders in U.S. eventing, Isabelle Bosley.

Fresh off an impressive Kentucky performance with Conner, Isabelle reflects on producing him from an unstarted five-year-old to four-star level, learning to trust the process, and why the bigger the atmosphere gets, the better he becomes.

Highlights

• CHIO Aachen storylines across jumping and dressage
• The U.S. squad heading to Aachen
• U.S. dressage championship long list reactions
• Isabelle Bosley on Conner's rise to four-star
• Riding at Kentucky for the first time
• Producing horses slowly and patiently