Tracy Press

— Brianna Dutton, rider

Brianna Dutton shows off some of the medals she’s won while riding Tibet, her 8-year-old Dutch gelding. Glenn Moore/Tracy Press

Brianna Dutton brought home a gold medal and two silvers from a Colorado equestrian event this week, and she owes part of her success to Tibet, her 8-year-old Dutch gelding and partner in competition.

In the two years that she’s had Tibet, he has progressed from a good-natured but inexperienced show horse to a competitor who enjoys the precision moves needed to win “dressage” events, the riding style that demonstrates harmony and cooperation between a horse and rider.

They were among about 40 horse-rider entries in the dressage events at the 2008 CN North American Young Rider Championships at Colorado Horse Park in Parker, Colo, from July 29 to Aug. 3.

“We ended up rocketing up the levels for the past two years,” Dutton said. “Now we’re ahead of where he should be.”

Dutton and Tibet were one of four rider-horse pairs in the Region 7 team — representing California, Nevada and Hawaii — that won the gold medal in the dressage event at the Young Rider Championships. Dutton and Tibet also took home silver medals in the individual and freestyle dressage events.

Dressage is a branch of equestrian sports that emphasizes cooperation between rider and horse, and contests can be part of, or separate from, contests that involve speed and endurance tests, show jumping and reining.

Top scores go to the horse and rider who perform precision moves in the arena with only the most subtle cues from the rider. The result is like a dance, often set to music, with the best teams appearing to perform their routines without effort.

The effort comes in the daily practices Dutton and Tibet go through at his stable in Danville, where they work with trainer Nadine Pestana. Dutton, 19, drives from Tracy or heads to practice after she finishes her classes at St. Mary’s College of California in Moraga, where she’s about to begin her second year of studies in biology, with a goal of becoming a chiropractor.

“Some horses are just willing to work hard,” Dutton said. “It starts with your attitude toward your horse, and working with him daily. The horse has to trust you and know you won’t ask him to do anything crazy.”

That’s the type of horse she has in Tibet, and his work in practice helped them qualify for the Colorado event through their performance at four California shows, including two at Rancho Murietta, one in Elk Grove and another in Santa Rosa.

“He’s built for it. His attitude was really great.”

Dutton got into riding at the age of 8 after her parents offered her the opportunity to chose a sport. She has participated in other riding events but has focused on dressage the past five years.

It’s among the sports that U.S. horse-rider teams will compete in during the Beijing Olympics.
Dutton has no relation, though she’s often temped to tell folks that she is, to two-time Olympic equestrian gold medalist Phillip Dutton of Australia. He is now a U.S. citizen and one of the members of Team USA this year.

But she’s familiar with the top competitors in equestrian sports and hopes to soon compete against the people she’s admired for years. In June, she and her family went to see the U.S. team compete in the Olympic trials at San Juan Capistrano.

“It was just so cool to watch all of their tests, because they were flawless,” she said.

She went into the competition in Colorado with the goal of just making the cut for the final day of competition. For her and three other team members, including dressage individual gold medalist Katie Johnson of El Cajon, it was their first Young Riders competition.

“I wanted to do well, but I didn’t expect (a medal) in my first year,” Dutton said. “I’ve got two more years to do it.”

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