Orlob Dressage News
2 February 2026
By KENNETH J. BRADDICK
Christian Simonson and his success on Indian Rock has moved the American dressage partnership into the top 10 in the world for the first time while Marcus Orlob on Jane has climbed into the top 20. Canada’s Brittany Fraser-Beaulieu and Jaccardo are not far behind in the top 25.
The 23-year-old Christian became the 9th ranked rider in the world at the end of January, up from 15the at end of 2025 which had been a meteoric rise from 151st at the end of November.
Indian Rock, the 13-year-old stallion, jumped to 8th in the world from 13th the previous month in the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) rankings that lists horses and rider separately.
In the past month, scores for Christian and Indian Rock, based in Wellington, Florida where they are coached by three-time Olympian Adrienne Lyle, included a personal best 81.445% Freestyle to clinch a start at the World Cup Final in Fort Worth in three months, taking one of three spots reserved for North America at the annual championship of 18 horse and rider combinations from around the globe.
Christian and Indian Rock, owned by successful Florida entrepreneur Heidi Humphries’ Zen Elite Equestrian Center, have been unbeaten in eight international starts since their inaugural CDI in May last year
U.S. Olympic team rider Marcus Orlob of Loxahatchee, Florida logged the biggest jump in the top rankings, to 18th from 50th with three victories in four starts in January.
Jane, the 12-year-old black mare that he competes for owner Alice Tarjan, moved even higher, to 15th place from 47th over the month.
2 February 2026
Marcus Orlob on Jane and Christian Simonson on Indian Rock have been named to the U.S. Elite Program for the first changes to the top rated category in three years.
Elevation of the two combinations to the elite program that had none since 2022 came the same day the two pairs displayed their highest ever world rankings, Christian to No. 9 and Marcus to 18th.
To earn the places at the top of American dressage rider and horse combinations have to attain two scores of at least 74% at CDI Grand Prix/Special.
Marcus of Loxahatchee, Florida and Jane, 12-year-old mare owned by Alice Tarjan, posted 75.979% in a Grand Prix Special Jan. 24 and 74.681% two weeks earlier.
Christian based in Wellington, Florida and Indian Rock, 13-year-old stallion owned by Zen Elite Equestrian Center, scored 76.043% at Grand Prix Jan. 8 and 74.804% at TerraNova near Sarasota, Florida last Oct. 17.
Kasey Perry-Glass of Wellington on the 12-year-old Heartbeat W.P. was moved into the Pre-Elite category with its requirement of a score of at least 71%. She joins Anna Marek of Dunnellon, Florida and Fayvel and Endel Ots of Wellington on Zen Elite’s Bohemian at that level.
The U.S. Pathway Programs were re-introduced last year after a year's long hiatus following the retirement of several top horses competed by Americans.
“I’m thrilled with the updates to our program lists, and I feel we have some exciting momentum we can continue to build on as we move through the year,” said Christine Traurig, US Federation chef de équipe and technical advisor.
“With two of our combinations meeting the criteria for the Elite list, it’s a testament to the work, training, and collaboration, which has been so inspiring over the past few months and I’m really looking forward to what we have ahead.”
24 January 2026
By KENNETH J. BRADDICK
WELLINGTON FL –Marcus Orlob rode his Olympic partner Jane to a personal best score to win the CDI5* Grand Prix Special Saturday while Brittany Fraser-Beaulieu did her first Special on Jaccardo to create a Canadian record score.
Marcus and the 12-year-old mare owned by Alice Tarjan were awarded 75.979% that DRESSAGE-NEWS.com found to be the highest result for an American combination since scores by Steffen Peters on Suppenkasper and Adrienne Lyle on Salvino, both in the first half of 2022.
“I was really happy for her that she behaved and controlled her nerves,” Marcus said after the ride and one and half years on from the Olympics in Paris in 2024.
“And today again, a good performance so I’m really, really happy for
the horse because I always talk about, she needs to relax, she needs to relax and finally I think it’s getting there, and we slowly can show what we can do.
