Haley Smith, American Vaulter and Dressage Rider, Expands Horizon with Internship at Blue Hors

Dressage

Denmark

Haley Smith, an American team vaulter who also competes in dressage, has joined Team Blue Hors in Denmark. The coming months she will be doing an internship at the Danish breeding station and train under the supervision of Nanna Skodborg Merrald.

U.S. Vaulting Team Member

The 23-year old Smith began her international equestrian career as a vaulter. Born and raised in Colorado, she was first introduced to the world of horses before travelling to Woodside, California, to train with one of the nation's most elite vaulting clubs as a teenager.

Her international show debut as a vaulter was at age 15 at the 2015 CVI-J in Hollister, CA. A year later she competed in her first CVI overseas in Le Mans, France, and returned in 2018 to compete in Aachen.

She was selected on the national vaulting team for the 2018 World Equestrian Games in Tryon, where she finished fourth with the squad, sixth in the pas de deux and 5th in the nations' team freestyle.

In 2019 she finished second in the Vaulting World Cup Final in Saumur and in 2021 Smith returned to Europe for the Vaulting World Championship in Budapest where she was third and fourth.

Double Interest

In 2020, Haley became interested in dressage and wanted to enhance the performance of her vaulting horses through this discipline.

Her achievements in vaulting has only increased her thirst for success and a willingness to challenge her own abilities. Bland has helped her progress from vaulting to dressage. She won multiple classes at her
first dressage regional championship on the team's vaulting horses. In 2021 she became California Regional Young Rider Champion.

She made here international show debut at small tour level in December 2022 at the CDI Thermal aboard her own and her vaulting club's coach Carolyn Bland's 13-year old Danish warmblood Tailormade Ambition (by Ampere x Lorentin).

Haley is on cloud nine having worked her first week at Blue Hors in Denmark. "It’s a privilege to embark on this extraordinary chapter of my riding career alongside such talented equestrians. Grateful for the trust bestowed upon me and excited to embrace the challenges that lie ahead. Let’s write a remarkable tale together," she stated.