Meet this week’s Rider Spotlight, Ben Ebeling! Ben is a California-based rider who trains with his father and Olympian Jan Ebeling. Ben most recently was a part of Team USA, which earned second-place honors in the CDIO3* Nation’s Cup this past week at AGDF. Read below to hear how Ben balances academics with training and competing.  Also, Ben discusses how his training in both jumpers and dressage has helped him with his overall success.

How long have you had Illuster van de Kampert, and what’s a fun fact about him?

I’ve had the ride on Illuster for about 3 years now, and one fun fact about him is that his favorite snack is bananas!

You have competed and been successful in both Dressage and Jumpers. How do you think training in both disciplines has helped your overall success?

I think there’s been a lot of overlap between the training. Both sports require a horse that is correctly using power from behind; collection in Dressage relies heavily on that, as does jumping up over a large vertical.

How do you balance academics with training and competing?

At the moment, COVID has opened up some great online learning opportunities through my university. My plan going forward is to overload classes from Carnegie Mellon University in the fall and then focus completely on the horses in the spring.

What are your goals for AGDF this season?

I want to finish the season strong with my string of horses in the different divisions I’ve been competing in. Thomas Baur and the rest of the management have done a great job of keeping us and the horses safe, and we are so lucky to compete during this time.

Thank you, Ben, for being a part of this week’s Rider Spotlight and we wish you the best of luck with your future endeavors!