Wellington, FL (September 1, 2011) – American dressage rider Endel Ots has built up quite a successful resume for a 26-year-old, and the young dressage star has no plans of slowing down. Ots, who rides with Danish Olympian Lars Petersen, is headed to the 2011 Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Festival of Champions with Kristin and Steve Cooper’s KWPN gelding Toscano.  Ots will be the youngest competitor in the Intermediaire I Pan American Games Selection Trials.

Ots, who is originally from Wisconsin, said he received a call from the Coopers, of Lamplight Equestrian Center, while he was in Germany. “I was training with Hubertus Schmidt when I got the call from Lamplight to ride and show their horses,” Ots said. “I had talked to Caroline Roffman about training with Lars, who was one of my childhood idols, and she spoke highly of him so I moved to Wellington with Toscano to begin training.”

Ots’ hard work with Toscano paid off and the gelding was undefeated at the Lamplight show. “He won all his classes with a 70.2% in the Intermediaire I and a 74% in the Prix St. George, in front of Olympic Judge Linda Zang. He is in top shape heading to Gladstone,” Ots said.

While Ots is thrilled to be riding Toscano, he has proven that he has a gift for taking young horses and training them from scratch to championship titles. “I love nothing more than working with young horses and bringing them along and into their own.  I also enjoy riding seasoned FEI horses and working with young riders and adult amateurs to help them accomplish their goals,” Ots said, adding that he has years of experience teaching everyone from beginners to adult amateurs. “I coached my sister to a Bronze medal at the North American Junior Young Rider Championships and to top place finishes at Gladstone.”

Ots, a Bronze, Silver and Gold medalist as well as a Bronze, Silver and Gold Freestyle Bar Medalist, has won numerous national awards including USDF Prix St. George Horse of the Year in 2007 and USDF Intermediaire Challenge award. He has numerous CDI wins to his credit including the CDI Dressage at Devon Intermediaire I and Intermediaire I Freestyle. “I love my horses and really want the best for them and part of loving your horses is providing them the best in care,” Ots said. “I am fortunate to be sponsored by Herbsmith, a company dedicated to holistic herbal blends that balance your horse’s health and harmony to maintain their overall quality of life. I use their Equine Herbal Blends ‘Athlete’ and ‘Impulsion with Vitality.’ I find that these products help my top competition horses with keeping their energy levels up and also their stress levels down. I feel like it helps give them that extra edge in the ring the natural way, without chemicals.”

In addition to competing and teaching, Ots is now focusing on combining his talents and skills with those of dressage rider Caroline Roffman, who also rides with Petersen. The two are partnering to create a top training and sales center in Wellington. Ots said he and Roffman are determined to give their clients that extra edge with their new business, tentatively called FutureStars. For more information on the new training and sales center, as well as Ots, visit his website at www.otsdressage.com.

For more information contact:
Endel Ots Dressage
920-562-5714
endelots@gmail.com
www.otsdressage.com