Adrienne Lyle on Helix Wins Ocala CDI3* Grand Prix Special, Endel Ots on Zen Elite’s Bohemian Runner-Up

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Adrienne Lyle on Helix capturing the Ocala World Equestrian Festival CDI3* Grand Prix Special. © 2024 Ken Braddick/DRESSAGE-NEWS.com

By KENNETH J. BRADDICK

OCALA, Florida, April 13, 2024–Adrienne Lyle on Helix won the World Equestrian Center CDI3* Grand Prix Special Saturday while Endel Ots had his best test yet on Zen Elite’s Bohemian for runner-up in the second last qualifier for the U.S. Olympic “short” list.

Adrienne and the 12-year-old KWPN gelding Helix were awarded 71.553% and the fourth victory in three back-to-back weeks of competition in a campaign to qualify for the “short” list European tour ahead of the Paris Olympics with dressage starting at the end of July.

Helix is owned by Heidi Humphries and her Zen Elite Equestrian Center of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, as is Bohemian and Lars van de Hoenderheide that Adrienne is also competing. All were bought by Heidi in late 2023.

Endel and the 14-year-old Westfalen Bohemian that was ridden by Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour for Denmark at the Tokyo Olympics and the 2021 European Championships scored 71.021% for second.

All Florida resident contenders for one of up to eight combinations to be named to the “short” list are expected to compete at TerraNova near Saratoga, Florida that is the last opportunity to qualify.

Adrienne said she was happy with her second Special on Helix that “is coming off three weeks of intense showing and traveling and training and it’s catching up a little bit with him.

“He felt a little bit tired today and so we didn’t go pedal to the metal full power but I think for the long term when you’re trying to develop a relationship with him it’s really important that they know you’re never going to ask more than what they’re capable of that day in the ring. So knowing that, we maybe weren’t going to have quite the full power that he’s capable of. He still went in there and did everything I asked and I think that’s really important.”

Endel Ots on Zen Elite’s Bohemian in the CDI3* Grand Prix Special at the World Equestrian Center in Ocala. © 2024 Ken Braddick/DRESSAGE-NEWS.com

Endel said he “was a little bit nervous” going around the outside of the arena.

“I try not to do too much warm-up at all with him because he’s done all these tests so many times,” he said. “You really have to respect those horses that have done so many things and so many Grand Prix and not try to boss them around, too and he’s very much like that. I mean he’s ready within five minutes to go through the tests. It’s a lot more just making sure that I’m mentally ready for going through the tests. He’s ready for everything so I had a really nice feeling with him. You know you’re really asking him in the ring to do things. It’s not so much telling him anything.”

“He’s a really, really intelligent horse and he’s not one that you can just push, push, push. You have to push and then have him wait and really stay with him. He’s an emotional horse in that kind of aspect.

“Today I felt way more secure in the test. I felt like I owned the movements and pieces a little bit better. In the test for today I felt really confident in just feeling the movements out before they happen and staying there and helping him because when he gets his mind on where he’s supposed to go, you’re just kind of there managing it a little bit.”

Results:

CDI3* Grand Prix Special
Rank Competitor Score E H C M B
1.
Adrienne Lyle (USA)
Helix
71.553% 70.745 71.064 71.702 72.872 71.383
2.
Endel Ots (USA)
Zen Elite’s Bohemian
71.021% 69.362 72.021 71.915 72.553 69.255
3.
Katherine Bateson Chandler (USA)
Haute Couture
67.447% 67.340 69.149 65.213 68.298 67.234
4.
Nora Batchelder (USA)
Nova
66.404% 64.468 67.447 66.277 65.957 67.872
5.
Jessica Howington (USA)
Serenade MF
66.298% 64.574 66.277 66.170 65.851 68.617
6.
Geñay Vaughn (USA)
Gino
66.128% 65.106 65.638 66.915 66.277 66.702
7.
Kasey Perry-Glass (USA)
Heartbeat W.P.
65.851% 63.936 67.553 67.128 65.638 65.000
8.
Chris von Martels (CAN)
Eclips
65.319% 65.532 64.149 61.809 68.085 67.021
9.
Emily Miles (USA)
Sole Mio
65.149% 65.745 67.447 65.000 64.681 62.872
10.
Beatrice Marienau (USA)
Issey
64.873% 64.468 65.213 62.660 67.979 64.043
11.
Jill Irving (CAN)
Genesis
64.830% 65.106 68.830 61.277 63.191 65.745
12.
Sarah Tubman (USA)
First Apple
63.808% 62.234 63.617 64.255 64.255 64.681
13.
Pablo Gómez Molina (ESP)
Baltasar De Ymas
62.872% 64.255 65.319 62.872 60.638 61.277
14.
Amy Swerdlin (USA)
Quileute CCW
61.532% 62.255 63.213 59.489 59.702 63.000
15.
Ellesse Gundersen (USA)
Quintessential 4
60.766% 61.702 61.702 60.745 60.000 59.681
Find details on Equestrian Hub