Dressage-News

WELLINGTON, Florida, Dec. 6, 2022–The battle for a start at the World Cup in Omaha heats up this week with the return of Adrienne Lyle on Salvino to competition for the first time since the world championships four months ago.

The World Cup event at the Global Dressage Festival will see Adrienne and Salvino challenge Alice Tarjan and Serenade, who lead the North American qualifying, and Sarah Tubman and First Apple in third place in the lineup of 10 rider and horse combinations entered in the CDI-W Grand Prix schedule for Friday and the Freestyle set for Saturday.

Steffen Peters on Suppenkasper, team mates of Adrienne and Salvino on the most successful Olympic squad in almost three-quarters of a century taking silver, is tied in third place with Sarah and First Apple. Steffen is seeking to qualify at Thermal, California where the next World Cup event is scheduled for next week.

The World Cup in Wellington is the first of four qualifiers at the Global grounds and marks the mid-point of 10 events in the North American league of Canada, Mexico and USA for three riders to earn a start among the 18 from around the world at the Final in Omaha next April.

The Final centered on the Grand Prix Freestyle is the second in the Midwestern city of Omaha, and much-sought after especially in the United States and Canada before “home” crowds.

The first in 2017 was hugely successful with both spectators and participants. The organizers have promised facilities for the horses improved beyond those that won glowing reviews in 2017. That year was the first in three successive victories for Isabell Werth and Weihegold OLD with a possible fourth stymied by the Covid pandemic leading to cancellation of the 2020 championships.

North America has since adopted the same formula as Western and Central Europe of points for placings in qualifiers instead of scores.

Now, the highest points from three of up to six events count toward qualifying.

Alice Tarjan of Oldwick, New Jersey on the American-bred nine-year-old mare Serenade has won two qualifiers so far this season each worth 20 points for a total of 40 points for top placing so far in North America.

Sarah Tubman of Wellington on First Apple stands third with 20 points for a victory in October, behind Michael Bragdell of Colora, Maryland on 30 points from two third places on Qredit Hilltop who is not entered this week.

Adrienne, also based in Wellington, and the 15-year-old stallion Salvino have competed in one previous Final, at Gothenburg, Sweden in 2019. However, the record of the partnership includes team silver at the 2018 World Equestrian Games in Tryon as well as the Tokyo Olympic team silver and the only American duo to make it to the Freestyle at the world championships in Herning, Denmark in August where the American team also earned a start at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Other starting combinations include:

Charlotte Jorst of Reno, Nevada who has relocated to Wellington from California after earning 15 points on Kastel’s Nintendo at Thermal. Nintendo that Charlotte competed in the 2016 Final in Sweden will be 20 years old next year;

Codi Harrison of Wellington on Katholt’s Bossco who moved up from the Under-25 division in 2021 and has competed in one qualifier so far this season;

Anna Marek of Dunnellon, Florida in her first World Cup qualifier on Fire Fly, a 12-year-old KWPN gelding she began competing at Big Tour this year;

Kerrigan Gluch of Ocala, Florida on Mejorano HGF, a year out of Under-25 in the rider’s first World Cup event;

Melissa Taylor of Wellington and Dixie WRF, a year into Big Tour that competed at the pair’s first World Cup event in October;

Chris von Martels on Eclips, on Canada’s Olympic team in Tokyo that are competing for the first time in 15 months, and

Mathilde Blais Tetreault also of Canada an international competitor since young riders in 2011 who has shown on both sides of Atlantic will be on Fedor, 12-year-old gelding that is Mathilde’s first Big Tour mount and making her debut in a senior championship series.