Amateur competitor Dan Kreitl has been getting attention for an impressive string of results on the eventing scene. Kreitl competed in his first FEI eventing competition in 2021 and won The Dutta Corp. USEF CCI4*-L Eventing National Championship to close out 2022. The result earned him and his young, talented mount, Carmango, a flight grant to travel to Europe from The Dutta Corp. They now find themselves representing the U.S. as the individual combination at the CHIO Aachen World Equestrian Festival in Aachen, Germany. Kreitl shared about his start in equestrian sport, his base in Muncie, Ind., and the development of Carmango into a top-quality horse.

The Start of a Riding Journey

Kreitl grew up in the suburbs of Indianapolis, Ind., as the ninth of 10 children, and he was drawn to horses at an early age. He eventually convinced his parents to let him get involved with horses.

“When I was 12, my mom and I went door-to-door to a couple local horse farms to see about an opportunity for me to work in exchange to learn to ride,” said Kreitl. “This lady had a Curly Horse breeding farm and said, ‘Yeah, if you want to clean my stalls, then I will let you ride some of my horses.’”

Kreitl envisioned himself as a Western cowboy, but instead he learned to ride by way of dressage. He rode at the Curly Horse farm up through high school, showing the owner’s Curly Horses along the way. After high school, Kreitl wanted to take a break from school and dive deeper into the horse industry.

“I took a year off between high school and college and lived in Colorado working for Grant Schneidman, who was an eventer-turned-dressage rider. I worked for him in Colorado for a year and I learned a lot. That was my first exposure to full-time horse training and a more professional barn.”

After being a working student for a year, Kreitl made plans to move back to Indiana to study entrepreneurship at Ball State University in Muncie. Along for the ride was Spartagon, or “Sparty,” a then three-year-old Curly Horse stallion owned by Kreitl. In the process of looking for a boarding facility that would take a stallion, Kreitl met Kay Dixon, who owned a small private farm with her husband, Steve.

“I had this contact who I had never met, and I just kind of kept pestering her while I was living in Colorado,” Kreitl said of Dixon. “‘Would you allow me to come and keep my horse at your place?’ And she said, ‘Oh, no, I would never. This is not a boarding barn; this is my own private place.’ But eventually she agreed to meet me, and, for whatever reason, she changed her mind and said, ‘Well, we can just share the farm. I can't take any money—no board, but you can take care of your horse and I'll take care of mine and we’ll just share the place.’”

As a college student with limited funds, Kreitl was thrilled with the boarding arrangement. He continued advancing his riding during his time in college, competing a leased horse at the 2008 FEI North American Youth Championships in Parker, Colo. While at NAYC, Kreitl saw eventing for the first time and decided he wanted to shift his focus. As Kreitl formed his plans to learn his newfound discipline and train Sparty to event, Dixon stepped in to help.

“One thing led to another through our good friendship, and Kay said, ‘I'll help you and I'll cover your horse's entries so that you can train this horse and get him going,’” said Kreitl. “It was hugely helpful—a great blessing and opportunity for me.”

Kreitl trained Sparty up through Intermediate and was ready to find his next horse to train. Little did Kreitl know that Dixon hoped to one day own upper-level horses, and she took a chance on the aspiring Kreitl. Dixon bought a few horses for Kreitl to train and bring up the levels of eventing.

Putting Down Roots in Muncie, Indiana

While Kreitl continued his eventing journey, he finished up his undergraduate degree, earned his MBA at Ball State University, married his college sweetheart Alyssa, had two children, and started his own business. Though Kreitl enjoys producing horses, he is an amateur rider whose full-time profession is in real estate. He started his property rental business, The Campus Edge, while he was in college, and it has grown into a successful company.

“Basically, we buy, rehab, and then lease out houses and apartments in this college town, Muncie, Indiana, to students at Ball State University,” said Kreitl. “It is definitely a full-time job, and then my passionate hobby-slash-addiction is riding the horses after work.”

Kreitl’s business kept him very busy in its early days, but the growth of The Campus Edge led to a staff of 15 employees who help manage 285 units housing over 600 residents. Tapping into the student housing market has provided a steady flow of income.

“It's a great business for us because August is our super busy season. We get all the properties fixed up—painted, cleaned, and whatever—for the new students to move in. But we're always 100% occupied in all of our properties every year, so when school starts and we’re full, our income is the same throughout the entire year, which works out pretty well so that I can then leave to go do horse stuff.”

The business has its ups and downs, but now that it is more established, Kreitl can balance his home life and riding aspirations with his profession. Despite the success of the business in Munice, Kreitl didn’t see himself staying in his college town to raise a family and pursue his eventing goals.

“[My wife Alyssa and I] had no intentions of ever living in Muncie, Indiana. The plan was to go to school there and graduate and move somewhere else,” said Kreitl. “But truthfully, having our business started there and the partnership with Kay and the horses, I thought, ‘I won't find this anywhere else.’ So that was a huge reason that we decided to stay in Muncie and make it work, which is not the hotbed of eventing by any stretch. Through creative problem-solving and a lot of determination and hard work, we've figured out how to bring the horses along and make it work in Indiana.”

