In the mid-to-late 1980s, Hap Hansen and his mount Juniperus dominated the West Coast show jumping circuit and beyond. But an unlikely victory in a dressage arena at Del Mar (California) set him apart from other equine athletes of his time.

“Juniperus was really successful in the jumper division,” said Hansen of the Selle Français (Floriss II—Coquine I).

“At home, all I did was flatwork to keep him fit,” he added. “I shared a stable with [dressage Olympian] Guenter Seidel, and to keep things from getting too boring, I took some dressage lessons from Guenter. We realized that the horse was pretty good at it. I was away at another show when Guenter wanted to take Juniperus to a Del Mar show, so Guenter took him, and they had fun.”

Hansen downplayed the horse’s success: Juniperus won the Intermediaire freestyle at Del Mar, with Seidel riding.

“A great athlete is a great athlete,” Hansen said. “That’s just what I believe.”

Hansen met Juniperus, who was the reserve horse for the French 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games team, in a field in France, and he tried him a whim when another horse he’d traveled to see didn’t work. Hansen could only ride Juniperus once; the horse was leaving the country for another show. He recalls Juniperus jumping fantastically but spooking and playing around some after the fences. He wondered whether he was up for the horse’s antics.

“I just went with my gut instinct,” Hansen said. “I really liked the horse.”

But Juniperus was more expensive than the horse Hansen was looking at originally, so Hansen returned to the U.S. and went immediately to the bank.

“I sat down and told them that I needed to borrow some money to buy a horse,” he said. “They thought I said that I wanted to buy a house. When I clarified that it was in fact a horse, they weren’t too keen on the investment.”

Hansen refused to leave the bank without a loan, and he remortgaged his house to purchase the horse. Juniperus came to the states soon after, then Hansen formed a syndicate.

“It was a cart before the horse kind of thing,” Hansen said. “But I just felt like I had to do it.

“When we vetted him, he put his ears flat back and tried to kick the vet,” Hansen added. “Juniperus was like Jaws in the barn. He was crabby in his stall, but it was all an act. He was a total professional under saddle. He was a little spooky, but that was an act, too. If you worried, he’d worry more. If you ignored him and just dealt with it, he was fantastic.”

In 1986, the pair was a member of the winning Nations Cup Team at Spruce Meadows (Alberta). In 1988, Hansen was the highest-placed U.S. rider at the FEI World Cup Final in Gothenburg, Sweden, tying for sixth aboard Juniperus. The pair achieved numerous other grand prix wins during their time together.

Hansen has been honored with the California Professional Horsemen’s Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the American Horse Shows Association Hertz Rider of the Year, and the Johnny Walker/American Grandprix Association Rider of the Year. He’s been inducted into both the National Show Hunter Hall Of Fame and the Show Jumping Hall Of Fame. He has represented the United States on multiple Nations Cup teams and is one of only a handful of riders to achieve over 100 grand prix wins.

“Hap has quiet, steady hands and a natural eye,” said Lynette Bowman, a show secretary at HITS Del Mar who also trains with Hansen. “I think that’s why horses are so responsive to him. They trust him. They know what he’s asking.

“And he’s so well-rounded,” she continued. “He won’t make a fuss about it, but he grew up competing in stock classes and also showed Saddlebreds. He sees every horse he works with as individual, and he showcases that horse’s strengths. He never tries to make the horse into something it’s not. He’s just an exceptional horseman.”

After a four-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Dressage Week at the Del Mar National Horse Show returned for its 75^th Anniversary April 11-14. And also for the first time since 2019, the Hap Hansen Perpetual Trophy was awarded to the show’s dressage freestyle test of choice winner. The trophy, which is topped with a bronze replica of Juniperus’ head, was commissioned in 1990 by Richard and Jane Brown and awarded for the first time in 1991.

Until 2002, it was awarded to the Intermediaire I freestyle winner, and since 2003 it has been awarded to the freestyle test of choice winner at the Del Mar National Horse Show. This year, Elizabeth Ball on Vivalia was the recipient, winning the FEI freestyle test of choice while performing a Intermediaire I freestyle.