It’s Official: We Are on The U.S. Team!!
There are moments when the words are both enormous and remarkably simple:
US Equestrian has announced that we will be on the Defender U.S. Driving Team for the 2026 FEI Driving World Championship for Single Horses in Munich, Germany.
If you’ve followed my #GoRettaRoo posts, you know we’ve been preparing for this for more than a minute. There’s been training, clinics, qualifying scores, lots of competition, and finally relocating to Europe.
Earning a slot on the team has been our primary focus for the past two years. It’s an amazing feeling to see it in writing that we’ve accomplished that goal! (Even if they did use a 5-year-old picture of us, haha!)
Now we’re going to the World Championship with the U.S. Team.
Read the official USEF team announcement
The Defender U.S. Driving Team
The United States will be represented by three driver-and-horse combinations:
- Tracy Bowman and Albrecht’s Hoeve’s Lars
- Andy Marcoux and Loretta
- Marianna Yeager and M.V.A. Famtijn
The team will be led by Chef d’Equipe Marcie Quist, Team Leader Steven Morrissey and Team Veterinarian Dr. Crystal Riczu.
Loretta—better known to most of you as RettaRoo—is a 2014 Dutch Harness Horse mare owned by Kathy and Tara Devine. Tara is also an essential part of our competition team as Loretta’s navigator and groom.
Munich
The FEI Driving World Championship for Single Horses will be held September 1–6 at München-Riem, Germany.
Competition begins with dressage on Thursday and Friday. Marathon follows on Saturday, September 5, and the championship concludes with cones and the awarding of the team and individual medals on Sunday, September 6.
Combined driving brings together three very different tests of a horse and driver:
- Dressage tests training, accuracy, balance and communication.
- Marathon is the high-speed, off-road phase—old-world horsemanship crossed with extreme sport.
- Cones demands speed and precision through a course measured with only centimeters to spare.
Championship information, entries and schedule updates are available through the following pages:
Selection Is Just One Step
Earning a slot on the U.S. Driving Team has been an important milestone, but certainly not the finish line. Now we can continue our training with clear-headed focus on the actual competition. The goal has never been simply to arrive. We want to represent the United States well and produce the best championship performance Loretta and I are capable of delivering.
That means a lot of continued focused effort on our part. We still have several weeks of training and preparation ahead of us. Fortunately, we’re in a great place to do that work.
Life for Loretta at Genderstyne Stables has been the perfect environment for preparing for the big event. Kelly Bruder’s coaching is spot-on to get ready. More on that later!
Every detail matters now: Loretta’s fitness, the dressage work, the carriage and equipment, veterinary requirements, transportation, accommodations and getting the full team safely to Munich ready to perform.
Thank You
There is no way we would be here without the people who have supported this campaign.
Thank you to Kathy and Tara Devine for believing in Loretta and in this enormous undertaking. Thank you to the people caring for us and helping us train in Europe. Thank you to everyone who contributed, shared the campaign, followed the Roo Reports, offered advice, sent encouragement or simply reminded us that people back home were paying attention.
You helped turn a very ambitious idea into a place on the United States team.
We are proud, grateful and more motivated than ever.
Munich, here comes RettaRoo!
