On Day 2 of the conference, Christine Traurig encouraged Hannah Irons to be disciplined in her equitation with 5-year-old Westphalian gelding Ein Traum, stressing that the function of her aids depends on correct form. Traurig also had the pair practice leg yielding on circles and navigating the direction on 20-meter circles from circle point to circle point through bending exercises and also neutralizing the aids to say thank you.

Christine Traurig, Chef d’Equipe of the U.S. Dressage Team, was born and raised in Germany, on a farm where her father bred horses. It was there that her passion and skill for riding young horses developed. At the age of 12, she started riding at the National Riding School at Hoya with the legendary trainer Otto Meyer. In 1998, Christine began training with Johann Hinnemann and in 2000 she competed at the Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, on the bronze-medal-winning U.S. team. Dedicated to classical dressage training and horsemanship to produce skill and excellence in horse and rider, Christine works to help today’s Young Riders and horses develop a commitment to basics.