By Laura Scaletti
Portraits by Melissa Fuller
Marcus Orlob captured the hearts of equestrians across the globe after getting eliminated mid-dressage test at the Paris 2024 Olympics when a judge spotted blood on the leg of his mount, Jane, owned by Alice Tarjan. Although Marcus’ Olympic dreams were cut short, Paris 2024 was just part of Marcus’ unconventional journey to the top of the sport.
Growing up in Düsseldorf, Germany, Marcus has always been about being in the right place at the right time to make connections to advance him in the sport. Unlike many top riders, Marcus was more interested in soccer than horses until he spent the night at his friend Gregor Heuser’s house.
The next morning, Gregor asked Marcus if he’d like to join the family and go to the barn. “My family had nothing to do with horses, so I didn’t really know what this ‘going to the barn’ entailed, but I thought sure, why not,” Marcus said.
Unbeknownst to Marcus, his answer of yes would forever change the trajectory of his life. “When I got to the barn, I was so impressed by the horses, the following weekend I asked, ‘Hey, can I go to the barn with you guys again?’” he said. The family obliged and happily welcomed this new horse enthusiast on their barn trips.
“They showed me everything about grooming, how to walk the horse and how to clean the tack. Step by step, I learned how to take care of horses. I ended up going to the barn with Gregor’s family every weekend and helping them groom,” he said.
Eventually, the care Marcus was giving the horses caught the eyes of other riders in the barn. It didn’t take long before he was being asked if he had time to groom for others. Happy to be in the barn, spending time with horses, Marcus always said yes. “At some point, I think I got the lucky ticket, as a lawyer, Michael Dyhr, asked me if I’d groom for him in exchange for riding lessons,” Marcus said.
And that’s how the future Olympian’s riding career began: with a lawyer giving him lessons in exchange for grooming his horse when he was too busy with his day job. Michael was a jumper himself, so that’s what Marcus focused on at the beginning of his riding days.
“He taught me the basics of dressage, but he really prioritized jumping because he had a jumper himself. It wasn’t until his horse died because of colic that we began focusing exclusively on dressage on his girlfriend’s horse,” Marcus said. “In Germany, there is always a heavy focus on dressage being the foundation of everything you do; even jumpers is just riding dressage over fences. So when Michael suggested I have dressage lessons, I again said yes, because I knew learning more about dressage would benefit me in the long run.”
Small World
While Marcus was going to school and horsing around, his dad, Bernd, was busy with the family business—running a funeral home. During one of the funerals, Bernd was chatting with an attendee, dressage judge Gerd Schepers, about how his son Marcus was doing dressage. Coincidentally, at that same funeral, Bernd was introduced to German dressage legend Hubertus Schmidt, and once again spoke of Marcus’ dressage interest.
“My dad got home that day and asked if I knew Hubertus Schmidt. I said, ‘Yes, I know him. He’s a big name in the dressage world.’ My dad then told me that Hubertus said if I was interested in having lessons to give him a call,” Marcus said. “It was so amazing. I called him up and he told me come over and start taking lessons.”
By the time Marcus was 16 years old, he was going to Hubertus’ farm in Paderborn, Germany, on all the school holidays and acting as a working student. “It was much like my start at the barn with Gregor’s family: I started mucking stalls, dragging the ring, grooming horses for Hubertus, hand walking, and then I started taking more and more lessons,” he said. “Once Hubertus saw me ride, he told me, ‘You’re talented; you’re good.’’
With the support of Hubertus and his family, Marcus began moving up the levels. “I got lucky again, because my dad decided to buy me my own horse that I could develop. He bought me a Third Level horse, because we couldn’t afford a finished horse. I ended up producing him from Third Level up to Grand Prix Level when I was 21 years old,” Marcus said.
After finishing school, Marcus was all set to take over the family business; however, his dad suggested he explore other interests prior to joining him at the funeral home. “My dad said, ‘You know, you’re just way too young. People in this industry aren’t going to take you seriously right now. Go do something you like for a few years and then come back,’” Marcus said.
Given a several-year reprieve from entering the “real world,” Marcus immediately turned to his happy place—the barn. At the time, he had been training a bit with Johan Zagers. “I told Johan I really didn’t know what I should do. He asked me, ‘Do you like riding horses?’ When I told Johan I really did, he suggested I become a working student for him,” Marcus said. “By working for Johan, I could study for three years, take my Bereiter exam and then choose to stay with horses or go back to my dad’s business.”
Unlike the United States, in Germany you can’t just decide one day that you want to be a professional; rather, you must go through the Bereiter program which consists of hands-on learning during your apprenticeship, formal education and exams. “It worked out perfectly that I was able to complete my three-year apprenticeship at Johan’s barn, which was 15 minutes from my house, and then I went to the German Riding School in Warendorf for my final exam,” Marcus said.
