Dominating the 3-star dressage competition at the World Equestrian Center, Adrienne Lyle and Helix added victory in the Grand Prix Special on Sunday to their 73.213 percent win from the Grand Prix on Friday.
Adrienne and Helix all ribboned-up after their win in the Special.
Adrienne hadn’t done a Special in a CDI (international) show with him since before the Paris Olympics, where the pair was on the U.S. team.
Since then, he has changed greatly.
“He’s developed a lot, I think, since Paris. When I go back and watch my videos from Paris, he does not look as strong or as powerful as he is. And obviously, we were a very new combination to each other then. He’s two years older, and he’s got two years more of Grand Prix under his belt (girth?)
“I figured out what works, what doesn’t. You know, like you do with all the horses, it works for a bit, then it doesn’t. You go back, you change your plan, and then you come back out. It’s definitely not, like I said, not a linear process, but I’m happy with where he is right now.
“I’m super proud of him” added Adrienne, noting the 14-year-old Dutchbred son of Apache was kind of a last-minute entry at the show in Ocala, Fla.
“I’m just totally thrilled with him. It’s hot and it’s the end of a long week, so I had to support him a little bit more to help him through the test today. He was just really accepting of that and let me ride him and put in, I think, the best effort that he could. So that’s all you can ask for. I was really happy.”
Adrienne and Helix with their supporters from Zen Elite.
For Adrienne, no matter how well things go, there’s always something else to do.
She has been working on her position, explaining, “It’s how I can sit differently to balance him differently, get more on my seat, and be able to open the frame and lift, and find a more uphill balance. I think we’re starting to click into that.”
Helix went to Europe to be sold last year, but came back to the Zen Elite stables, and Adrienne’s happy about that.
“He is super sweet. He’s very personable. He’s very much a ‘person’ horse. He’s not attached to other horses, but he wants to be out of a stall all day and investigating. You’ll see me wandering around the grounds. I just kind of let him lead me wherever he wants to go. You know, he wants to look in the restaurant window.”
She noted, “There’s not a `no’ in his body. You know, there’s not a negative thought in there, so I really appreciate that.”
While she’s headed to Europe with several horses and her student, Christian Simonson, she doesn’t know what Helix will be doing yet, though they will be based in Holland, close to Germany. They also will be involved with the U.S. contingent, since Christian could well be named for the team that competes in August’s world championships in Aachen.
She will be in touch with the U.S. technical advisor, Christine Traurig.
“Christine is wonderful, and she has got her eyes on everything,” said Adrienne, who started as a working student with Debbie McDonald, so she’s always ready for some pointers.
Adrienne said of Christine, “I can always go to her for advice, and she can come to me. It’s really helpful to have her eyes kind of overseeing the whole program and guiding us.”
Adrienne and daughter Bailey.
Also going to Europe will be Adrienne’s two-year-old baby, Bailey. Yes, of course, she rides her mini. She’s well-traveled and speaks Portugese (her father is from Portugal) and Spanish. You can bet she will be learning German while she’s abroad.
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