Graf George (2000)
In recognition of his outstanding achievements in international dressage competition. The 17.1 hand Hanoverian won two Olympic Team Bronze Medals, in 1992 in Barcelona with his initial trainer. Michael Poulin, and in 1996 in Atlanta with Guenter Seidel. His individual placings were eighth in the Atlantic Olympics, eighth at the Volvo World Cup in 1997, and ninth at the World Equestrian Games in 1998. Graf George was the USET National Dressage Champion in both 1993 & 1998, and the USDF Horse of the Year at Grand Prix in 1998.
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Imported by Meg Hamilton of Hamilton Farms in Massachusetts, (born 1984, 16.3 hand grey Hanoverian, Sire Graphit out of Mongolin) Graf George came to the U.S. at the age of three. In 1992, at the age of eight, Graf George and rider Michael Poulin helped the U.S. dressage squad to win a team bronze medal at the Barcelona Olympics. Read more
Shortly after those Games, the horse was put on the market, and a sale to a foreign country appeared imminent. Concerned about the loss of a great asset to U.S. dressage, Olympic veteran Robert Dover contacted California-based dressage supporters Dick and Jane Brown, who purchased Graf George for Guenter Seidel to ride.
A short five months later, Seidel and Graf George were selected for the 1996 U.S. Olympic dressage team, and at the Atlanta Games the pair helped clinch another team bronze medal.
In addition to Graf George's Olympic achievements, he was the 1993 and 1998 USDF Horse of the Year at Grand Prix-the first horse ever to earn that title twice at that level. He finished eighth individually at the 1996 Olympics, eighth at the 1997 Volvo World Cup Dressage Final, and ninth at the 1998 World Equestrian Games. Breyer Animal Creations immortalized the handsome gray with a model likeness in 1998, and Graf George was inducted into the USDF Hall of Fame in 1997.
