Ashley Holzer on Flo, Neil Diamond, and What the Series Is For

Ashley Holzer sits at the top of the US Equestrian Open of Dressage leaderboard through four qualifiers, her consistency built around a partnership that did not come easy. In the latest episode of the US Equestrian Open Podcast, she spoke with host Annie about her mare Hawtins San Floriana, the freestyle that carries a personal story, and what keeps her competing at the highest level. Below are some of the highlights, but the full conversation is worth your time.

The Mare

Holzer acquired Hawtins San Floriana, known at home as Flo, from Carl Hester and Charlotte Dujardin. She was expecting a smooth transition. That is not what she got. The mare tested her patience, challenged her horsemanship, and, by Holzer's own account, made her a better rider. The connection that exists today was earned over time.

Holzer described the difference between geldings and mares with characteristic candor: with a mare, she said, you do not just ask. You ask, then ask again with a please, then send flowers. The approach paid off. She now hacks Flo through the English countryside at Carl Hester's yard and describes the partnership as one she feels genuine joy in every day.

The Freestyle

The music is Neil Diamond's "Coming to America." Holzer, originally Canadian with Scottish-born parents, immigrated to the United States and built her life here. The song maps onto that journey in a way that is deeply personal. New York, Los Angeles, blue jeans and horses. She worked the choreography with Tom Hunt, who built in audio cues so she knows, without counting, when the next movement is coming.

She also made a point about what the freestyle is technically, for anyone who has not ridden one: you are not just performing movements, you are synchronising yourself to music in real time, adjusting when you get behind it or ahead of it, deciding in the moment whether to use your joker line if something goes wrong. The joker line is a pre-planned optional sequence that lets a rider repeat a difficult movement, such as flying changes, if the first attempt fails. Choosing not to include one raises the degree of difficulty score, but removes the safety net entirely. In a freestyle, the margin for error is less forgiving than a standard test.

Why the Series Matters

Holzer was direct about what the US Equestrian Open provides for horses and riders at this level: atmosphere, repetition, and pressure that is not team-selection pressure. Going into a ring with lights and a crowd and music requires a horse to be genuinely comfortable there. The Series builds that, qualifier by qualifier. Flo was nervous in the main ring at the start of the season. That has since changed.

She also spoke about what made her fall into the sport in the first place: a book her father gave her, cousins on ponies in Scotland, a phone call she made to a local riding stable without her parents knowing, and a deal she brokered to get three other kids to sign up so the lesson numbers worked. All four went. Only one stayed.

On Consistency and Patience

Holzer closed with something she said she tells students regularly. If you are patient, clear, kind, and consistent with a horse, the partnership comes. It might take a week. It might take two years. But it comes.