Dressage-News

By KENNETH J. BRADDICK

WELLINGTON, Florida, Feb. 23, 2019–Adrienne Lyle rode Harmony’s Duval to victory in the Adequan Global Dressage Festival CDI3* Grand Prix Special Saturday, breaking a score tie with fellow American Charlotte Jorst on Kastel’s Nintendo.

Adrienne, an Olympic and two-time World Equestrian Games rider for the United States, was awarded 72.255 per cent on the 11-year-old KWPN gray gelding bred in America by Leslie Malone’s Harmony Sporthorses of Kiowa, Colorado.

Charlotte of Reno, Nevada and Nintendo, back competing in Wellington for the first time in two years, recorded the same score but the tie break gave the top spot to Adrienne. Germany’s Christoph Koschel on Ballentines placed third on 69.447 per cent after spending five hours in the hospital earlier in the day being treated for a nerve problem that prevented him from walking (see separate story).

On Duval, Adrienne, 34 years old who is based in Wellington in winter and will be centered in Greenwood Village, Colorado in summer when not competing in Europe, logged the third victory in four starts since starting Big Tour earlier this month. The horse is owned by a syndicate in the northwest United States.

Adrienne who was awarded a $25,000 training grant for Duval said she thinks the horse will be ready to leave America for the first time in his life to go on the European summer circuit with Salvino, her World Games and primary team mount.

“I think so, yeah, I really do,” she replied to a question about being competitive in Europe. “Especially since there’s so much more that I can get in schooling. I told Debbie (McDonald) that there’s moments at home where I’m like ‘Dang, this could be really good.’ I think there’s still more in there, and there’s a long time until Europe because it’s only February.”

The piaffe/passage tour in the Special was much stronger than in the Grand Prix “so I was glad we were able to tap into more of his potential in there today.

While she works out what is effective in training, warmup and in the competition arena with the still green Duval, “the great thing about him is that he’ll go forever, there’s not a stop in him. So it’s just cleaning everything up.

“I think his best quality is his ambition. Sometimes it’s a little overzealous, but there’s never a lack of trying with that horse. He’d jump off a cliff if you’d ask him to.”

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