“We talk about this always they ask me or some judges say you could go to the 80s and I think that’s like a huge step in the right direction so I’m really happy for the horse.
“She seems to understand the assignment now.”
Marcus’s program preparing for the U.S. Grand Prix Championships in May ahead of the World Championships in Aachen, Germany is to consider a musical performance at Ocala’s World Equestrian Center then possibly the Nations Cup in Wellington in late March.
23 January 2026
WELLINGTON, Florida, –JJ Glory Day, 10-year-old barn mate of Jane, was ridden by Marcus Orlob to victory in the inaugural 2026 Lövsta Future Challenge for developing Grand Prix horses.
Tinne Vilhelmson Silfvén of Sweden on So Perfect was runner up and also qualified for the Global Dressage Festival final at winter’s end.
Marcus and the Danish Warmblood stallion were awarded 72.706% in the national Intermediaire II competition with a panel of five international judges in Global’s centerpiece arena. The top two placings move to the final of the series created by Sweden’s Lövsta to develop both dressage and jumping young horses.
Marcus, whose rides on Glory as a seven-year-old received rave reviews from international judges as a Big Tour prospect. The stallion like Marcus’s Olympic mount Jane is owned by Alice Tarjan who has long maintained a barn in neighboring Loxahatchee.
“I would like to get him a little bit out again,” Marcus said, “maybe in the short Grand Prix or here at Int. 2 and then put him slowly into the Grand Prix as well.
“I don’t like to push him now to show, to show. He does everything but still needs to get stronger.
“You can feel he has such a good work ethic and really is so athletic… it’s different. He has so many different gears you can make the passage like go crazy you can make the passage soft or slower, quicker, higher like the piaffe, too. Like he’s trying his best to just be so flexible like a rubber band.”
18 January 2026
The Global Dressage Festival CDI5* to be staged in Wellington this week has six Olympians from four nations of the 13 starting riders and another five with records in World Cup Finals and other championships.
The top rated event with $150,000 in prize money comes the same week as the extraordinary interactive masterclass by Kyra Kyrklund, Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour and Jan Brink at Global.
Marcus Orlob with Jane of the U.S., Frederic Wandres on Germany’s 2024 gold medal team and Chris von Martels were in the Paris Games in 2024. It was the second Olympics for Chris.
Ashley Holzer, a bronze medalist from 1988 when riding on one of four Olympics for Canada before switching to ride for USA, Tinne Vilhelmson Silfvén of Sweden with seven Games on her résumé (the same number as Isabell Werth and Anky van Grunsven) and Brittany Fraser-Beaulieu of Canada in Tokyo are the other Olympians.
U.S. riders Kevin Kohmann will be on Dünensee that he competed in 2024 and 2025 World Cup Finals, Anna Marek on Fayvel that she rode in 2024 Final and Geñay Vaughn on Gina her mount from 2025 and Germany’s Michael Klimke with World Cup championship appearances in 1990, 1991 and 1996 are entered.
Susan Pape of Great Britain who rode horses in the 2006, 2007 and 2008 World Young Horse Championships is also scheduled to start in the CDI5*.
The Grand Prix is scheduled for Thursday, the Grand Prix Freestyle on Friday night under lights and the Grand Prix Special Saturday.
The interactive masterclass organized by Carol Cohen’s 3 Graces Dressage and Global Dressage Festival will be held Wednesday night.
The Wellington CDI5* was first staged in 2009 with the creation of Global. The only other CDI5* scheduled in the Americas is the US Open that was instituted for the inaugural final last year.
10 January 2026
WELLINGTON, FL – An increasingly calm Jane was ridden by Marcus Orlob to victory in the Global Dressage Festival CDI3* Grand Prix Special Saturday on the second highest score in almost two years at Big Tour.
Marcus, based in Loxahatchee, neighboring Wellington, and the 12-year-old mare were awarded 74.681%, the duo’s highest score in the United States and exceeded only by 75.340% in Kronberg, Germany in June 2024. The pair were selected for the U.S. team for the Paris Olympics later in the summer.
