Lisa Wilcox and Galant. Photo Credit: ©SusanJStickle.
Wellington, FL – January 12, 2017 – The 2017 Adequan® Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) began its first day of competition at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) in Wellington, FL on Thursday with a win for Lisa Wilcox (USA) and Galant in the FEI Grand Prix sponsored by MTICA Farm. The first week at AGDF features CDI-W competition from January 12-15 and is presented by the AMCI Group to benefit Brooke USA.
Week one of AGDF includes the “Friday Night Stars” FEI Grand Prix Freestyle, presented by the AMCI Group to benefit Brooke USA, on Friday, January 13. Gates open at 6 pm. General admission is free and parking is $10/car.
Lisa Wilcox and her mount Galant, a 2006 Belgian Warmblood gelding (Escuro x Bellisima) owned by Jacqueline Shear, came out strong in their first performance of 2017 and earned a score of 71.340% to place them at the top of the leaderboard in the Global Arena.
Wilcox described her test: “I really liked the piaffe and passage, the extended work, (and) all of the trot work was lovely. The canter work got a little squirrely; it was a little up, so I lost my two (tempis). He got a little sensitive to my leg, so I got a couple of one (tempis) in my two tempi line and then just missed aiding correctly in my one tempis.”
Wilcox spent the summer with Galant training and working toward the upcoming season.
“This past summer, we trained. I call it my ‘summer of a million and one transitions’,” she said. “He didn’t show; he didn’t do anything but body-building and strengthening for Grand Prix. So now I feel like I have a second year Grand Prix horse.”
The duo competed as the final Grand Prix ride of the day, earning positive scores from the judges to kick off their season.
“We are going to try to qualify for the World Cup, and we will see how it goes. We also have a very fun freestyle, I’m looking forward to riding that Friday night,” Wilcox said. “It will be brand new music for him (Galant). We’ve only had a chance to practice twice. We just got it. He likes the music, so I’ll be curious to see how he demonstrates that in the arena.”
Coming in second to Wilcox in the FEI Grand Prix CDI-W, sponsored by MTICA Farm, was Mikala Gundersen (DEN) and My Lady, a 2000 Danish Warmblood mare (Michellino x Marion x Ritterstern) owned by Janne Rumbough, with a 71.220%. Third place was captured by Megan Lane (CAN) and Caravella, a 2001 KWPN mare (Contango x P. Riviera x Riverman) owned by Megan Lane, with a score of 70.700%.
Earlier in the day, Christilot Boylen (CAN) and mount Rockeylane, a 2006 Westfalen mare (Rock Forever x Rica) owned by Christilot Boylen, captured a win in the FEI Prix St. Georges with a score of 68.289%.
For more information and to see a full list of results, visit www.globaldressagefestival.com.