Ashley Holzer
Dressage

She is a Canadian dressage rider living in New York City with her show jumping husband.

The Olympic bronze medallist had been a permanent fixture on the Canadian dressage circuit since she first began winning medals as a teenager in 1981 at the North American Young Riders’ Championship. Holzer trained with some of the best as a developing rider, including six-time Canadian Olympian Christilot Hanson-Boylen and renowned German coach Willi Schuitheis.

Ashley Holzer first began riding at the age of 13 at Sunnybrook Stables in Toronto. Her illustrious career has taken her to the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul where she was part of the surprising bronze medal team effort, the 1989 World Cup Final with a sixth place overall finish and she mined an individual silver medal in addition to her team gold at the 1991 Pan American Games in Havana, Cuba.

It was on the international circuit that Holzer met her husband, Rusty, a show jumping rider representing the U.S. Virgin Islands. Things between the couple heated up following the 1991 Pan American Games where they were both competing. In 1993, Holzer left her hometown of Toronto and moved to New York City to be with Rusty.

A World Equestrian Games and Olympic veteran, Rusty last appeared on the international scene at the 1999 Pan American Games. He has since put aside riding competitively in favor of managing his investment business. With Holzer, he runs the Riverdale Equestrian Centre, a 50-stall public riding stable in the heart of the Bronx that the couple has leased from the city since 1994. The facility runs a variety of unique programs including those for the disabled and underprivileged children.

The couple are proud parents of two children, Emma and Harrison.

2008 Show Recap/2009 Schedule