MICHAEL POULIN

Michael Poulin is an FEI "I" Judge in dressage and is an active trainer, instructor, and competitor. While he started out in New England, running his families' training facility in Fairfield, Maine, he relocated a number of years ago to Deleon Springs, Florida.

Poulin, himself a Bronze Medalist at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics with Graf George, has also trained and coached multiple horses and riders to successful international competition. His most acclaimed students are Lendon Gray, Carol Lavell, and his daughter Katherine Poulin, and the most famous horses he's trained or assisted in training are Beppo (1980 alternate Olympics), Later on (1988 Olympics), Gifted (1992 Olympics), Graf George (1992 and 1996 Olympics), and Bombadier (alternate horse; 1992 Olympics).

Poulin's proven success and longevity in the art and sport of dressage come from his ability to keep a long-term focus when training horses and riders. His training and teaching methods deal with the daily issues and obstacles that impede progress, while always keeping the end result in mind.

His forte is developing horses and riders for FEI competition, and the majority of the horses Poulin has competed at FEI he started from the beginning. Poulin summed up his success in a conversation with a student, stating, "Over my career, I’ve had the opportunity to work with and train many, many types of horses.  I’ve always taken the approach that dressage can improve any horse, and this has allowed me to create better horses, often starting out with horses that others considered inferior in terms of their natural ability and talent.".

  Michael Poulin schooling a very young and explosive Graf George.

 

 

 

 

 

Michael Poulin competing Graf George at Grand Prix on his successful quest to the 1992 U.S. Olympic Team.