Update: Kasey Perry-Glass and Dublet joined Team USA Dressage in winning a team bronze medal at the Rio Olympics on Friday, Aug. 12. It was the first Olympic medal for the United States in dressage since 2004.
When she was 5, Kasey Perry-Glass got on a horse and fell in love.
The little girl soon realized her big dream to pursue a life of riding when she joined her sisters and mother on a ride at a small community barn in Northern California.
After years of training while earning a business degree from Sacramento State, Perry-Glass, now 28, and her equine partner, Goerklintgaards Dublet, put their best foot – and hoof – forward in the dressage competition at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
The deep connection between Perry-Glass and Dublet is one that only their performance can convey – and the reason they made it to Rio.
“The moment I got on him, I knew there was something special about him,” she tells The Sacramento Bee‘s Debbie Arrington. “We just had an instant bond.”
It was in 2012 when Perry-Glass first met Dublet, a breed known as a Danish Warmblood gelding. Their instant bond led her to realize her ultimate goal of competing in the Olympics.
Established as a part of the summer games in 1912, dressage is best described as dancing on horseback, where the subtlest movements cue intricate, memorized routines.The duo has already topped competitions around the world, placing first in 2016 CDIO5 Nations Cup at Compiegne and second in 2015 Intermediarie I at CDI4 Achleiten Schloss.
Be sure to join us in cheering Perry-Glass – and check out her feature story in The Sacramento Bee.