Developing Carmango

Kreitl and Dixon’s partnership led them to their current star, a 2013 Westphalian gelding owned by Dixon named Carmango.

“He is truly an awesome horse. I would say he’s my horse of a lifetime,” said Kreitl.

However, it took time for Carmango, or “Fritz,” to get to where he is today. Leslie Law and Belgium-based German eventer Kai-Steffen Meier suggested that Kreitl and Dixon consider purchasing Fritz. Kreitl and Dixon heeded the suggestion and imported Fritz from German breeder Helmut Bergendahl after seeing a video of the then-4-year-old horse. Bergendahl, Law, and Meier were clear that horse would need time to mature, but Kreitl was surprised by Fritz once he arrived in the U.S. Fritz’s first two jumps stateside, an 18-inch cross rail and a small log, came a few weeks apart, but both instances sent him and Kreitl stumbling to the ground. According to Kreitl, Fritz was “a total chicken” who was hesitant to jump anything, especially cross-country jumps.

“Quickly there was some pressure from the people that were helping with the horse saying, ‘He's probably not going to be what you want, so you might want to sell him.’ Kay and I talked about it and decided, ‘Let’s just keep chipping away with it,’” said Kreitl. “Basically, he was just really uncoordinated and very slow to develop, which we kind of knew because that was what they told us before we got him.”

Kreitl took his time with Fritz, progressing at the young horse’s pace. Fritz grew more confident and developed his form over fences under Kreitl’s tutelage.

“Sharon White, who coaches me and helps me a lot, said, ‘It is going to take the time it takes. We can't rush this. When he gets stronger, he is going to be a different horse.’ And she was right,” said Kreitl. “He was always competing at a decent level for his age—as a 6-year-old he was going Prelim, at 7 he was doing Intermediate, and by 8 he went Advanced.”

When Fritz reached age nine, Kreitl said he felt that things were getting easier for him, and the horse truly began to blossom into a talented event horse.

“He’s truly just getting better and better. He’s been a super fun horse to bring along, and the best thing about him, truly, is his mind and his work ethic,” said Kreitl. “He literally gives you 110% every day. I think he's obviously very talented, but he's gone even further because of his desire to please and his work ethic.”

Kreitl and Fritz began competing at the FEI level in 2021 at the two- and three-star level before moving up to the four-star level in 2022. They earned several top-10 results throughout that year, culminating with a win in The Dutta Corp. USEF CCI4*-L Eventing National Championship at The Dutta Corp. Tryon International Three-Day Event in Mill Spring, N.C. The winning result was made more impressive by the fact that it was their first time competing in a CCI4*-L event. As the winners of the national championship, they earned a flight grant from The Dutta Corp., the Official Equine Air Transport of US Equestrian.

“Getting that grant was totally awesome. I think it opened up a door that I'm not sure we would have had otherwise—to take the horse to Europe and compete,” said Kreitl. “I've been super excited with figuring out where we're going to go and got lots of input from different people. As soon as I got the grant, the first thing I wanted to do was go to Aachen and compete there."

After being listed as an alternate, Kreitl and Fritz were selected to compete as the individual combination for the U.S.

“It has been a dream come true to get to that goal,” said Kreitl. “I have just heard so much about the prestige of Aachen and what a fun event that is.”

A Trip to Remember

Kreitl and Fritz flew over in early June to be based out of Meier’s farm in Arville, Belgium. Kreitl is soaking up the educational experience of training and competing abroad.

“This place that [Meier] has here is unreal,” said Kreitl. “They literally live in a castle and have I don’t know how many hundreds of acres. They have a four-star cross-country course and wonderful arenas to ride in, and miles and miles of steep hills to trail ride up and down and to gallop on. It's truly a horse training paradise.”

In terms of what he hopes to get out of this experience abroad, two things come to mind for Kreitl: exposure and the world-class competition.

“I have never been to Europe, so just experiencing that culture in a different country, that part alone is super fun to me,” said Kreitl. “As I grew up, I remember hearing a lot about the programs and how disciplined they are, the quality of the horses that are produced in Europe. So I'm excited to be here and to fully see the grassroots with the programs that they have here.”

“I guess what I'm most excited about is just competing with the best,” said Kreitl. “I don't know where we'll end up in the results, but I think it'll be really fun to go out there and give it our best and see how we can compete against really good competition.”

Kreitl hopes to have a solid result in Aachen and will see what the future holds for him and Fritz. After some time off following their European trip, Kreitl hopes to do another CCI4*-L event with Fritz in the fall. The pair will aim for a CCI5*-L in 2024—a longtime dream for Kreitl.

“That was the goal a long time ago, and it's been a long road with thousands of lessons, lots of hard hours, and a lot of fun,” said Kreitl. “Certainly, getting to the top level has been the goal. To me, being on the U.S. team was always a dream, but you’re not sure if it would ever actually happen. Now we are getting closer and having this opportunity. With each small win, it is going in that direction and builds some momentum and builds my motivation and desire. If I keep putting in the effort and work harder, it only grows.”