As a three-time Olympic medalist, Guenter Seidel has spent his entire career pursuing competitive excellence in dressage. His next chapter will be no different. 

Seidel, alongside Olivia LaGoy-Weltz, was appointed as a U.S. Equestrian Federation dressage assistant pathway coach last month. He will support the coaching efforts of Chef d’Equipe Christine Traurig and USEF Dressage High Performance & Pathway Development Advisor George Williams, as the entire team works to identify and prepare riders for the podium at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and beyond. 

Meanwhile, the Cardiff, California-based professional has not abandoned his own competitive ambitions. He intends to stay a familiar face in competitions on both coasts. Of his string of horses in training, two are currently competing at the Grand Prix level: Jack (Johnson—Dimensa, Dimension), a 13-year-old Rhinelander gelding, and Equirelle (Florett AS—Orchidee T, Donnerhall), a 16-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare. Louise Leatherdale owns both horses. 

We recently caught up with Seidel to learn about this next step in his career, his horses, and what he does in the fleeting moments he’s away from them. 

How are you feeling about taking on a new role as a USEF dressage pathway coach? 

I’m excited about it. You know, I’m still competing myself a little bit. So I didn’t really think I was going to try to get into this role so quickly, but it just all worked out well. And I still can ride and compete myself a little bit, which is great because I ride some beautiful horses owned by Louise Leatherdale. I’m super excited about helping, especially with having Christine [Traurig] in the program as well, because I’m good friends with Christine and the whole crew.

Christine is pretty much the main person, so I’m more in charge of developing people coming up to the Grand Prix level, including the under-25 Grand Prix riders, which are the kids coming out of the [FEI] Young Riders. They’re just starting their careers, which makes it a great, great division. I love working with those kids.

Why did you decide to take the job now? 

Right now, we’re gearing up toward the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 and really trying to scout and make sure we’re getting a strong field coming up to the Grand Prix that’ll be ready when the time comes. And I think that it takes a lot of work, and it can’t be done by one person. I wanted to help.

Tell us about your current string. 

I have two main horses right now, but the newest one is named Jack. I’ve had him for probably two or three years now. I’ve shown him a little bit at the Grand Prix the last couple of seasons but not that much. I feel like it’s taken me a long time to get to know him and figure him out. But I feel like I’ve finally gotten to that point where we click. Hopefully this coming season, we can be a little more competitive in the Grand Prix. 

And then my longtime partner is a mare named Equirelle. She’s older, as she’s 16. But because she had a tendon injury a while back, she’s been off for a year. She’s coming back into work now, and she’s doing quite well. I think she should be ready to be competitive this year and be in full work at the Grand Prix. I also have a couple of young horses going in the Prix St. George right now. But they’re still coming up.

You were injured not too long ago yourself. 

Yeah, unfortunately, I had to have a couple of back surgeries recently, which threw me back a little bit. It wasn’t a horse injury at all; I just started having sciatic pain. I had a really good friend who is a very famous back surgeon; his name is Dr. [Robert] Bray, and he took me on. The problem ended up being a cyst in my lower back. It had to come out and be operated on, because it pushed into the nerve and caused a lot of sciatic pain.

There were some complications with the cyst, too, as it got a little infected. So there was a little bit back and forth, medically. We had to go in twice again and clean it out and stuff. It’s been going on for eight months, off and on. But I’ve ridden in between procedures, so it’s not like I’ve been off the horse the whole time or anything. Even when I competed in that time, the pain really was not too bad.

Now that you’re fully back in business, how will you balance your competitive goals with your responsibilities as an assistant pathway development coach? 

That’s why we have multiple pathway coaches. Let’s say I’m at a competition, and a student’s ride times interfere with my rides. Then, someone else on the team—Christina, Olivia or George, probably—would step in and help a little bit. But most of the competitors I will be helping with also have their own coaches with them at these competitions. So it’s probably not going to be too big of a problem to coordinate everything and make it work. 

I think everything has its plus and minus. Of course, since I want to compete, it takes away a little bit, time-wise, because it can interfere with the show. But I also think that if you’re competing yourself, and you’re going down the centerline yourself, you stay sharp yourself. You know what someone is going through, going down the centerline. Not that other people can’t do that or don’t have that; the other coaches have all shown and competed themselves. But I think sometimes if you yourself are right in the middle of it at that second, your heart is a little more in it right now. And you know a little bit more how it feels in the moment.

What are your plans for the upcoming winter season? 

I’ve gone to Wellington [Florida] a few times, but I haven’t been in the last couple of years. I’m not quite sure whether I’ll go this year. I’m in the process of talking to Louise, who owns the horses, and she has a ranch in Wellington, so I think this coming season, I might like to go there again to compete.

I’d like to go because I think the horses are in a different place now. They are actually competitive now. Being down there, where they can show because there are more shows there, would be good. And the horses need to show more in Florida, because you have a little bit of a better atmosphere there, in the way of spectators. Then the horses will get more used to the crowd. You don’t have that as much here in California, and [there are] just more shows in general. Also, because Louise has a farm there, it’s easier for me to travel there. I don’t have to make a lot of arrangements. It’s pretty easy to pick up the horses and go there. All of those kinds of things.

When you’re not at the barn, what do you get up to? 

I surf. Mostly because I live close to the ocean. I come home, grab my stuff, and just go down the beach and get in the water. But unfortunately, I haven’t gone in a while, because of the problems I’ve had with my back. I’m doing better now, so I will start back up pretty soon. And just generally staying active, working out a little bit on the side, and cooking dinners—those are all a big part of what I do outside of the barn. I have a very, very blessed life.