Katrin (Kati) Dagge and mom Birgitt, with Ladinor and Sir Rubinstein.

      Dressage is known for forging strong relationships between horses and riders. In Bonita Springs, Florida, the sport has also deepened the bond between a German-born mother/daughter team, Birgitt and Katrin Dagge. The USEF No. 3-ranked dressage horse owners in the nation, based on point standings, the Dagges pretty much eat, sleep and breathe horses. They labored for a year to build their small boarding stable, Bonita Grande Dressage, and take great pride in their success on the Florida dressage circuit. With Kati, 16, competing in the JR/YR program and Birgitt, 40, training a horse to grand prix, they are having the time of their lives with the horses they love. And they're doing it together, as mother and daughter, and as friends.

Sidelines: What's your first memory of horses?
Birgitt: We always had horses. The moment I started walking, I would go off to the horses and split my snacks with them. I always rode, in front of my father's saddle when I was very small, then when I was 3, I got a very slow-moving Shetland pony. When I turned 7, I fell in love with Uncas, a tall white jumper pony. My dad bought him for me. From that day on, I got lessons in how to fall off a horse; I would walk home from every trail ride, because he dumped me! At about 11 or 12, I finally learned to ride him. I got me bronze medal on him in jumping and dressage and won many local titles.
Kati: Riding my very first pony at the circus before my grandparents bought him for me. Bonny M was his name and the one trick he always would remember was, if you asked him how old he was, he would paw six times. That never changed. Bonny M is still living with my grandparents in Germany. I was doing pony rides on Bonny M early on, but then my parents and I moved to Florida and were horseless for a couple of years. When I was in first grade, my mother bought riding lessons for me at Bobbin Hollow in Naples, so from there on, I went once a week. In 2000, we imported three horses from Germany. One of them was Ladinor, bought as a jumper, who is now my dressage partner.

Sidelines: Why dressage?
Birgitt: I always preferred dressage to jumping, but riding in Germany meant you had to do the jumpers, too, so I did jumpers, equitation, three-day. I did exhibitions in a sidesaddle. I was part of our German Club's Jumping and Dressage Team for many years.
Kati: It was not really my decision. One of my first horses was Lucky You and I would have loved to do the hunters, but instead I learned a valuable lesson of how to fall off a horse. Lucky hated dressage, so I was trying to do both hunters and dressage. My mom kept pushing me toward dressage. Then in the summer of 2005, my mother and I went to Germany and went to look at a horse my aunt had found. That was Fabrough. At around midnight, I got on in a scary indoor arena with lots of tractors and rode him around. My mother said "if she can ride that horse in here, that seems to be a good fit." So over the next two weeks, I got a crash course in how to ride a young horse. My aunt and the FORMER owner of Fabbi were both getting after me. Then I competed in a horse show in Germany and I won my classes with over 70 percent both weekends.

Sidelines: Who's your favorite horse?
Birgitt: Birgitt: Amsel was my first horse, but I am most thankful to Ladinor for letting me teach him to FEI level, then Why Me, who taught me grand prix and now to Rubi, who is patient enough to forgive me for all my mistakes on the road to grand prix. I am also very thankful to have had Lordano. It was a great time to go to shows and win everything all the time, and now my little stallion, Dream of Love, has made that happen for me again.
Kati: Lucky You has always been my favorite. He taught me to never give up and always to get back on. And Ladinor, who is Lucky's brother. Ladinor has taught me a lot and I have earned my bronze and silver medals on him. I am missing one more score for my bronze freestyle (bar), and I have qualified with him the second year for the Junior Nationals and the NAJC. I loved riding Lordano and Fabrough a lot.

Sidelines: What are your goals in dressage?
Birgitt: Birgitt: To train Sir Rubinstein to grand prix. If I just could get the passage, the rest seems to be in place, to get Dream of Love to the Developing Horse championships, and the same for my new baby, Sarotti. I am missing one score for my gold medal, and the scores for my gold freestyle bar.
Kati: To train Ladinor to grand prix -- we have started the piaffe and passage, and there are some one tempis -- and to qualify Ladinor and Dream of Love for next year's National Championship as well as the NAJC, and maybe even Sir Rubinstein.

Sidelines: What are the pros and cons of both of you competing?
Birgitt: Birgitt: We are sitting here and trying to think of cons and we have a hard time coming up with some. We have an unusual mother/daughter relationship. Kati is not really a teenager. As our trainer, Marilyn Heath, says, "most teenagers have adult moments. Kati has teenage moments," but for the rest of the time, we are equals. We work together and we split all the barn duties. We help each other warming up, correcting each other, more like friends then like mother and daughter.