Dressage-News

By KENNETH J. BRADDICK

WAYNE, Illinois, Aug. 25, 2016–Adrienne Lyle returned to the championship arena Thursday for the first time in two years to ride the nine-year-old mare Horizon to victory in the Prix St. Georges for the United States Developing Horse Championship.

Adrienne who took over the ride on the Oldenburg horse about a year ago scored 74.649 per cent in the first show for both outside the Global Dressage Festival national classes in Wellington, Florida where the pair qualified for these championships.

As Debbie McDonald, her coach for the past 11 years, was in Europe and then the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro with her two American team riders Laura Graves and Kasey Perry-Glass, Adrienne emailed videos and had lots of long distance phone calls to maintain the level of training that took her and Wizard to the 2012 Olympics and the 2014 World Games.

Lisa Wilcox of Wellington on Gallant Reflection HU, a seven-year-old Zweibrucker stallion (Galant du Serein x Rohdiamant) bred in the United States by Horses Unlimited and was the six-year-old national champion in 2015, placed second on 71.140 per cent.

Cesar Parra of Whitehouse Station, New Jersey on Fashion Designer OLD was third on 70.658 per cent. Nadine Buberl, who rode for Cesar, rode the horse to 2013 national five-year-old champion and was third in the six-year-old championships.

For Elizabeth Juliano, who bought Horizon (Hotline x Don Schufro) as four-year-old, the win by Adrienne, 31 years old, capped a summer in which she had traveled to Europe and Rio as a major financial supporter of Laura and the U.S. team that won bronze.

She is also a partner in the group that owns the nine-year-old Salvino that Adrienne of Ketchum in Idaho’s Sun Valley, is riding with Debbie’s training as an American team prospect.

Adrienne described Horizon as a “hot mare” with “an incredible work ethic” that she had focused on building a relationship to enable the horse to use her expressive gaits to the full.

“Being a mare,” Adrienne laughed, “she had to give a you a thorough job interview first to make sure you are up to the task. She is a very diferent horse than Wizard–polar opposites in terms of horses. Wizard was a big, tough macho man… he’s a man’s man so you’ve kind of got to ride him like that.

“She’s very much a lady. She never wants to do anything wrong. Every time she does something wrong and she doesn’t understand it’s a matter of teaching her to undertand and to earn her trust.

“She’s a little different than any horse I’ve had at this level. She’s very sensitive, super good work ethic and a really good brain.

“She hasn’t been in the ring since March in Florida. I’ve been on my own since then, sending videos to Debbie while she was in Europe and Rio  with notes, ‘I hope I’m not screwing it up?’

“She came back for one day before she went to Rio and then one day working here. So we’ve capitalized on that. But two lessons with Debbie are like 100 lessons with someone else,” she joked.

What made her happiest about the error-free ride was that Horizon went into the arena not having competed since March and working on their own all summer but “she walked in there and handled it like she’d been doing it her whole life. That’s what I’m happiest about; she’s a really good show horse, she loves it in there. She’s been really consistent in training and you hope that translates into the ring but you don’t know until you get in the ring. It’s the same horse I’ve had in the warmup, the same horse I’ve had every day I’ve been schooling here and that’s huge for a horse you have big hopes for. They have to be consistent and be there for you and she completely was.”

Adrienne said she had been picky on herself in training, working by herself on not getting show-rusty.

She has been working on piaffe and passage, she said, so the plan is to compete Horizon at CDI Small Tour during the next Global winter circuit and then move to Grand Prix.

That could give her both Horizon and Salvino as Big Tour possibilities for the 2018 world championships. A decision has not yet been made by the International Equestrian Federation on where to stage the World Games following the collapse of the Bromont, Canada endeavor and whether to keep the championships together.

“She’s progressed so far in a year,” Adrienne said, “I think in another year she’ll do better because she can really collect and extend and she has the strength and the energy for the Grand Prix.”

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