WELLINGTON, Fla.--Olympic team silver medalist Adrienne Lyle on Lars Van De Hoenderheide won the CDI3* Grand Prix Special on Saturday, March 30 at the Global Dressage Festival.
Adrienne Lyle on Lars Van De hoenderheide (Photo by Susan Stickle)Lars Van De Hoenderheide had finished second in the qualifying grand prix, just behind Lyle''s other horse Helix, but Lyle decided to ride Lars Van De Hoenderheide in the Grand Prix Special, who won on 73.192 % over 14 starters.
Endel Otis 0n Bohemian, another new high-profile acquisition for owner Heidi Humphries, placed second in the Special with 72.49%.
The top six riders were all from the U.S., with Kasey Perry-Glass going one better than in the grand prix and finishing third on Heartbeat WP on a score of 71.383% in their second ever CDI.
“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," said Lyle, who trains with Debbie McDonald. "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."
“I was really happy with his piaffe/passage tour." she said. "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.”
LYLE WORKS all her horses a maximum of four days a week, and that is no different for the two new arrivals, despite the pressure of the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris, France.
Tinne Vilhelmson Silfven on Kane (Photo by Susan Stickle)“We’re not going to increase it just because we have a timeline,” she said. “I was really adamant on that when they came here, so we’ve been sticking to that and the basics and getting to know each other. Thankfully it’s come together just in the nick of time for the last show here.”
“Having these two amazing horses of Heidi’s has been fun because I’ve just been working at home knowing that I’m going to be back in there,” she said. “It’s such an amazing vision that Heidi is building. Our goal with both Lars and Helix is to potentially make enough shows to make the shortlist to go to Europe.”
In the CDI4* Grand Prix Special, Katherine Bateson Chandler on Haute Couture had their third win at the Festival.
She finished third in Thursday’s grand prix, but scored a 71.872% victory in Saturday’s Special.
At the Paris Olympics, the Grand Prix Special will determine the team results, so the outcome from today’s classes at the Festival augurs particularly well for team USA.
Canada’s Jill Irving was second on Delacroix 11 on 70.17%., and Sweden’s Tinne Vilhelmson Silfvén on Hyatt was third on 69.745%.
On the final Sunday of the Festival, Tinne Vilhelmson Silfvén was grand champion in the Future Challenge young horse Prix St. Georges series.
The 56-year-old Vilhelmson Silfvén on Kane scored 72.706% for the unanimous win from the panel of five judges.
Ben Ebeling on Escona 8 was reserve champion with 70.971%, and Jennifer Williams on Babylon Berlin was third with 69.794%.
These classes aim to identify and nurture talented, up-and-coming young FEI quality horses, giving them exposure to benefit their development with the biggest of world stages in mind, without the pressures of a CDI.
“It was a good ending to the season,” Vilhelmson Silfvén said. “We’ve had Kane since he was 3, and he was a breeding stallion at ours, but last year we gelded him because he was a little bit too much of a stallion. We thought he would be a great competition horse, so we decided to give him a future like that. He also has a much happier life as a gelding because he was a bit too worried as a stallion and too unhappy. Now he’s the sweetest and loveliest horse to have around and he’s happy going out in a big field.”
