Adrienne Lyle and Salvino ©SusanStickle.

Wellington, FL – April 1, 2021 – The Adequan® Global Dressage Festival continued on Thursday, April 1, marking a top placing for the USA’s Adrienne Lyle and Salvino in the FEI Grand Prix for Special CDI4*, presented by Adequan®.

It was Betsy Juliano LLC’s 2007 Hanoverian stallion by Sandro Hit that concluded the day with the highest honors in the International Stadium at Palm Beach International Equestrian Center’s (PBIEC) Equestrian Village, highlighting the stallion’s return to competition for the first time in over a year.

“It felt amazing,” began Lyle. “He just never ceases to amaze me with his heart; that horse has a bigger heart than any animal on this planet, I think. He’s just proven time and time again that he’ll be there when I need him to be there if we listen to him and don’t overdo it. We waited to come out last year until later in the season and it worked, so we decided to wait again this year, and so far, it’s off to a good start. Hopefully, we can put in a few more performances like that leading up to the summer.”

The pair put in an outstanding performance, ending the ride with a personal best score of 80.065%. “He felt really fit and fresh,” explained Lyle, “and was even squealing a little going around the outside of the ring like he was really fired up. I like him to be in that spot where he’s really excited to go in there.”

She continued, “I actually started crying after the ride, which I hardly ever do. He didn’t put a foot out of place, and he’s so amazing. I could tell he was excited and fresh. We haven’t been in there in over a year, and when he went down centerline, he focused and knew it was time to put everything aside. He really knows how to be there for you, and not many horses are like that. You don’t get to sit on many of those in a lifetime.”

The FEI Grand Prix for Special CDI3*, presented by Ashley Holzer of Southgate Farm with longtime friends and co-sponsors P. J. Rizvi and Dr. Diane Fellows, was topped by Susan Dutta (USA) on Figeac DC, Tim and Susan Dutta’s 2009 Oldenburg gelding by Fackeltanz, with a 70.630%. Second place was awarded to Jessica Howington (USA) on her own 2007 KWPN mare, Cavalia, by Sir Donnerhall I, riding to a score of 68.522%. Third place was captured by another USA rider, Alice Tarjan, aboard her own 2010 Hanoverian mare by Christ, receiving a 67.457%.

For more information and results, please visit www.GlobalDressageFestival.com.

Adrienne Lyle and Harmony’s Duval ©SusanJStickle.

Wellington, FL – March 19, 2021 – Week ten of the 2021 Adequan® Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) continued on Friday, March 19, at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) in Wellington, FL with a winning ride for Adrienne Lyle (USA) and Harmony’s Duval in the FEI Grand Prix Freestyle CDIO3*, presented by Stillpoint Farm.

Lyle and Harmony’s Duval, Duval Partners LLC’s 2008 KWPN gelding by Rousseau, conquered the freestyle under the lights, riding to a score of 80.020%. “It was worth staying up past my bedtime!” she joked.

“There’s really nothing that compares to riding at Global on a Friday Night Stars,” continued Lyle. “It’s one of my favorite experiences in the horse world. To do this on Duval, who we had from when he was unbroke, all the way up to becoming an individual gold medalist here, is just really special. I’ve got an unbelievable group of owners that have supported me along the way.”

Lyle noted that her freestyle is from her previous mount Wizard in 2011 at Dressage at Devon, but thought it would fit well for her mount’s second ever freestyle.

“I wanted to go back to something I knew since Duval has done one freestyle in his life, so I could give him a good experience out there,” she explained.

Lyle and the gelding produced top performances all week, achieving the highest scores in both the grand prix and grand prix special before contesting the freestyle. “I started with the canter work with him [when planning the degree of difficulty]” she remarked. “I think he’s got some fun, powerful canter work. It’s not the most difficult freestyle out there nowadays. When I made it, they didn’t have the degree of difficulty score the way that they do now. But it still has double pirouettes [and] piaffe pirouettes, so it gets enough [degree of difficulty points]. I think it’s a really fun one; it doesn’t always have to be for him the most difficult every time he goes out.”

For more information and results, please visit www.GlobalDressageFestival.com.

Adrienne Lyle (USA) and Harmony’s Duval ©SusanStickle.com.

Wellington, FL – January 16, 2021 – Day three of Adequan® Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) continued on Saturday, January 16, with a second victory for Adrienne Lyle (USA) and Harmony’s Duval, this time in the FEI Grand Prix Special CDI3*, presented by Harmony Sporthorses.

Lyle and the Duval Partners LLC’s 13-year-old KWPN gelding (by Rosseau) earned a 74.830% for their day’s performance. The pair landed three percentage points above second-place finisher Jennifer Williams, who earned a personal best score (72.192%) with Millione, an 18-year-old Danish Warmblood gelding by Milan owned by Millione Partners. Third place went to Susan Pape (GBR) on Harmony’s Eclectisch, Harmony Sporthorses’ 12-year-old KWPN stallion by Zenon, who received a 71.724% from judges.

“He felt much more comfortable in his own skin today,” said Lyle of the gelding. “I was really happy with him. He felt much softer in his back, and the connection through the ride was a lot better than in our test on Thursday. He was really able to show off some of his highlights today, and I’m thrilled with the overall performance.”

“He’s always had a lot of talent for the collected work,” she continued, “the piaffe, passage, pirouettes. When he’s nice and supple and happy like he was today, he really shows it off nicely. With him, we’re always trying to find ways to keep him relaxed mentally in his work. He tries very hard, and we always work to keep a very clear understanding between us about what I’m asking of him.”

