Christian Simonson Rode Indian Rock in 22YO American’s First Ever Grand Prix Special, Improving on Pair’s Debut Day Earlier
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By KENNETH J. BRADDICK
WELLINGTON, Florida, April 27, 2025–Christian Simonson rode Indian Rock in the 22-year-old American’s first ever Grand Prix Special Sunday, a national event that improved on the pair’s Grand Prix debut a day earlier at the Global Dressage Festival.
The pair were awarded 78.351% by the two judges that compared with the 76.794% in the Grand Prix, both with the rider carrying a whip that is permitted in U.S. national Grand Prix but not in international competitions.
Coming just four months after the 12-year-old KWPN stallion was acquired by Heidi Humphries and her Zen Elite Equestrian Center, the scores bode well for the partnership–of the 37 marks in the Special, the judge at C awarded five 9s and 15 8/8.5s while the judge at B gave three 9s and 16 8/8.5s.
The next step for the duo based in Wellington and coached by three-time Olympian Adrienne Lyle is their first CDI, at the World Equestrian Festival in Ocala late next month in a bid to qualify for the U.S. national championships Aug. 18-24 in Wayne, Illinois. They will move to Colorado for the summer with Adrienne’s team.
Christian at age 22 and Indian Rock at age 12, Adrienne said, both have a lot of years ahead of them to continue developing their partnership.
Indian Rock was developed by Emmelie Scholtens of the Netherlands with the World Young Horse Championships as a five-year-old, the European Championships in 2023 and the Olympics in Paris last year among the highlights.
Adrienne, as a competitor on her U.S. team mount Salvino, was familiar with the Dutch combination.
“I was really struck by even the first time that Christian went and tried him by his amazing character,” Adrienne explained to DRESSAGE-NEWS.com. “It’s something you don’t necessarily get to know when you watch him from a distance. And so having him now here in the barn and working with him on a daily basis I’m just I’m really blown away by how hard he tries and what an honest creature he is and he’s just amazing to work with.
“He’s a stallion obviously and bred quite a bit you know but every day tries so hard; he responds to very light pressure. He gives you a huge effort. He’s just one that you say ‘jump,’ and he says, ‘how high?’.
The competition results after a short period “exceeded my expectations for sure. You know, we were very aware going into this, they may compete this season, they may not compete at all until next year. We just kind of hung out and train until it started to look very easy and routine at home and Then I was just thrilled at how that transferred into the ring.”
Asked about the appearance of Indian Rock as more relaxed, Adrienne replied: “I think, you know, that’s our goal to present, really focusing on the harmony with him, focusing on the self-carriage. Obviously, this is only dipping our toes in the water, so a lot remains to be seen as we get into CDIs and different environments and stuff, but that’s definitely been a real focus of our training programs transferred onto his training.”
She described Christian as “a disciplined and dedicated rider that the transition to the open Grand Prix is not going to be as challenging because he’s so focused on the details he has been from a young rider age. He’s very meticulous and that’s really what the Grand Prix is, it’s just putting together more and quicker of these places where you have to be super accurate, super meticulous, very picky on the balance.”
