Winner of last year’s inaugural Brentina Cup, Austin is back at Gladstone to defend her title. Her victory last year earned her a trip to Germany to train with Klaus Balkenhol, This up-and-coming dressage star has been busy making her move into the world of professional Grand Prix rider.

Austin will be defending her title during the Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Dressage Festival of Champions with the partner who helped her win last year – Olivier, an 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood affectionately called Fizzy. He’ll see a familiar face around the show grounds during competition because his father, Idocus, will also be there competing with his current rider Courtney King.

Since being re-paired with Idocus nearly two years ago, King and the 17-year-old Dutch stallion owned by Christine McCarthy have been on quite a streak that involved winning a to compete in this year’s Dressage World Cup in Las Vegas. The Gladstone competition will most likely be their last U.S. appearance for awhile because they’ll soon after be off to Europe to train and compete. Idocus is the sire of Olivier with whom Austin collected a number or ribbons during the Florida Grand Prix circuit, including a Grand Prix win at the highly competitive Palm Beach Dressage Derby with a 66 percent.

“The more times I can take him down the centerline and have a good experience, the better we’ll do. You have to start somewhere and we’ve started,” said Austin, who only did her first Grand Prix last fall during her European training trip with Balkenhol. The outings in Europe were the first steps in testing the waters of Grand Prix, but this past winter in Florida, Austin and Olivier jumped right in.

At the WEF Dressage Classic in Wellington, the pair earned a 71 percent for their Grand Prix in an FEI Test of Choice class, despite the fact that Olivier spooked at the start. “He was awesome, but something scared him as we came down centerline and he took off, bolted and bucked,” Austin said. After Olivier halted at X, he wouldn’t move, causing the opening halt to score a two. “But then we went on and he ended up getting a 71 percent, even with a naughty halt.”

The pair’s successes this past winter earned them the right to compete again for the Brentina Cup and they’ll be a tough pair to beat. Austin trains with Arlene “Tuny” Page, who is currently in Europe training with Wild One, and she gives Page much credit for helping her develop confidence this past winter as a competitive rider. “Tuny has been amazing. She’s done a lot of hand holding because I’ve not had much confidence in myself, believing that I’m not ready for Grand Prix.”