Piaffe-passage that dominate the Special received mostly marks of eights from all five judges
Katherine Bateson Chandler based in Wellington and Haute Couture scored 67.808% for runners up as they were in the Grand Prix.
Spain’s Pablo Gómez Molina on Servus Ymas placed third on 67.298%.
Marcus and owner Alice Tarjan have taken Jane to numerous different venues and farms to help the mare deal with nerves that have sometimes hampered her show performances.
Changing venues has been part of success, Marcus said, “but also patience. Overall,I know her much better.
“I think it just takes time to give her experience because she hasn’t done a lot of international shows. And also she’s very green still at this level.”
With the U.S. in the midst of rebuilding top performance horses ahead of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, he said the goal for Jane this year is the World Championships in Aachen, Germany in August. As the host nation of the Olympics, the U.S. receives a team start irrespective of results at qualifying championships.
8 January, 2026
WELLINGTON, Florida, Marcus Orlob on his Paris Olympic mount Jane was the clear winner of the CDI3* Grand Prix in the Global Dressage Festival opening Big Tour event of the year and the first competition for the pair since last July in Europe.
In kicking off the winter-long Global circuit, Marcus and the 12-year-old were awarded 71.391% with the mare displaying one major spook in the one-tempi changes that were awarded two points. It could not be offset by 16 marks of eight from the five judges after that movement.
Katherine Bateson Chandler of Wellington on the 14-year-old mare Haute Couture was runner-up on 69.261%.
Michael Klimke of Germany on the U.S.-owned Harmony’s Dante’s Peak, 10-year-old gelding, placed third on a personal best 68.587%, less than a year since the pair began Big Tour, at these same show grounds.
In 18 months of taking the horses to different locations, such as Diamante Farms in Wellington, as well as last competing at the atmosphere-live World Equestrian Festival in Aachen, Germany, Marcus said has helped calm Jane .
Despite the error, said Marcus, based in neighboring Loxahatchee, “I think I had parts where she really was with me and I could relax her and I was actually happy with her.”
In addition to different venues, he said, “I do a lot of hacking just trying to get her out because she just needs to see the world and relax her brain. Then finally, hopefully, at some point I can ride mistake-free and show what we can do.”
The next competition on their schedule is the top rated Wellington CDI5* Jan. 21-25 and possibly other shows at different venues in Florida.
2 August 2024 Marcus Orlob Reflects on Heartbreaking Elimination
Marcus Orlob returned home from Paris devastated by the elimination of Jane, which knocked the U.S. dressage team out of Olympic contention. However, Marcus remains optimistic about Jane's future and his partnership with the talented mare.
"We'll regroup and figure out what's next," said Jane's owner, Alice Tarjan. Despite the setback, she expects Marcus to continue riding the 10-year-old mare.
For the German-born Orlob, who took over Jane's training earlier this year, the first Olympics was a rollercoaster. He praised the support of the entire U.S. team, including vets, farriers, teammates, and reserve riders. "It was very unlucky," Orlob admitted about Jane's elimination. "There was literally a minor cut on her leg, but life continues. She's healthy and young, so we have to look at the positive."
Dressage, he reflected, "is a humbling sport. You have to enjoy every moment because you never know what's coming next."
The elimination stemmed from Jane's reaction to the Olympic atmosphere. The vast crowds and applause proved overwhelming for the young horse, who had never experienced such a spectacle.
"She can be explosive in this type of environment," Orlob explained. Alice, too, had anticipated challenges with introducing Jane to such a sensory overload.
Despite the early exit, Orlob found solace in Jane's willingness to perform. "She settled nicely and gave me a good feeling," he said. "She wants to do the job and tries as hard as she can. It's not her fault. She's young and inexperienced."
Photo Gallery
19 July 2024 Marcus Orlob's Rise to Olympic Dressage in Paris
Marcus & Jane
The upcoming Olympic dressage competition in Paris will mark a historic milestone for Marcus Orlob. Just 125 days after his first Big Tour ride on Jane, the 42-year-old rider has secured a coveted spot on the U.S. Olympic team. This unprecedentedly rapid ascent to the top of the sport has captivated the equestrian world.
