US Equestrian appointed Michel Assouline Head of Para-Equestrian Coach Development and High Performance Consultant in May of 2017. He brings with him a wealth of knowledge about para-equestrian dressage and dressage trainer/coach development and in 2019 launched the USEF Para-Equestrian Dressage Coaches Program.

Assouline continues to work closely with the US Equestrian/USPEA Para Centers of Excellence on seminars and coaching sessions. His work with the Centers of Excellence (COE) directly ties in with the aim to grow and develop para-equestrian dressage in the U.S. Prior to joining US Equestrian, he spent nearly 12 years as head coach to the multi-medal winning British para-equestrian dressage program where he led the Great Britain athletes to four silver and seven gold medals at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, a record-breaking result for Great Britain para dressage athletes. As such, Michel was awarded the Mussabini Medal, a sports award recognizing British coaches, and was inducted into the UK Coaching Hall of Fame.

Beatrice de Lavalette was a member of the U.S. Para Dressage Team for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games with her horse, Clarc.

De Lavalette made her Adequan® U.S. Para Dressage Team debut at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) 3 CPEDI3* in January 2020. She posted scores in the 70s with Duna, the 2008 KWPN mare she owns with Elizabeth and Nicolas de Lavalette, to place second in the Grade II Freestyle and help win the team competition.

In the winter 2020/2021 season, de Lavalette made her debut with Clarc. The pair scored a 76.061 in the FEI Para Test of Choice at the Wellington Season Kickoff in January and went on to sweep the Grade II CPEDI3* at AGDF 3. De Lavalette and Clarc helped the Adequan U.S. Para Dressage Team take home a win at the AGDF 9 Perrigo CPEDI3*, finishing first in the Grade II Individual and Freestyle Tests and second in the GradeII Team Test. The pair traveled to the München-Riem CPEDI3* in Germany and finished second in the Grade II Team Test and third in the Grade II Individual and Freestyle Tests. At the Perrigo Tryon Summer Dressage CPEDI3*, de Lavalette and Clarc swept the Grade II tests.

In the summer of 2022, De Lavalette won first-place in the Grade II Individual and Freestyle CPEDI3* with her new horse, Sixth Sense, at Tryon Summer Dressage CPEDI.

De Lavalette lost both of her lower legs in the 2016 bombing at the Brussels Airport in which more than 30 people were killed and 300 injured. She started riding again five months after the attack, returning to the saddle with Delegada X (“DeeDee”), the 2002 PRE mare who has been her equine partner since January 2014. De Lavalette shares her incredible story as a motivational speaker. In January 2019, she was a featured speaker at the Equestrian Businesswomen Summit in West Palm Beach, Fla. She is a student at the University of San Diego and trains with Shayna Simon Dressage.

Fiona Howard’s riding career began in Great Britain where she was born and raised in England with her American mother and British father. She began riding when she was three and learned jumping, eventing, polocrosse, and polo in Pony Club. A family friend’s reining horses piqued her interest, and she shifted her riding focus when she had the opportunity to qualify for the FEI European Reining Championships for Juniors and Young Riders.  

As part of the British Junior Reining Team, Howard was 14 and the youngest rider in the competition when she earned a bronze medal at the 2013 FEI European Reining Championships for Juniors and Young Riders. She competed again as a junior in the FEI European Reining Championships for Juniors and Young Riders in 2016. 

Howard immigrated to the U.S. in 2016 and began her para dressage career. Howard returned to the FEI arena as a Grade II para dressage athlete in 2022 at the Perrigo CPEDI3* at the Tryon Summer Dressage with De Nouvelle Vie; the pair placed second in the Grade II Individual, Team, and Freestyle tests.  

Howard debuted with several new mounts in 2024. With Diamond Dunes, Howard impressed in both the U.S. and Europe, earning victories across the board in Grade II competition, earning them a spot on their first Paralympic Team for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.  

The duo had an incredibly successful Games, where they helped the U.S. Para Dressage Team earn their first ever Paralympic gold medal in team competition. Their impressive scores helped the team to a final combined score of 235.567; a historical win and the highest Paralympic team score ever recorded in the para-equestrian discipline. The pair also topped the podium in Grade II competition in both the FEI Grand Prix Para Test A Grade II and the FEI Grand Prix Para Freestyle Grade II, earning personal best marks in each of their performances. 

Howard and Dunes continued their success in 2025. They represented the U.S. Para Dressage Team at the CPEDI3* during AGDF 9, securing a team win and breaking the current world record in the FEI Grand Prix Para Freestyle Grade II with a score of 83.267%. In February, Howard was announced as World #1 in the FEI Para Dressage World Rankings.    

In 2026, after battling through health challenges and surgeries, Howard made her competition debut at AGDF 9 CPEDI3* in March, riding teammate Kate Shoemaker's mare Vianne for the first time. The debut produced three Grade II world records in three starts – 78.85% in the Grand Prix A Test, 80.444% in the Grand Prix B Test (with all three judges awarding 80% or higher), and 84.934% in the Freestyle, a winning margin of more than 18 percentage points – anchoring the U.S. team to a gold-medal finish over Canada. 

Ahead of the 2026 FEI Para Dressage World Championships in Aachen, Howard and her Paris 2024 mount, Diamond Dunes, competed together at the Hagen CPEDI3*. As members of the U.S. Para Dressage Team, she and Diamond Dunes helped secure team gold, contributing to a final team score of 458.894. The pair also notched a personal best together in the FEI Para Grand Prix Test B II, earning an 80.833% and finishing atop the class.

