Articles: Horse News
Grand Prix Champion Otto Retires to a Life of Leisure
Photo courtesy of Susan Stickle
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NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 18, 2012-- Otto, the 16-year-old Danish Warmblood gelding selected as
an alternate to the US Olympic Dressage Team for the 2012 Olympic Games,
will retire to greener pastures rather than make the trip across the pond to
London this summer.
Owner, Margaret Duprey of Wellington, Fla., said she decided to withdraw the
pair from the list of horses and riders being considered for the Olympic
games. Instead, Otto is headed for a life of turnout and relaxation.
"I am giving back to him what he has given to us," she said. "We made a
decision before the trials (USEF Dressage Selection Trials in Gladstone, NJ,
June 8-10 and 13-17) that we would retire him after the games. We think it's
time now."
Otto's rider for the past several years, Todd Flettrich agrees. "In my eyes
he is a superstar," Flettrich said. "He has been a Grand Prix horse for so
many years. Where else can he go? What else can he do? He rose to the
occasion of the Olympic trials. There is nothing else for him to prove."
Now that he has earned his retirement, Otto will spend time with his equine
buddies at Duprey's Cherry Knoll Farm in Pennsylvania. She said his
pasture mates include well-known horses like Amadeus, Chappell, Dueling Oak
and Cooper, her retired jumper.
Flettrich said he is going to enjoy spending some time in Pennsylvania
helping Duprey and other students get ready for the fall show season. He
plans to return to Wellington in November.
As for her future plans, Duprey said they will consider their options. "We
need to take a deep breath and regroup," she said. "We need some time."
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