Laurelyn Browning announced on Dec. 1 at the U.S. Dressage Federation convention that she and her husband, Stephen, had decided on a new rider for Floriano—their son, Stephen Browning II.
   
Floriano, a 17-year-old, Westphalian gelding rose to prominence under Steffen Peters over the last four years. They were the highest-placed U.S. combination on the bronze medal dressage team at the World Equestrian Games in Aachen, Germany, in 2006 and placed third at the 2007 FEI World Cup Final in Las Vegas, Nev. He was the USDF Grand Prix Horse of the Year in 2006 and again this year with an average of 73.16 percent.

But this fall Peters resigned as Floriano’s rider when he found he couldn’t comply with the Brownings’ wishes that he show “Flori” exclusively in the Olympic qualifiers.
   
“This is the second half of the Flori story,” said Laurelyn. “We decided we wanted a young rider, and we thought of many that we wanted to approach, but then we thought that we wanted Flori to be home. Why should Flori have to re-establish himself somewhere else?”
   
Stephen Browning II, 25, is a well-rounded athlete who has competed in multiple sports besides riding. He’s trained with Hilda Gurney and Peters, and he has apprenticed on and off at Performance Sales International (P.S.I.)  Sporthorses in Germany since 2004.

Stephen also took over riding San Rubin this year. The Oldenburg stallion finished third in the country at third level in the USDF Horse of the Year standings and first in the Oldenburg Horse Breeders Society North American division at third level with both Stephen and Peters riding him.

He underwent back surgery in October, and plans to start riding Flori full time in January. In the meantime, Laurelyn has been hacking Flori to keep him fit.
   
“I’m riding him all over,” she said. “I ride him downtown. I thought I would die the first time. I haven’t ridden for years. I rode him all around my property. I just let him take me.”
  
 The Brownings have a top facility in Santa Clarita, Calif., with four stallions and 18 other horses.

“We can work with him from home,” said Laurelyn. “We’re not going to let him be in a place that he doesn’t know. He moved into the mare’s barn because there was much more action. This horse has a girlfriend. She’s a Trakehner named Magic. He has the front stall in the mare’s barn, and his girlfriend is next door.”

Stephen hopes to ride Flori in the CDIs this spring with the Olympic selection trials as his eventual goal.

“Floriano is opening doors for my son,” said Laurelyn. “My son has some catch-up to do, but he’s ridden for years. We chose our son because it was the natural choice, and we believe in both of them. At our house, the horse is the end, never the means to the end. Flori loves Stephen, and Stephen is very dedicated to him.”

Floriano relaxes at home in Santa Clarita.