News from Germany is that dressage team coach Holger Schmezer will resign after this year’s London Olympics. Schmezer has headed the team since 2000. The news came through St. Georg magazine ( www.st-georg.de), which also reports that the coaching job will then be taken over by Schmezer’s co-trainer Jonny Hilberath.

Schmezer, who will turn 65 this year, has a contract that runs until the end of this year. According to the German news reports, although offered training jobs, Schmezer has said that he intends to focus on training his own group of students. The news comes as Schmezer is making the rounds visiting several of Germany’s top riders in preparation for the Olympics.