Salvino is 2022 USA International Horse of Year
2 years ago StraightArrow Comments Off on Salvino is 2022 USA International Horse of Year
LEXINGTON, Kentucky, Jan. 14, 2023–Salvino is the US Equestrian 2022 International Horse of the Year. The honor was announced Saturday night two days after Adrienne Lyle who has competed the 16-year-old Hanoverian stallion for more than six years was named International Equestrian of the Year.
Salvino (Sandro Hit x Donnerhall), ranked 11th in the world and owned by Betsy Juliano LLC, was the most successful U.S, dressage horse in 2022.
Horse of the Year title was decided by a vote of U.S. Equestrian Federation members.
The partnership of Salvino and Adrienne, based in Wellington, Florida and spanning more than six years won the top rated CDI5* Grand Prix and Special and the CDI4* Grand Prix and Freestyle at Florida’s Global Dressage Festival last winter.
The pair moved to Europe to compete in the CDI4* at the highly competitive Aachen, Germany before the World Dressage Championships.
In Herning, Denmark championship they helped the United States qualify a team for the 2024 Paris Olympics. The duo was the only American combination to qualify for the championships Freestyle.
The partnership between the horse that was originally named Sandronnerhall and bought in Spain by a group formed to provide an international mount for Adrienne, has been key in some of the most successful events in the history of U.S. dressage.
Adrienne and “Vinny,” as the horse is nicknamed, was on the team that won silver at the 2018 World Equestrian Games in Tryon then followed up with silver at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
The duo are currently seeking to be one of three North American horse and rider combinations at the World Cup Final in Omaha in April.
Betsy Juliano said: “None of you would know about Salvino without his best friend, trusted confidant, and rider Adrienne Lyle, the USEF International Equestrian of the Year. She has made this horse who he is.
“In my opinion, a horse can have talent to the moon but without a rider who he or she can learn from, they will never reach their full potential.
“Alongside Adrienne, there is the dedication of trainer Debbie McDonald and head groom Morgan Klingensmith, who have improved [Salvino] along the way.”
National Horse of 2022 was Cannon Creek, a 2011 Holsteiner gelding and successful hunter competitor owned by the Wheeler family.
