IDOCUS & COURTNEY KING, GP SPECIAL, U.S. OLYMPIC TRIALS 2008

Idocus and Courtney King scored 70.20 and took 4th place in the Grand Prix Special at the 2008 Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Dressage Festival of Champions held at the Oaks Blenheim in San Juan Capistrano, California on Sunday June 22nd, 2008.

Courtney King-Dye
Born: November 20, 1977
Hometown: New Milford, CT

Horse: Idocus (17-year-old Dutch Warmblood stallion; Owned by Christine McCarthy)

Courtney King-Dye has spent the last year walking a defined line toward qualifying for the 2008 Olympic Games. After gaining the necessary European exposure in Germany for two months, King-Dye came to Florida to compete for a spot at the selection trials, she was also chosen to represent the U.S. in the 2008 FEI World Cup Final held in Holland.

King-Dye had a banner year in 2007. In April, King-Dye and Idocus represented the U.S. for the first time at the World Cup Final in Las Vegas finishing sixth against 30 of the best riders in the world. Later in June, the pair was second overall at the USEF/Collecting Gaits Farm Festival of Champions. They went to Germany over the summer and tested their skills against the world's best.

Also in 2007 at Dressage at Devon, King-Dye entered 11 classes on five horses ranging from 4th level to Grand Prix, finishing first five times, second four times and third two times, and also earned the FEI High Score of the show with a 71.250%.

Based at the two-time Olympian Lendon Gray's Sunnyfield Farm in Bedford, NY, King-Dye was named to the USET Olympic Long List in 2000, and in 2004 she was named to the USEF High-Performance Developing Riders List. King-Dye is a United States Dressage Federation (USDF) Gold medalist and a USDF Certified Instructor through Fourth level. King-Dye is a 2004 graduate of Columbia University in New York and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in literature.

A native of Michigan, King-Dye has been riding since she was nine years old. At age 15, she became a working student for Gray. She competed in the 1998 North American Young Riders Championships and by 1999, with a string of horses to show for clients, King-Dye became a force to be reckoned with in the competition ring.

King-Dye's dressage education includes six years as Assistant trainer to Gray, and in 2007 she supplemented that with a month in California training with U.S. Olympian Steffen Peters and two months in Germany training with U.S. dressage team coach Klaus Balkenhol.

Along with Idocus, who at 18 is closer to the end of his career than the beginning, King-Dye has another star in Harmony's Mythilus who has proved very promising and is confirming himself as a worthy sidekick to the classy veteran. In the 2007 season, they performed spectacularly at the Intermediate I and Prix St. George levels, and upon moving up to the Grand Prix level in the summer they returned home with the blue in all their outings except one.

Websites:

Courtney King-Dye:
http://www.courtneykingdressage.com/

USEF:
http://www.usef.org/

USDF:
http://www.usdf.org/

USET:
http://www.uset.com/

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• IDOCUS
• COURTNEY
• KING
• DYE
• Grand
• Prix
• Special
• U.S.
• OLYMPIC
• TRIALS
• Dressage
• Festival
• of
• Champions
• Oaks
• Blenheim
• Dressur
• dressuur
• adestramento
• dressyr

[1977ALea]

Being an FEI ranked IV rider, it is clear that Idocus is NOT being hyperflexed. Hyperflexion is awful on the horse... Piaffe3121, I'm just not seeing it.

[animallover2218]

in breyers i have idocus he is just gorgous

[Piaffe3121]

Ok I can tell you Courtney is probably one of the few still training her horses correctly, and does not use hyperflexion or rollkur. FYI some horses just get behind the bit...doesn't mean the rider is using hyperflexion...for instance my horse used to nearly touch his nose to his chest. I have extremely light hands, and use a snaffle. He knows I want him round and would get a little carried away with himself trying to please me. Doesn't always mean hyperflexion/rollkur bc a horse gets behind bit

[katymego]

when is idocus hyperflexed? i've seen only one or two spots in this vid where he's come behind the vertical in the passage and piaffe, but overall, his nose is slightly above the vertical.

i agree that hyperflexion is bad for the horse (i hate rolkur and anky's style of training, for example), but i just don't see it here.

[awkwardmonkey]

I agree 100%

[jmhaze2006]

More pain and hyperflexion of the neck, causing the horse long term damage, extreme pain of bit, I used to like dressage before realizing, my horse did fine without the painful bit and extreme hyperflexion, some one needs to CHANGE THE STANDARDS FOR THE HORSES SAKE!!!

[nelsonreed]

holy crap she got 3rd on H.M. and 4th on Idocus?

that's really amazing.

[VFEPaul]

Wow! My mare just had a baby out of Idocus :)

[sorrysoul1]

Gorgeous! I love this horse and Courtney King is awesome!

I was in the press box!

[Phunter27]

Beautiful!!!!!! Good luck!