Although the U.S. team didn’t come away with a team medal, our columnist said things turned out much better than she might have hoped a year ago.

A year ago, looking to the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games was not my favorite thing. It loomed large and menacing as I accepted the position as U.S. Equestrian Federation’s technical advisor of dressage. At that time we had few American combinations who appeared ready to meet the challenge presented by the horses I had just judged in the Alltech FEI European Championships.