Coming to America
While at Warendorf, Marcus met fellow dressage rider Shannon Stevens, who was the first American to be accepted into the German Riding School. “We were talking and she told me I was a good rider and should come to the United States. I said, ‘Funny you should say that.’ Hubertus and Johan had been telling me the same thing,” Marcus said.
Hubertus and Johan believed coming to the United States was the next step in Marcus’ professional career. “They told me that I needed to see how Americans ride and understand the market, because Germans sell a lot of dressage horses to clients in the United States. In addition to learning myself, they thought I could make good money giving clinics while over here and sharing the German perspective, especially since I could give lessons in English,” Marcus said.
Although everyone made good points, Marcus took a little bit more convincing to make the leap and go across the pond. “I was like, why would I leave Germany? I have everything I need here. But then Shannon and I got talking more and more and a long-distance relationship started,” Marcus said. “To make a long story short, it came down to one of us needing to move or we were going to break up. She of course suggested I move to America, and I suggested she move to Germany.”
In the end, Shannon’s selling point that Marcus could have a much better career in the United States than in Germany won the day. “Initially, my plan was to come for a year; she was working at a farm in New Jersey and convinced her boss to let me join the team,” he said. “I came in 2009 and never looked back.”
It didn’t take long for Marcus and Shannon to open their own businesses—Elite Expressions Dressage and Orlob Dressage—and get married. By 2013, Marcus wasn’t just working in the United States, he was a citizen. “To compete at the upper levels here, like at the U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions, you have to be a citizen. It didn’t feel like it was necessary for me to ride for Germany anymore and honestly, after living here for a bit, I felt more American than German,” he said.
Through his business, Marcus trains a wide variety of horses and riders—from young horses to Grand Prix horses, sales horses, client horses and riders of differing levels. Marcus is known for his ability to assess horses at various levels and develop a tailored riding and training regimen to maximize each horse’s full potential. Whether working with horses or riders, Marcus loves seeing when his training clicks, and the difference that results once the horse or rider truly understands what he’s looking for.
Marcus enjoys building riders back up who feel beaten down by the sport. “When people come to me feeling like this is so hard and they can’t do it, I try to find something they’re good at and start from there. By going step by step and starting with something they excel at, they slowly start to get more confidence and start believing in themselves. Once they believe in themselves, they automatically ride better,” he said.
Journey With Jane
While Marcus’ partnership with Jane is his most well-known within the equestrian community, he believes so many horses have had a big impact on his career. “Each horse I’ve had the opportunity to ride has been an important part of the rider I am today. I was also lucky that a couple of people believed in me when I first got here, because no one knew who I was,” he said. “One horse I was lucky to ride was Et Voila. He was a young horse I ended up developing up to the Grand Prix level.”
It was on Et Voila that Marcus caught the attention of Steffen Peters and Scott Hassler at the USDF Trainer’s Conference in Florida. “They were like, ‘Who are you? You can ride, we need to get you on a team.’ It’s funny now, because in the end I did make the team,” Marcus said.
One of those owners who took a chance on Marcus was Alice Tarjan, who initially enlisted Marcus to help her with a young stallion, Harvest, in 2016. From there, Marcus and Alice began working together with many more horses, including Jane.
For the first three years Alice owned Jane, she developed the mare herself. However, that all changed this past March when she handed the reins over to Marcus during one of their training sessions. “Alice is always ready for her lesson, so I was quite surprised when I got to the ring and she was standing on the ground holding the reins. She said, ‘How about you ride her today?’ I said, ‘Are you OK?’ Alice said, ‘I’m fine, but I don’t think we connect right now; she’s too much horse for me. You try riding her,’” Marcus said.
Once Marcus got on Jane, Alice announced that she liked what she saw. “She told me, ‘OK, you can continue with her now. You can make the shortlist for Paris with her,’” Marcus said. “I told her she was dreaming, but she let me know that if anyone could make the shortlist in such an abbreviated time, it was me. I thought, Well, we have nothing to lose, let’s do this!”
With no pressure from Alice, Marcus and Jane set out to make the shortlist. “We started finding more and more of the buttons as we trained together full time. For sure we had some green moments, where we got a 64.478%, and bumps along the road like when the wrong freestyle music was played at a competition, but I stayed focused on getting our scores higher to meet the federation’s qualifying criteria,” he said.
