In this series, the Chronicle follows six riders as they seek to fulfill their Olympic dreams in Hong Kong in 2008.

We still have a long road to get there, but I’m so excited to make a team. I’m feeling fantastic today. It took a little while to set in, but this morning, coming in and seeing Steffen [Peters] and Debbie [McDonald] and hearing them greet me with, “Good morning teammate!” Now that was a great feeling.

[King-Dye placed third with Harmony’s Mythilus and fourth with Idocus at the U.S. Olympic Dressage Selection Trials in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., June 21-22 and 27-29. The top three finishers were selected from the trials to comprise the U.S. Olympic Dressage team.]
                      
This is the culmination of the past 21 years of work. I think the biggest thing is that I feel so lucky. Of course anybody who gets here has put in a ton of hard work, day in and day out. It takes years of work to get to the place where you can do it. But even if you worked that hard, even if you have the skill, to have the right horse at the right time, to have the opportunity behind you to do that, to have the support system it takes to get to all of the shows to qualify, to keep the horses in top form, you can’t do it alone, and you can’t do it without a lot of support and luck.
   
[King-Dye prepared for the selection trials by spending the month prior to the competition in San Diego, Calif., with Peters. She took four horses, Idocus, Harmony’s Mythilus, Harmony’s Wyoming and Grandioso.]
   
My time in California was awesome. Steffen’s place is, as it was last year, so calm, quiet and restful. You’re so able to concentrate and focus there. Steffen gave me some really great help, especially with the younger horses. Preparation-wise it was everything and more that I hoped it would be.
   
I didn’t anticipate Steffen having a lot of time for me, but he made time for me whenever I wanted it. That was fantastic. Even in the warm-up at the selection trials, Steffen would look over and tell me if it looked good or got too slow.
   
Idocus was awesome the whole time. He didn’t change after the trip. I’m so thankful to his owner, Christine McCarthy, who allowed him to have a short breeding season of only one month this year so that he could be at his peak for the trials.

Mythilus Steps Out Of The Shadows

I’d lost some time with “Myth,” and he was just on an upturn and getting fit again. [Myth disagreed with a shoeing change, and King-Dye lost a month of work while that was rectified.] That just basically continued. It really was hard work getting him back right up to the show. We had some ground to make up in terms of throughness. It was a perfect situation to do that in. I had all the time I needed with him.
   
On the first weekend I had to over-control him a little bit in the Grand Prix, because I had to have a clean ride. On Sunday for the Special I could trust him and let his frame out a little more. That made the judges very happy. He was so much more with me. I still had to control a little bit, but it was the best ride I’d had up to that point. The challenge is combining the expression he can have with control, and coming out of that Special I was thrilled with him.
   
His owner, Leslie Malone, was watching, and she has barely been able to see the horse since she bought him. She’s gone through all the ups and downs with me on the phone, so it was particularly special to have her there and share in those great moments.
   
After it was over, I had to be happy with that and focus on the next week. It felt good because I knew he was still improving. We focused and worked really hard
during that week and took it to the next level.
   
In the Grand Prix on Saturday, he was the most with me and on my seat. He can be such an incredible-moving horse. Sometimes when he moves like that, I lose some of the rideability. The combination of the way he moved and how he was on my aids was incredible, the best Grand Prix ride and feel I’ve ever had. To get that score was the icing on the cake [75.20%].
   
Even now, he’s still getting better and not where I know he can be. It was great that we had the two weekends to show the upswing in his training right now.
   
I’m happy that Idocus placed second to Myth. Idocus has done his job through and through. I’m always worried about pushing him beyond what he wants to do. This takes the pressure off of him. He still did a really good job. He was fourth, so if I didn’t have Myth, Idocus would have made it. If something would happen to Myth, then Idocus could still compete. He feels fit, happy and ready to do it, but I never want to feel him unfit, unhappy and unready to do it.

The Team Behind The Scenes

I’ve been incredibly thankful and aware of my support team. It’s so far reaching now that I’ve made it on the team.
   
When you’re traveling, the grooms work nonstop. They don’t get days off. The day doesn’t finish at 5 p.m. That kind of loyalty and support is amazing. Jason [Dye, her husband] helps me with all the logistics and travels with me when he can. He understands when I have to travel, and he can’t go with me.
   
And then there are the owners of the horses who are paying all of this expense. They’re totally supportive, even the ones who own horses that don’t have to go to the competitions but need to stay in training for
their future.
   
There are also the people who stay at home. I have clients and horses at home that lose me for months at a time. I’ll be gone for three months right now. I’m so thankful for all of their support. I haven’t gotten a hard time from one client about that. They know that this is my dream, and they help me in their way.
   
I can’t even begin to describe what a support team you need financially. My support team isn’t just one person writing huge checks. Mine is literally hundreds of people in the United States helping to support this dream. It’s a very humbling feeling to know so that many people are standing behind you and have faith in you. You want to see it through for them as much as for yourself.

Aachen And Beyond

[After the selection trials, King-Dye and her horses returned to Peters’ barn. The team left on July 10 for Aachen, Germany.]

We’ll be in Aachen for three weeks doing training and quarantine. Klaus [Balkenhol, team coach] will be there with us.

Myth and Idocus will travel there and at least Grandioso and maybe Wyoming will go as well to stay in training. We leave for Hong Kong on July 31.
   
Allana Marchond is my groom, and she’s going with me. Jason will definitely go to Hong Kong , but I’m not sure if he’ll be able to go to Germany. My other groom, Elias Ramirez, will travel home with the horses that don’t go.
   
Right now I’m thoroughly enjoying this. I couldn’t be more pleased with my horses and their performances. We did the veterinary inspection just after the selection trials, and the horses have handled this so well, especially Myth. The vet just went over him and said he’s barely feeling the effects of this. That’s a super feeling looking at the months ahead.
   
Right now the horses get some relaxation and down time for a few days, and then we’ll ease back into work and hopefully peak them at the right time.
   
There’s still a lot of time to go to get there. As Steffen pointed out, you’re not there until you’re going down the centerline on sound and healthy horses. That’s the truth. We’ve still got some road to cover.