Shoemaker has become a staple for the U.S. Dressage program, helping the team begin to earn medals on the international stage. Kate Shoemaker was selected to her first FEI World Equestrian Games™ for the U.S. Para Dressage Team with Solitaer 40 for Tryon 2018, which marked her first international championship selection. Shoemaker then made her Paralympic debut as part of the bronze medal-winning U.S. team in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics aboard Solitaer 40. Aboard Quiana, she helped the U.S. Para Dressage Team earn bronze at the 2022 FEI Para Dressage World Championships in Herning, Denmark, where she also earned her first individual international championship medal, taking silver in the FEI Grand Prix Para Grade IV Freestyle. 
 
In 2024, Shoemaker debuted a new mount in Vianne, a 2016 Hanoverian mare (Vitalis x Ramiro’s Bube), with whom she partnered with in Doha that February. The pair never placed outside of the top three internationally in Grade IV competition in the run-up to the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games, where they represented the U.S. Para Dressage Team. Shoemaker and Vianne finished fifth individually after the FEI Para Grand Prix Test A, then rebounded to take home an individual bronze medal in the FEI Para Grand Prix Freestyle for Grade IV. The Paris Paralympic Games marked Shoemaker’s second Paralympic appearance and first Paralympic individual medal.  
 
Carrying the momentum into 2025, Shoemaker took on full ownership of Vianne. The pair anchored the U.S. Para Dressage Team to three straight CPEDI3* victories at AGDF, TerraNova, and Hagen, while Shoemaker herself notched a string of personal best scores. Early in the season, Shoemaker introduced a new mount, Supreme, her own 2016 Westphalian gelding (Sezuan 2 x De Niro 6), who went on to earn the title of 2025 USEF/Adequan Para Dressage National Champion in Grade IV at the U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions in St. Charles, Ill. 

Now campaigning both Vianne and Supreme, as well as a new mount, Ghandi, her own 2011 KWPN gelding (Bojengel x Tushinski), Shoemaker has continued to build her own international resume throughout the season, with top results in Aachen (GER), Aalborg (DEN), and Hagen (GER). 

Most recently, Shoemaker and Vianne notched another personal best, representing the U.S. Para Dressage Team at the Hagen CPEDI3*, helping the team earn gold amongst a competitive international field and topping the podium individually in each of their Grade IV classes. 

Roxanne "Roxie" Trunnell is a Paralympic individual gold medalist for Grade I and as part of the bronze medal-winning U.S. Para Dressage Team from Tokyo 2020. She is a three-time Paralympian (Paris 2024, Tokyo 2020, and Rio de Janeiro 2016) and three-time FEI World Equestrian Games™ U.S. Para-Equestrian Dressage Team member (Herning 2022, Tryon 2018. and Normandy 2014). At the WEG Tryon 2018 she and Dolton won the bronze medal in the FEI Grade I Freestyle. Trunnell was ranked No. 1 in the world for 26 months in 2020 through 2022, per the FEI Para Dressage World Indiviudal Ranking, and has broken Paralympic records, including receiving numerous scores over the 80% mark over the past two years aboard Dolton. 

Horses have always been a part of Roxanne “Roxie” Trunnell’s life. As a competitor in able-bodied dressage, Trunnell aspired to be an Olympian. She earned a United States Dressage Federation (USDF) bronze medal and was close to obtaining her silver medal until contracting a virus in 2009 that caused swelling in her brain that changed her life forever. The virus put her in a coma and resulted in her requiring a wheelchair. However, she refused to let this stifle her dreams. Trunnell elicited the help of her family and friends to get her back in the saddle. After a long recovery, Trunnell slowly began to ride again and completed her Masters in Psychology with a focus in Equine-Assisted Psychotherapy. Striving to compete, Trunnell thought para-equestrian dressage was the perfect avenue. In November of 2012, she was classified Grade 1a, and by May 2013, she rode in her first CPEDI at the Golden State Dressage Show in Rancho Murrieta, Calif. Since 2013, she has delivered top-three placings consistently, contributing to U.S. Para-Equestrian Dressage Team success.

In 2021, Trunnell won at every outing in the first half of the year. She and Dolton swept the Grade I classes and helped earn two Perrigo CPEDI3* team wins at the Adequan® Global Dressage Festival during weeks three and nine. At the Perrigo Tryon Summer Dressage CPEDI3*, Trunnell and Dolton again won the team competition and each of the Grade I classes, including a world record score of 89.522% for an FEI Para Dressage Freestyle Test.

Trunnell marked a successful 2022 season aboard Lehua Custer's Fortunato H20, with whom she represented the Adequan U.S. Para Dressage Team at the 2022 FEI Para Dressage World Championships in Herning, Denmark, helping the team to earn team bronze with their performances in Grade I competition. 

Trunnell added a new mount to her string in 2023 with Fan Tastico H and the pair have seen tremendous success. In their first shows of 2024, the pair was consisently scoring above the 75% mark from the judges and were ultimately ranked as the top U.S. para dressage combination heading into team selection for the Paris 2024 Paralmypic Games. The duo came close to breaking the 80% in their most recent Para Grand Prix Freestyle and will look to make their mark on Paris, with their selection to the U.S. Paralympic Equestrian Team for this summer's competition.