DressageDaily: Who's Who Update: Michelle Gibson

Friday November 29, 2002

Who's Who Update: Michelle Gibson

Gibson and World of Dreams Michelle Gibson holds the record as the highest scoring American in dressage at the Olympics for her performance with Peron in 1996—they earned a 75.20% and a Team Bronze. But she hasn’t shown in the FEI levels since then, until the Gold Coast Dressage Show in Wellington, Florida, January 18-20, 2002, where she introduced her new stallion, World of Dreams, at Prix St. Georges and Intermediare I. Blowing away all competition with World of Dreams, Gibson is becoming the new American sensation and hopeful for the 2004 American Olympic Dressage team.

With her heart set on a new Olympic experience, Gibson just spent another intense training session at Rudolf Zeilinger's stable in Bremen, Germany, with competition mounts World of Dreams and Chimon among others to polish up her act for the 2002/2003 Dressage in Florida show season. Aiming for top scores at Grand Prix level in Florida, Michelle Gibson is handing over her home base, Applewood Farm, to her assistent Amanda Parsons to manage and teach the Georgia based students, while she will be spending the winter months in Florida. Residing at the sponsored Diamonte Farms (formerly known as Two Swans Farm), Gibson is now enjoying the best pre-show preparation possible.

Michelle is quick to thank the people in her life that have helped her along the way, "without Rudolf's help and my family's sacrifices I wouldn't be here now. It's really just a huge group effort." That said, Michelle admits she is definitely not afraid of hard work, and her mother, Marie, attributes Michelle's successes to her thirst for knowledge, her desire to excel, and a little bit of providence. What would Michelle do if she weren't in horses? Michelle thinks for a minute, "I have absolutely no idea, I can't imagine not riding." From the seemingly predestined course of her life so far, it's probably not something Michelle will have to worry about any time soon.