After two successful competition weeks (AGDF 1 and competition at the AGDF venue in December), Lyle does not have a definitive plan as to when the pair will compete next, but intends to give Duval a chance to have a bit of fun. “He has done so well, and we won’t train super hard in between shows,” she said. “He gets to go home and have a little bit of fun!”

For more information and results, please visit www.GlobalDressageFestival.com.

Adrienne Lyle (USA) and Harmony’s Duval ©SusanStickle.com.

Wellington, FL – January 14, 2021 – The 2021 Adequan® Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) kicked off its tenth season at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) in Wellington, FL on Thursday, January 14, with a victory for Adrienne Lyle (USA) and Harmony’s Duval in the FEI Grand Prix CDI3*, presented by Harmony Sporthorses.

Lyle and the 13-year-old KWPN gelding by Rosseau owned by Duval Partners LLC have been dominating in the Global Stadium at PBIEC lately, coming off of a double victory weekend in December.

“I was quite happy with him,” said Lyle of the day’s performance, which resulted in a score of 71.304%. “He’s a little more nervous than I was anticipating. I don’t know if it’s the cooler weather or what, but he was a little on edge, which is interesting because we’ve shown here plenty of times before. There was a bit of a different horse in there today. We lost a few points in our piaffe and passage, were lacking a bit of harmony and elastic energy, and that can be such a highlight for him. Now we take this, and we move on to the Grand Prix Special. That’s a test that really counts for us, but this was a good starting place.”

The gelding has now marked six wins in his last 13 starts, and Lyle hopes to continue on and refine their work this season. “With him,” she explained, “this is his second year at the Grand Prix. He knows his stuff now, but we’ve been trying to polish it all up. We’ve done a lot of halt rein-back, a lot of cantering and halting, [and] just a lot of work with halts because he’s not a huge fan of them, so we’ve worked on those moments where he could possibly get distracted and lose points.”

She continued, “We’re focusing on the Special with him this year. We’ve chosen not to focus on the Freestyle or World Cup Qualifiers in hopes of making the short list to go to Europe with him. We have a wonderful group of owners who are supporting us, and we’ll just keep on enjoying the season for now.”

Despite plenty of training time at home due to the global pandemic, Lyle is excited to have Duval back in competition, and admitted that the break wasn’t as beneficial for him as it was for others.

“We had time to train at home due to COVID, but it wasn’t a big advantage because he is a horse that needs to be exposed, out, and doing something,” she noted. “To sit at home all summer, it was a bit difficult to get his mind back into it, but his strength in the collection work is continuing to improve. His overall rideability has always been the biggest focus with him because he can get a little distracted.”

For more information on AGDF, please visit www.GlobalDressageFestival.com.

Adrienne Lyle (USA) and Salvino. ©️Susan Stickle.

Wellington, FL – February 29, 2020 – It was a heady day of new personal bests, with both Adrienne Lyle (USA) and Olivia LaGoy-Weltz (USA) bringing their A-game to the FEI Grand Prix Special CDI4*, presented by Mission Control. Lyle ultimately came out on top with a dazzling display on Salvino, garnering 80.17% in week eight of the 12-week Adequan® Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) held at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) in Wellington, Florida.

This may have been his first show since Aachen in July 2019, but Salvino showed no signs of ring rustiness. He and Lyle produced another harmonious performance to remain undefeated this week, and their quest for an Olympic berth remains on track.

LaGoy-Weltz and Lonoir, her own and Mary Anne McPhail’s 16-year-old gelding by De Noir, scored a new personal best of 75.617% for second place. Another American lady rider filled third: Jennifer Schrader-Williams rode the 17-year-old Millione, by Milan, to 71.064%.

“I’m amazed,” beamed the 35-year-old from Idaho. “I couldn’t have asked for anything more from him. The test was everything you’d hoped in the back of your mind that you’d be able to achieve. I didn’t say it out loud, but I was secretly hoping we’d get at least close to 80%.

“We’ve had him for five years now, and been showing the grand prix for three years, but developed him slowly,” said Lyle, who debuted Salvino at big tour at AGDF three years ago. “I’m sure lucky to have the support of Betsy [Juliano] as an owner and Debbie [McDonald] as a trainer who believe in developing them slowly. We always thought he had talent, but we took our time and now he really feels like he’s ready to put it all together. He’s at a place in his mind and body now where he’s able to be consistent and not be stressed about doing any of it.

Watch Adrienne Lyle’s winning test here. Courtesy of Richard’s Equine Video.

“He didn’t change at all [from the warm-up]; he didn’t get hot or dull or strong and that’s huge for us,” she added. “To get those last few little points, it’s all about the refinement and the rideability. He’s the coolest thing I’ve ever sat on. To get an 80% in a grand prix is something not many people get to do and it’s an incredible honor to sit on him.”

Owner Betsy Juliano was ringside to watch her horse perform. She said: “That horse trusts Adrienne for every single second. She trains him with complete empathy and understanding and thoroughness, so what we see here in the arena is the result of all that. Every single day. She knows every molecule of that horse, so as an owner I rest every night knowing that he’s in the best hands.

“I’ve never sold a horse; any one I’ve ever acquired will be kept for life and that will be the same for him,” added Juliano. “It’s important to me that the rider has that security, but also I’m not in it to make money. We do talk about probably breeding him once his competition career is over, but not until then, because we want to keep him focused on this.”

For more information and results, visit www.globaldressagefestival.com.