United States Eventing Association

Lexington, Ky.—April 22—Despite not being able to ride Danito for the past couple of days, Tamie Smith and her longtime partner put in a solid dressage test on the first day of dressage in the Cosequin Lexington CCI4*-S at the Defender Kentucky Three-Day event to take the early lead.

“He actually had a hot nail,” Smith shared after her ride on Ruth Bley’s 17-year-old Hanoverian gelding (Dancier x Wie Musik). “The farrier had reset his shoes, and he wasn't quite right, and we were just trying to work it out. He didn't get to do ring familiarization. I didn't get to ride him in the last two days, and I pre-rode him this morning, and I was like, he's trained. He just knows. He has such a good mind, and he loves to show off.”

Smith, who is based in Temecula, California, brought three horses with her to compete in the CCI4*-S at Kentucky. She was beyond proud of how Danito performed today.

“It was a big effort to bring our barn to the East Coast. Obviously, you want to be prepared and ready, and you just hope you get the results. So it's been rewarding to have the horses all be firing on the right thing. I'm feeling really confident with how they're all going. Danito was super today. He was an old showman. And it's fun to have him because he's kind of my little flashy dressage horse that kind of stepped in right behind Mai Baum.”

While she had hoped to gear one of her horses towards the five-star, she finds great value in the atmosphere that her horses get to experience in the four-star division at Kentucky.

“My goal was to do a five-star on Kynan, but he had a break and missed some gallops, and it wasn't the right thing. Danito’s older, and Lillet’s younger, and I think what's really great is that we have the option to have this kind of atmosphere and this world stage that we can still produce our horses, even the older ones that maybe are looking to do a long-format a little bit later in the spring.”

Upon first walking around Derek Di Grazia’s four-star cross-country track, Smith felt a little relieved, but then she thought deeper into the way Di Grazia designs his courses.

“I'm pleasantly surprised walking around this year. The last two years have been quite strong, and so I'm a little nervous that I'm not nervous,” she said with a laugh. “I think it looks really great. It looks like there's enough to do, but it's all right there. And usually when we come here, we're kind of like, it's a five-star short, but I think it's obviously a proper course. I gotta go find [Derek] and find out what the secret is—there's got to be something. Usually, when you walk around the course, and you're like, ‘Oh yeah, this looks great,’ it's scary. It's as if there's something serious that we're missing.”

Tommy Greengard and USEA Young Event Horse (YEH) graduate That’s Me Z (Take A Chance on Me Z x Venetia) secured the early lead this morning, which they held tightly to until Smith and Danito’s performance. He chose to do the four-star with the 9-year-old Zangersheide gelding whom he co-owns with Andrea Pfeiffer as part of the horse’s progression towards entering his first CCI4*-L.

“He had done this as a second four-star as an 8-year-old last year, and I still very much feel like I'm at the beginning,” said Greengard. “I’m just trying to have as much exposure as possible for both myself and the horse.”

Even at his young age, “Z” has had quite the career so far. In 2022, he was the overall USEA YEH champion out of both coasts, earning him the 2024 Holekamp/Turner Grant to compete at the Le Lion de Angers Young Horse World Championships. He worked his way up to the Advanced level and won the Adequan USEA Advanced Final at the 2025 USEA American Eventing Championships. Greengard noted that big stages seem to have little impact on the horse’s output at competitions.

“He is like Mr. Consistency,” said Greengard. “He has very little sense of occasion in the best way possible, so he kind of was happy to go in the ring and perform and do the work that he's very reliably getting comfortable at the level now. He has a little more capability to move around the ring with a little more fluency and a little more step, which is new this year, but he is so dependable, and that's a really nice thing as the rider, because the training at home looks very similar to the training before the show, which looks similar in the ring, and that makes It gives you confidence as the rider.”

Greengard plans to use the cross-country on Saturday as a “fact-finding mission” to evaluate next steps for his partner.

“I think we’re just looking to do a four-long for him this year,” he said. “It's quite a natural progression, pending his fitness and his strength; that's been the biggest thing for him is just getting him as strong as possible. Some of the work has come easy to him, but he's not like a little powerhouse. He's kind of like a slinky.”

Dan Kreitl might’ve been feeling a bit of deja vu sitting at the press center after his ride on Carmango. He and Kay Dixon’s 13-year-old Westphalian gelding (Chirivell x Taramango) finished fourth in the four-star at Kentucky in 2022 and fifth in 2023, both after excellent performances in the dressage phase. Kreitl wasn’t sure he and his partner would make it back to Kentucky after their vet told them he would never see the start box again, but here they are after a season of straight dressage work.

“After Carmango was injured, our vets kind of thought he wouldn’t event again,” shared Kreitl. “I went to doing pure dressage with him. He's such a trier and a steady horse, and that goes a long way in the dressage ring, but my heart's definitely in eventing, and same with ‘Fritz;’ he really loves the sport.”

Based in Indiana, where Kreitl has a family and a full-time career, the duo’s prep for the four-star at Kentucky was a bit atypical.

“I'm not doing near the gallop sets that I used to do, but he's always been quite fit,” he said. “I don’t really school cross-country at all, he just does it at the events. And so our plan for the lead-up was kind of to do as little as necessary to have him physically prepared to do this event, and then we will probably back off a little bit afterwards.”

They spent a few weeks in Florida where they were third in their first event back in the Open Intermediate at Rocking Horse in January, then fourth in the Advanced at Pine top in February, and finished out their Kentucky prep by finishing in third in the CCI4*-S at The Event at TerraNova at the end of March.

“He’s had a nice spring, but it is always a juggling act,” Kreitl continued. “We have a college student housing business that's my full-time job, and then balancing it in with the horses. I have a friend that helps groom, and we have our routine in the morning, so I get through the horses, and then get straight on to work. My wife's not a horse person, but she’s been supportive, for the most part, with this sport that takes a lot of time.”

While big picture, Kreitl would have loved to have been able to do the five-star with Fritz, he was just happy to be back at Kentucky with his partner.

“I'd say my heart would definitely be in doing the five-star. With his prior injury, we thought he was going to be out of the sport. I love this venue, it’s close to home, and all the crowds and atmosphere —this is my favorite event to go to.”

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