By the last qualifying competition in Kronberg, Germany, Marcus and Jane hit their groove, scoring a 73.913% in the Grand Prix and a 75.340% in the Grand Prix Special. “We had such a fantastic show there. In the Special, we had a perfect connection; she was 100% with me and I was with her. We understood each other and it was a really fun ride,” he said.
The ride in Kronberg wasn’t just fun, it sealed the deal for Marcus and Jane to make Team USA. Prior to going to the Olympics in July, Marcus got to ride on his first official U.S. team at the CDIO5* Nations Cup at the World Equestrian Festival in Aachen, Germany. “I am so proud of Marcus and his partnership with Jane,” Alice said. “I look forward to watching their future together.”
Paris 2024
On July 30, 2024, Marcus and Jane were the first U.S. Dressage pair to canter down the centerline at the Palace of Versailles. Amped up from the crowd and the venue, Jane had a bit of an explosive entry going into the ring—backing up, spinning, half rearing and trying to follow the previous competitor.
Once in the ring, Jane began to settle down nicely. “I thought, OK we have this now, she’s starting to relax. I think it’s still possible to get a decent score,” Marcus said.
After Marcus and Jane completed the second canter pirouette, however, the judge at C rang the bell, signaling them to stop. “I didn’t know why the bell had been rung. At first, I thought maybe they thought I went off course. Then the judge said the word ‘blood’ and I knew our day was over,” he said.
Viewers across the world saw the judge talking to Marcus while he tried to figure out where the blood was coming from. “I looked to the left and ride sides of her mouth, didn’t see anything there. I knew I hadn’t touched her with my spurs because she had been so electric. Then I looked towards her right hind fetlock and saw the blood,” Marcus said. “Apparently, Jane had nicked herself while entering the ring.”
The nick, which was the size of a mosquito bite, looked significantly worse on Jane’s white leg as sweat caused blood to run down. With the scrutiny on the sport and horse welfare, Marcus understood the judge’s decision to ring the bell because of the FEI Rules for Dressage Events about blood, but it was heartbreaking to be excused mid-test.
To make matters worse, the rider prior to Marcus didn’t exit the ring according to the instructions riders had been given. Rather than exiting by the judge at E, he went out by H where Jane and Marcus entered. “Jane saw the other horse leaving and was like, ‘OK, I’m coming with you,’” he said.
As Marcus and Jane exited the ring, he had the full support of Team USA. “Everyone rallied around me and asked if there was anything they could do for me. Christine Traurig told me I had done everything right, Jane is young, and we will have another chance. Debbie McDonald and Steffen Peters each came up and told me they’d had similar things happen to them,” he said.
Although Marcus’ Olympic Games were cut short, he thoroughly enjoyed being part of Team USA. “In the United States, we often compete against each other but we don’t typically have the time to sit down and share meals with each other the way European riders do. It was so nice to really get to know my fellow riders and see that we are all on the same page,” he said.
Growing the Sport
While the Palace of Versailles was one of the most beautiful equestrian venues Marcus and the world have ever seen, the electric atmosphere was something that American-based dressage horses aren’t accustomed to. At most dressage competitions in the United States, there is a quiet and almost sterile environment that doesn’t attract many spectators.
“That’s what I miss about competing over here: In Germany, shows were always a great time. It’s much more a family and party-type event. Different cities have riding clubs, and the riding clubs host the competitions. In Europe at these shows, you have kids, dogs and cats running around; it’s just like a normal farm day where a show is also happening,” Marcus said. “We don’t have that kind of environment here in the States and I think that’s what made Jane extra sensitive when we were in Europe this year. She wasn’t used to it not being quiet.”
After his abrupt end to his Olympics, Marcus was chatting with his teammates Adrienne Lyle and Steffen Peters about how to get a more typical European competition experience for Team USA’s horses. Marcus has an idea—create a free fair and invite the community to attend.
“I told them, what if we set up a dressage arena, have free hotdogs, popcorn and beer and maybe have some activities for the kids like face painting. All we ask for in return is for the spectators to stick around for an hour, clap, cheer and give our horses a more electric atmosphere. We don’t necessarily need just horse people to attend; you never know, one of these new spectators might really like dressage and decide to try it out themselves,” Marcus said.
While Marcus is brainstorming ways to get more interest in the sport and increase attendance in the United States, he has a plan to get Jane more exposure to the European atmosphere. “After doing the Florida circuit this year, I want to take the time to qualify for the European Tour with Jane,” he said. “She’s still young, so I really want to get her some mileage, and the long-term goal is the 2026 World Championships.”
For more information, follow Marcus on Facebook at Marcus Orlob, Instagram @Marcus.orlob and visit his website at orlobdressage.com
Photos by Melissa Fuller, melissafullerphotography33.mypixieset.com
