Adrienne Lyle, who seemed almost a lock to qualify for April’s FEI Dressage World Cup finals, won’t be competing in Omaha with Salvino.
Adrienne Lyle and Salvino. (Photo © by Nancy Jaffer)
She was all set to ride a week from today in the final qualifier in Wellington, Fla., until Betsy Juliano’s stallion popped a small split.
“Salvino has been doing great in his training and we were entered and ready to go for next week’s CDI-W,” Adrienne recounted.
“However, when we took him out of his stall, we noticed a lump on the inside of his leg that was not normally there. Upon veterinary evaluation it was discovered that he had popped a small splint. Betsy, Debbie (McDonald, Adrienne’s coach) and myself conferred and all agree that of course, his welfare always come first and he will not be pushed to do next week’s competition.
“Although a very minor injury, it will need time to rest and recover and with only only (one) World Cup qualifier left this season, it simply wasn’t meant to be for us,” she continued.
Salvino missed a qualifier earlier this season when he colicked. He and Adrienne, who were part of the Olympic silver medal team in 2021 and competed on the world championships team last year, will be pointing for the Paris Olympics next year.
“We will always treasure our memories of competing at the World Cup in Sweden in 2019, and we wish all of our fellow U.S. riders the best of luck on their last qualifying competitions and on to the World Cup! It will be a very special event this year, having it on our home soil,” Adrienne said.
Steffen Peters already qualified with Suppenkasper on the West Coast. Alice Tarjan and Sarah Tubman are the two highest on the World Cup qualifying list, with Alice three points ahead of Sarah. Anna Buffinii also is competing for the third berth. Friday night’s class will determine who gets on the plane.