In only her second international competition with Lars van de Hoenderheide, Olympic veteran Adrienne Lyle won the 3-star Grand Prix Special at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival with a mark of 73.192 percent on Saturday.
She bested the winner of Thursday’s Grand Prix, Endel Ots, who was second on Zen Elite’s Bohemian with 72.490 percent. Both horses are owned by Zen Elite’s Heidi Humphries.
Adrienne and Lars. (Photo © SusanJStickle.com)
Third went to Adrienne’s longtime teammate, Kasey Perry-Glass, back in action after a long absence from the international level with a 71.383 percent on Heartbeat W.P.
Marcus Orlob of Annandale, N.J., finished fourth on Jane, previously shown by her owner, Alice Tarjan. Their score was 70.830 percent.
Adrienne said, “I think it’s 10 weeks now that we’ve had Lars and this is the first full Special I’ve ridden through on him. I’m so incredibly happy at his energy and his honesty and his willingness. It seems like he’s starting to understand what I want and fight for me in there, which is really special in such a new relationship.”
Saying, “I was really happy with his piaffe/passage tour,” Adrienne added, “I got a bit braver to make the piaffe stay on the spot more and feel like I could trust that more. His canter tour is always super; he’s got super power and the changes are just a treat to ride.”
Adrienne observed, however, “just because we have a timeline” as she looks toward Paris, she is not planning to increase her horses’ work more than the usual four days a week maximum. She also rides Helix, second in the qualifier, for Elite Equestrian.
Heidi Humphries, the owner of Elite Equestrian “has such an amazing vision,” Adrienne noted.
Bohemian was ridden to fourth place in the Tokyo Olympics by Denmark’s Cathrine Laudrup- Dufour. He subsequently had a Korean rider and then Endel took over late last year.
Endel Otts and Bohemian. (Photo © SusanJStickle.com)
Endel, who had not ridden in an international Grand Prix before Thursday, was marked at 72.761 percent in the Grand Prix qualifier, ahead of Helix (71.065). Adrienne was placed first by one judge in that class.
Adrienne, who is coached by her mentor, Debbie McDonald, also was third with Lars (70.652) in the qualifier.
In the Grand Prix, Bohemian had a problem in the two-tempis, with one judge giving him a mark of 2 and the other four judges marking him at 3, which brought his score way down. That was balanced by the fact that he had mostly 8’s in piaffe and passage. In the Special, his problems cropped up in the one-tempis, with marks between 4 and 6 from the five judges. The piaffe and passage continued to be his strong points.
“It’s all very surreal,” Endel said after his ride in the Grand Prix.
“You always see all the famous people like Adrienne Lyle and Kasey Perry and I am just thankful and happy to be in there with them and part of the group.”
He called Bohemian “a crazy cool horse.”
These horses will have to qualify if they are to be considered for a U.S. European tour, which is the precursor for Olympic selection. Although the Global festival ends this weekend, shows at TerraNova in Myakka City and the World Equestrian Center in Ocala are offering qualifiers next month.
In Saturday’s 4-star Special, Katherine Bateson-Chandler won with Haute Couture on 71.872 percent. Her coach, British star Carl Hester, came to the U.S. to train her for this show.
“We’ve had our stumbling blocks that were really mentally tough for both of us, so it took a lot of regrouping,” said Katherine, citing “a big mountain to climb.” She is hoping to be invited compete with the U.S. contingent in Europe later this spring.
The mare was ridden in the Tokyo Olympics by the Netherlands’ Dinja van Liere. Haute Couture was purchased for Katherine by her friend, Jennifer Huber.
Click here for 3-star Special results.
Click here for 4-star Special results.