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.

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

Wellington, FL – February 20, 2020 – It was a full day of grand prix level action on the second day of week eight of the 2020 Adequan® Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) in Wellington, Florida. There were four classes at the level, two three-star classes, and two four-star.

All eyes were on the USA’s Adrienne Lyle in the FEI Grand Prix CDI4*, presented by Mission Control, who brought out her top horse, Salvino, for the first time this season, marking the start of their bid for a Tokyo Olympics place. They did not disappoint and led the class with a commanding 76.87%, their equal second highest-ever score in this test. Another Olympic hopeful, Olivia LaGoy-Weltz (USA) finished second with 72.935% on Lonoir and Lindsay Kellock (CAN) slotted into third on Sebastien with 69.826%.

Lyle’s test on Betsy Juliano’s 13-year-old stallion by Sandro Hit was a masterclass in harmony, and it was rewarded with clutches of nines, particularly for the light-footed passage and piaffe. The pair — who has not competed since Aachen in July 2019 — garnered a high score of 79.239% from the judge at C, Germany’s Henning Lehrmann.

“I’m thrilled with him; that’s one of the best feelings I’ve had in there,” said Lyle, who is ranked 20th in the world with Salvino. “He feels so happy and super excited to be here. Ever since he came on the grounds he’s been puffed up and ready to go and I was really happy with how focused he was despite all of his energy; it’s a great combination to be able to ride. It’s the balance that we’re always trying to find: to have that hotness and that fire and still have him be really rideable, with no mistakes, a clean test and focused was just wonderful.”

Of her decision not to compete in the previous week’s five-star CDI, she said: “In a year like this, you have to come out strong, especially when we did have a bit of a break. I really wanted to make sure everyone knows that he’s been fit and great and he really does feel good. We’re just trying to think of the big picture and always make the best decisions for him, so for fitness reasons we decided that the best plan would be to give him one more week of building up his fitness.”

After Aachen, Salvino travelled to Kylee Lourie’s farm in Denver, Colorado for some down time. The pair arrived in Wellington on November 1 and have been training with Debbie McDonald, preparing for this 2020 season debut. Salvino’s schedule consists of lessons two or three times a week, as well as sessions on the Aquatread and conditioning work in the jumping field at Kylee Lourie’s TyL Farm, just down the road from AGDF.

“It’s all about keeping his body and his mind happy,” added Lyle. “Our big goal is to qualify to go with the US riders to Europe in the hopes of trying to qualify for Tokyo. There’s a lot of stars that have to align for that, but mapping out our big goal, that’s what we’d love to shoot for.”

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