Lyle, Shoemaker, Salvino, Quiana Nominated for 2022 USEF Equestrian and Horse of the Year Titles

Dressage

U.S.A.

US Equestrian has nominated dressage rider Adrienne Lyle, para dressage rider Kate Shoemaker and dressage horses Salvino and Quiana for the the 2022 Horse of the Year and Equestrian of the Year titles.

The International and National Equestrians of the Year will be announced at the 2022 Pegasus Awards Dinner on Thursday, January 12, and the International and National Horses of the Year will be announced at the 2022 USEF Horse of the Year Awards Dinner on Saturday, January 14, at the 2023 US Equestrian Annual Meeting in Lexington, Ky.

Horses of Honor and Equestrians of Honor are nominated by their USEF affiliate organization or USEF breed or discipline committee, and the finalists are selected by the Awards Committee. The final Horses of the Year and Equestrians of the Year are determined by member voting.

International Equestrians of Honour

Three international equestrians of honour are nominated: Adrienne Lyle, Kate Shoemaker, and eventing rider Will Coleman. The William C. Steinkraus Trophy is presented to an equestrian competing in the Olympic disciplines of dressage, eventing, or show jumping. The Becky Grand Hart Trophy is presented to international-level non-Olympic athletes.

Adrienne Lyle

Coming off a team silver medal at the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games just last summer, U.S. dressage athlete Adrienne Lyle has not slowed down. In August, Lyle posted an 83.704% in the World Dressage Grand Prix Freestyle Championship at Herning 2022 on Salvino—the second-highest score of her career and good for sixth place amongst a strong international field. The combination was the only American team partnership to compete in the Grand Prix, Grand Prix Special, and Freestyle at the World Championships, where they also played a key role in qualifying the U.S. Dressage Team for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Ranked 11th in the FEI Dressage World Ranking at the time of her nomination, Lyle took home two national championships at the 2022 U.S. Young Horse Championships, winning the 4-year old Young Hors Championships with Fürst Dream and the 5-year old Championship with Valor.

Kate Shoemaker

Kate Shoemaker, a member of the U.S. Para Dressage Team that won bronze at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, enjoyed another banner year in 2022. She shone on the international stage, most notably at the World Para Championships in Herning, Denmark, where she was the U.S. team’s highest-placing individual medalist. In Herning, riding her own mare Quiana, she scored a personal-best 80.275% to win the silver medal in the Para Grade IV Freestyle. The pair also contributed the highest score toward the U.S. Para Dressage Team’s team bronze effort, which qualified the U.S. for a team berth at the Paris 2024 Paralympics.

Riding Quiana and Solitaer 40 during 2022 season, she also earned a team silver and individual overall CPEDI3* championship in Doha, Qatar, as well as top individual CPEDI3* results in Wellington, Fla., and a team victory and individual reserve honors in Tryon, N.C., among other notable achievements. Shoemaker’s contributions to para dressage in 2022 went beyond her own competition performances. Through her mentorship and coaching, and through training and lending horses, she has made a lasting impact on the sport. In 2022, she helped put together four horse-and-rider partnerships, including helping her Herning teammate Roxanne Trunnell secure the ride on Fortunato H2O. In October, she also coached a pair of up-and-coming riders at the CPEDI3* at Tryon: overall winner Fiona Howard and junior rider Genevieve Rohner, who achieved a personal best score.

International Horses of Honour

Salvino

(Sandro Hit x Donnerhall)
2007 Hanoverian stallion
Owner: Betsy Juliano LLC

Currently ranked 11th in the FEI Dressage World rankings with Olympian Adrienne Lyle, Salvino closed 2022 as one half of the top-ranked U.S. Dressage combinations in the world. And for good reason.

Success for Salvino, also known as “Vinny,” started at the 2022 Global Dressage Festival in February and March. At GDF 7, he and Lyle placed first in the CDI5* Grand Prix and Grand Prix Special. Then, at GDF 11, another first-place finish, this time in the CDI4* Grand Prix.

Salvino added to a long list of career accomplishments during August’s Herning 2022 Dressage World Championship where, with Lyle, he was a part of the only U.S. Team combination to compete in the Grand Prix, Grand Prix Special, and Freestyle in Denmark. In the Freestyle, Salvino posted the second-highest score of his career with an 83.704% that put him and Lyle sixth in the extremely competitive World Dressage Grand Prix Freestyle Championship.

Salvino notoriously loves showing off for a crowd, and Lyle felt the excitement and energy in Denmark. The pair have successfully completed three championships together. Lyle says that she’s grateful and cherishes everyday she gets to spend with Vinny as the pair has formed an incredibly close partnership over the past seven years.

Quiana

(Quaterstern x Rubinstern Noir)
2014 Rhinelander mare
Owner: Kate Shoemaker

Quiana began her partnership with Paralympian Kate Shoemaker in January 2022, and the pair quickly became a winning combination. Quiana and Shoemaker won their first CPEDI3* together and helped the U.S. Para Dressage Team earn second place at CHI Al Shaqab in Doha, Qatar. They finished in the top three in the Grade IV classes at their next CPEDI3* in Randbøl, Denmark, including a personal-best 75.813% in the Individual Test.

The impressive results secured Quiana and Shoemaker a spot on the U.S. Para Dressage Team at the World Para Dressage Championships in Herning, Denmark. The duo helped the U.S. earn a team bronze medal and qualify for a team berth at the Paris 2024 Paralympics. Quiana and Shoemaker closed out the World Championships by scoring a personal best 80.275% to win the silver medal in the Grade IV Freestyle and being the U.S. team’s highest-placing individual medalists.

Following their World Championships success, Quiana and Shoemaker finished their remarkable 2022 season by sweeping the Grade IV classes at the CPEDI3* in Riesenbeck, Germany. With Quiana’s help, it was the first time that Shoemaker topped the podium at an international competition in Europe.