The U.S. Equestrian Federation has announced the 2021 Horse of the Year and Equestrian of the Year nominees. Voting is open to USEF members through Dec. 29, and winners will be announced in January at the 2022 US Equestrian Annual Meeting in Naples, Florida.

Horses of Honor and Equestrians of Honor are nominated by their USEF affiliate organization or USEF breed or discipline committee, and the finalists are selected by the Awards Committee. The final Horses of the Year and Equestrians of the Year are determined by member voting.

Click here to vote now. Please note that you must be logged in to your USEF account to vote. After submitting your selections, you will receive an email asking you to confirm your vote. You must confirm your ballot in order for your votes to count.

International Equestrians Of Honor

Laura Kraut. Shannon Brinkman Photography Photo

Laura Kraut
Royal Palm Beach, Florida
Show Jumping

Laura Kraut’s 2021 season was highlighted by a team silver medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games aboard Baloutinue. Kraut took over the ride on Baloutinue in early 2021, and they captured their first win together in the $137,000 Bainbridge Companies Grand Prix CSI3* (Florida). The pair then helped the NetJets U.S. Jumping Team take fifth place at the Nations Cup of Rome CSIO5*, followed by second place in the Rolex Grand Prix of Rome CSIO5*.

After her third Olympic team and second consecutive championship team selection in two years, Kraut became the oldest U.S. female athlete to win a medal since 1904 with the team silver medal. Kraut and Baloutinue then helped the U.S. team capture the win in the Mercedes-Benz Nations Cup CSIO5* (Germany), the first U.S. win since 2005, and finished fifth in the Rolex Grand Prix of Aachen.

Sabine Schut-Kery. Taylor Pence/USEF Photo

Sabine Schut-Kery
Napa, California
Dressage

The U.S. Dressage Team had its best Olympic result since 1948 at last summer’s Tokyo Games, and Olympic debutante Sabine Schut-Kery had a major role in that success. With Sanceo, Schut-Kery led the team to the podium, performing spectacularly on the sport’s biggest stage. She earned personal best scores in all three of her Olympic rides, putting her in the top 10 individually for each test.

Schut-Kery’s Olympic success came after an undefeated late-winter season at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival (Florida) where she and Sanceo won the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Special in the CDI5* at AGDF 7 and CDI3* at AGDF 10. As of December 2021, Schut-Kery is ranked 13th in the world in the FEI rankings.

Roxanne Trunnell. Taylor Pence/US Equestrian Photo

Roxanne Trunnell
Royal Palm Beach, Florida
Para-Dressage

Roxanne “Roxie” Trunnell paved the way for success at this past summer’s Tokyo Paralympic Games for the U.S. Para Dressage Team, earning a historic three medals—two individual golds and one team bronze. Trunnell and her mount, Dolton, are currently the highest-ranked combination on the FEI Para Dressage World Ranking List, earning scores consistently above the 80% mark over the past two years, which includes a Paralympic record in the FEI Para Dressage Grade I Freestyle in Tokyo, where the pair received an 86.92%. Trunnell and Dolton were undefeated in Grade I CPEDI3* competition in 2020 and 2021 on their journey to Tokyo team selection, winning every class they entered.

International Horses Of Honor

Balou de Reventon. Shannon Brinkman Photography Photo

Balou du Reventon
Cornet Obolensky—Georgia, Continue
15-year-old Oldenburg stallion
Owner: Ann Thompson

Balou du Reventon had one of his most successful years in 2021, representing the U.S. in international competitions and being short-listed for the Tokyo Olympic Games with Brian Moggre in the irons. The duo represented the NetJets U.S. Jumping Team at the Wellington CSIO4* (Florida), where the team took their first win of the season. The pair then competed for the U.S. in FEI Jumping Nations Cup Poland CSIO5*, before winning the Longines 1.60m Grand Prix CSIO5* (Poland). The pair finished ninth in the Rolex 1.60m Grand Prix at the Royal Windsor CSI5* (England) before being named as a reserve to the Olympic Team. Moggre and Balou du Reventon went to CHIO Aachen, where they lifted the NetJets U.S. Jumping Team to their first gold-medal finish in the Mercedes Benz Aachen Nations Cup since 2005. The pair capped the weekend with a second-place finish in the Rolex Grand Prix of Aachen. In total, the pair were clear in five consecutive five-star grand prix classes in a row in 2021.

Dolton. Taylor Pence/US Equestrian Photo

Dolton
Danone I—Lady, Londonderry
9-year-old Hanoverian gelding
Owners: Flintwoode Farms LLC & Karin Flint

Dolton and Roxanne Trunnell began their partnership in 2018 and they have steadily improved to being world number one on the FEI Para Dressage World Individual Rankings. In 2021, the pair swept the Grade I classes and helped earn two Perrigo CPEDI3* team wins at the Adequan® Global Dressage Festival. At the Perrigo Tryon Summer Dressage CPEDI3*, Dolton and Trunnell again won the team competition and each of the Grade I classes, including a world-record score of 89.522% for an FEI Para Dressage Freestyle Test.

At the Paralympic Games, all of their scores were over 80%. They earned the individual gold medal for the FEI Grade I Individual Test, followed by a team bronze medal for the U.S. Para Dressage Team. Dolton and Trunnell closed out their Tokyo appearance by winning the individual gold medal in FEI Grade I freestyle with a Paralympic-record score of 86.92%.

Suppenkasper. Shannon Brinkman Photography Photo

Suppenkasper
Spielberg—Upanoeska, Ips Krack C
13-year-old KWPN gelding
Owners: Akiko Yamazaki & Four Winds Farm

Suppenkasper, also known as “Mopsie,” brought new fans to dressage in 2021 with help from rider Steffen Peters, when the pair’s electric Grand Prix freestyle performance from Tokyo went viral on social and traditional media, garnering more than 10 million views and earning him the nickname “Rave Horse.” The pair had top-10 finishes at the Tokyo Olympic Games in the Grand Prix Special and Grand Prix freestyle and helped bring home a team silver medal.

During the 2021 winter season, Suppenkasper was undefeated, winning the FEI Grand Prix and FEI Grand Prix Special CDI4* at the AGDF 3 and the FEI Grand Prix and FEI Grand Prix freestyle CDI5* at AGDF 7. In 2021, he was the U.S. Dressage Federation Grand Prix Horse of the Year for the third consecutive year.

National Equestrians Of Honor

Hunt Tosh
Hometown: Alpharetta, Georgia
Breed/discipline: Hunter

Alexandra DeGray
Odessa, Florida
American Saddlebred

Susan Morey
Edmond, Oklahoma
Morgan

Martha Rattner
Georgetown, Kentucky
Arabian

Jeff Schall
Elk River, Minnesota
Arabian

Peter Stachowski
Mantua, Ohio
Arabian

National Horses Of Honor

Big Shot
Lordanos—Ulana, Corrado
2011 Holsteiner gelding
Owner: Dulcie Lou Morris

HS Daydream’s Heads Up
Undulata’s Nutcracker—A Daydream Believer, Attache’s Born Believer
2009 American Saddlebred gelding
Owner: Hagan Saddlebreds, Inc.

Sjaantje
Tsjerk—Wietske Janke V, Ritse
2005 Friesian mare
Owner: Gail Aumiller

The International and National Equestrians of the Year will be announced at the Pegasus Awards Dinner Celebration on Jan. 13, and the International and National Horses of the Year will be announced at the 2021 SmartPak/USEF Horse of the Year Awards Dinner Celebration on Jan. 15, all part of the USEF annual meeting.