Joaquín Orth

Joaquín Orth was born in the small village of Syke in northern Germany in 1955, earning the highest level of professional certification in the German equestrian industry before emigrating to Mexico in 1982. From 1987 to 2003 Orth represented Mexico at multiple international competitions, including the Olympics, the Pan American Games, and the Central American and Caribbean Games. His first success came at the 1987 Pan American Games when he won bronze in the dressage team event. Three years later he won three gold medals in dressage at the Central American and Caribbean Games, followed by another bronze a year later at the Pan American Games.

In 1996 Orth rode Bellini at the Atlanta Olympics, finishing 39th in the individual event, before winning a team gold and individual silver on the same horse at the 1997 North American Dressage Championships. Orth continued to win medals at major competitions, including gold and two silvers at the 2002 Central American and Caribbean Games.

Orth then worked as a national equestrian judge in Mexico before working as a FEI judge from 2006 to 2008. He also spent much of his time as an international clinician, working mainly in Central America as well as Columbia, Venezuela, and the United States.