OCALA, Fla.--Adrienne Lyle on a new mount, Helix, that she hopes will help her make the short list of riders for the Paris Olympics, won the FEI Grand Prix Special CDI3* on Saturday, April 13 for Lyle’s third win in three days at the World Equestrian Center.
Adrienne Lyle on Helix (Photo by Andrew Ryback)Lyle, a U.S. Olympic team silver medalist, started competition on Friday in the Grand Prix on Helix with a 2% winning margin, and earlier had won on Thursday in the Grand Prix for Freestyle CDI3* with Lars van de Hoenderheide, with whom Lyle also placed second place in Friday night’s freestyle.
Riding Helix, Lyle was the final entry in a 15 horse field and scored 71.553% to win the Grand Prix Special.
“Helix is coming off of three weeks of intense showing, traveling and training, and it's catching up a little bit with him,” said Lyle. “He felt a little bit tired today, so we didn't go pedal to the metal full power. However, I think for the long term when you're trying to develop a relationship with a horse it's really important that they know you're never going to ask more than what they're capable of that day in the ring. He still went in there and did everything I asked, and I think that's really important.”
In her limited time with Helix and Lars, Lyle has competed more than she normally would in order to gain qualifying scores to be considered for the U.S. Dressage Team short list for this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris, France.
“IT'S BEEN a challenge for sure, but it's an amazing opportunity to have that challenge,” she said. “We have a lot of different goals along the way. Short term, what number of shows do we have to do minimally to even have the chance to qualify? And then long-term, what is really important? Because we want these horses for the long-term. This year, obviously, is a goal, but long-term is the bigger goal. You are constantly weighing all of that and trying to come up with the best program for them.”
In addition to being an Olympic-level rider and training top riders, Lyle is a new mother to 6-month-old Bailey.
She had stopped riding when she was five months pregnant but got back on her Olympic mount Salvino just three weeks after Bailey arrived.
It took three months to regain her riding fitness, and now with six months under her belt, she feels back to where she was when she last competed at a CDI in January 2023.
“I worked really hard at physical fitness and workout routines to be fresh because when I looked at the calendar, I was like, ‘Oh wow, the Olympics are pretty close,’"she said. "On Jan. 1, I wanted to at least be feeling like I could go down centerline somewhere if I wanted to.”
Another new combination, Endel Ots on Bohemian finished second with 71.021%.
“I was really happy with the feeling in the test with him,” said Ots. “I was a little bit nervous going around the outside, and he felt nice and fresh. He's ready within five minutes to go through the tests. It's a lot more just making sure that I'm mentally ready for going through the tests. He's ready for everything. You're really asking him in the ring to do things. It's not so much telling him anything. He's a really, really intelligent horse.”
After five successful years under Danish Olympian Catherin Laudrup-Dufour that included European Championships and the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, Bohemian went on to compete with Korean rider Dong Seon Kim and Swedish Olympian Patrik Kittel before being offered for sale once again.
Ots, who had been working with Heidi Humphries of Zen Elite Equestrian for two years, went to try “Bohemian” when Humphries wanted to buy the talented horse.
“I loved him the second I got on him."said Ots. "Recently Heidi actually texted me a screenshot. She said, ‘Do you remember what you said when you texted me after your first ride on him?’
“She sent me a screenshot and it said, ‘I'll sell one of my kidneys, give my firstborn child, whatever I have to do, to ride him,” said Ots. “That’s how it came to be.”
While Ots has plenty of experience competing with young horses and in Small Tour CDI classes as well as training other riders, he had not shown at the grand prix level internationally until Bohemian came into his life in 2024.
This Grand Prix Special test was their fourth class together.
Ots works with a sports hypnotist to prepare for competition and felt ready for competition on Saturday morning.
“I felt way more confident in there,” he said. “I know when my mind is in the right spot, and I know when it's not in the right spot. I feel really good, and I am just really grateful to be a part of Heidi's team and able to be up there with Adrienne and Katherine and Kasey. It's really a dream come true, and I’m very thankful.”
Katherine Bateson Chandler on Haute Couture was third with 67.447%.
