Debbie McDonald
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Medal record | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Equestrian | |||
| Olympic Games | |||
| Bronze | 2004 Athens | Team dressage | |
| World Championships | |||
| Silver | 2002 Jerez | Team dressage | |
| Bronze | 2006 Aachen | Team dressage | |
| Pan American Games | |||
| Gold | 1999 Mexico City | Team dressage | |
| Gold | 1999 Mar del Plata | Individual dressage | |
Debbie McDonald (born August 27, 1954) is an American dressage rider who has competed in the Olympics and many international competitions. She now lives in Hailey, Idaho, with her husband Bob, a hunter/jumper and trainer. Debbie trains and teaches riders on Peggy and Parry Thomas' Sun Valley’s River Grove Farm.
McDonald's first mount was a $200 pony. Due to lack of finances and her father's health issues, she agreed that she would pay for board if her parents bought it for her. Debbie managed to find a gaited horse trainer at the Orange County Fairgrounds who allowed her to work off her board.
When Debbie was fourteen, she decided to move her pony to a different barn after witnessing her trainer abusively use a whip to try to get the animal to stand on its hind legs. It was through this move that she met her future husband, Bob McDonald. He became her trainer, and she acted as a groom and rode investment horses, giving the profits to her family.
McDonald first rode hunter/jumpers, continuing in that discipline for 20 years until she was badly hurt in a jumping accident. She then switched to dressage. Her success to the top of the sport, competing in the Athens Olympics only 15 or so years after turning to dressage, required a great amount of dedication.
Debbie's most famous mount is the Hanoverian mare Brentina. Also you have to watch her talented gelding Felix, newcomer and darling of the public (german classics 2007).
[edit] Accomplishments
- Team bronze medal in 2006 World Equestrian Games
- 2nd in the World Rankings (June 2004)
- Team bronze medal at 2004 Athens Olympics
- Winner of the 2004 US Grand Prix Freestyle Championship/US League Final
- Winner of 2003 Bayer Festival of Champions
- First American dressage rider to win the World Cup in 2003
- Winner of U.S. Equestrian Team Grand Prix Championship
- Team Silver medal and individually fourth at the 2002 World Equestrian Games in Jerez, Spain (both team and individual placings were the best American performance there has ever been at this level)
- Individual and Team Gold medals at the 1999 Pan American Games
- AHSA Equestrian of the Year in 1999
- 1999 USOC Female Equestrian Athlete of the Year
  This article about an Olympic medalist of the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