Orlob's journey to the Olympics is as remarkable as his partnership with Jane. A native of Germany, Orlob moved to the United States 16 years ago and had never competed for the country until his selection for the Paris team. His selection, along with Steffen Peters, Adrienne Lyle, and Endel Ots, came as a surprise to many.
Orlob's partnership with Jane was equally unexpected. The KWPN mare, owned by Alice Tarjan, was initially intended for Alice to ride at Grand Prix. However, during a coaching session last winter, Alice suggested that Orlob try the horse. Impressed by their immediate connection, Orlob began competing Jane at Grand Prix.
With a series of impressive performances, Orlob and Jane quickly qualified for the Olympic selection trials. Their success in Europe earned them a place on the U.S. team, solidifying their status as one of the most exciting partnerships in dressage.
22 June 2024 Marcus Orlob USA Olympic Team Qualifier
Orlob Secures Olympic Berths
Marcus Orlob and Jane clinched their spot on the U.S. Olympic dressage team with a decisive victory in the Schafhof Dressurfestival CDI4* Grand Prix Special. The pair's score of 75.340% was a personal best and the highest Special result by an American combination this year.
The Schafhof event was the final qualifying competition for the U.S. team. The selection process, which also considered results from the CDIO5* Nations Cup in Rotterdam, Netherlands, left little doubt about the chosen riders.
The U.S. Nations Cup team for the World Equestrian Festival in Aachen, Germany, has been announced, with Orlob and Jane included.
Other U.S. short-listed riders at Kronberg, Anna Marek and Endel Ots, also performed well in the Special.
The Schafhof event was the second European competition for Orlob and Jane, who have quickly established themselves as a formidable partnership. Orlob began riding under the U.S. flag in 2015 and has previously competed at Grand Prix level on Royal Touch.
The duo's first CDI Grand Prix came in March, after Tarjan decided to hand over the ride to her long-time trainer. Despite Tarjan's success with the horse at lower levels, she felt Jane was becoming too strong for her.
Orlob has continued to impress, winning the Lövsta Future Challenge Intermediate II division and the Grand Prix Special at the TerraNova qualifying competition. His strong performance at the Schafhof Dressurfestival secured his place on the U.S. Olympic team. © Stefan Lafrentz/Sportfotos-Lafrentz.de
20 June 2024 US Olympic Dressage Team
The U.S. Olympic Dressage Team, led by Marcus Orlob, competed in the CDI Kronberg in Germany from June 20-23. Although not one of the required observation events, several horses-and-rider combinations on the U.S. Dressage Team Short List participated. The final team selection is scheduled for June 25.
Orlob and Jane won Friday's CDI4* Grand Prix with a personal-best score of 73.913%. This victory qualified them for the Grand Prix Special. Orlob has only been riding Jane for a short time, taking over from owner Alice Tarjan earlier this year. Their rapid progress has made them a promising partnership.
7 April 2024 CDI Myakka City
Marcus Orlob (USA) and Alice Tarjan's rising Grand Prix horse Jane finished first in the 3* Grand Prix Special on the concluding day of competition at the 2024 CDI Myakka City on Sunday 7 April 2024. They scored 71.894% for the win. On Friday, the pair came in second in the 3* Grand Prix with a score of 70.043%, just .001% behind Jennifer Williams and Joppe K (by Rousseau x Santano), owned by Joppe Partners. The leaderboard was flipped on Sunday, with Williams finishing second to Orlob.
Jane's owner, Alice Tarjan, competed the KWPN mare through developing Grand Prix level and won silver at the 2022 U.S. Developing Grand Prix Horse Championships at Lamplight. After winning the Intermediaire A at the 2024 CDI Wellington in January, Tarjan passed the reins to her coach, Marcus Orlob, as she has taken a step back from riding at international Grand Prix level. The new combination made their grand prix debut last weekend in Wellington and made significant improvements to their scores whilst at TerraNova."
Photo © Sue Stickle
Euro Dressage Original Article:
Marcus Orlob Chasing Olympic Dream
