U.S. Olympian Adrienne Lyle and young talent Katrina Sadis rode to the top of opening classes at the 2024 CDI Ocala on Thursday, April 11, 2024.
Lyle Going Full Throttle
Lyle, a mainstay on the U.S. Dressage team in recent years with her recently retired Olympic mount Salvino, has brought her two new grand prix mounts to Ocala – Ocala with the goal of gaining qualifying scores for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games this summer.
After having waited till the end of the Global Dressage Festival season in Wellington in order to form a partnership with the two newly acquired horses, she is now going full throttle to earn qualification scores. She competed back-to-back in the last Wellington show, followed by Myakka City and now Ocala.
The first of those to compete, Lars van de Hoenderheide owned by Zen Elite Equestrian Center, led the Grand Prix for Freestyle 3* over 12 other competitors with a score of 72% from judges Stephen Clarke (GBR), Alice Schwab (AUT), Raphaël Saleh (FRA), Kristi Wysocki (USA) and Natacha Waddell (BRA). The class had to be interrupted mid-way due to a heavy rain storms after a windy morning affecting several rides.
Marcus Orlob (USA) and Jane, a 10-year-old KWPN mare by Desperado x Metall owned by Alice Tarjan, placed second with a personal best score of 69.913%. With a score of 68.913%, Julio Mendoza Loor (ECU) and a particularly tense and spooky Jewel’s Goldstrike, a 13-year-old KWPN gelding by Bretton Woods x Scandic he owns with Jessica and Justin Mendoza, were third.
“Lars” only came to the U.S. on January 13, so the burgeoning relationship with Lyle has quickly advanced. Lyle credits his previous two years of grand prix competition experience with Charlotte Fry (GBR), which included five wins at CDI3* shows in Europe. Lyle and Lars competed together for the first time just two weeks ago and won the Grand Prix Special in Wellington, FL.
“Lars is a really solid horse. He's been out there, he's had a little bit more experience and he seems very reliable,” said Lyle of the 12-year-old BWP gelding by Negro x Layout. “He's got a great character, and you can't help but love his personality. He's got super canter work, very expressive, good piaffe/passage tour, good walk. There are a lot of nice qualities that he has, and he's fun to ride. He's a horse that you can really ride, really put the gas on and really go for it. That's fun to have.”
Lars showed his reliability by producing a clean test in the Grand Prix. “I was happy with him, especially considering it was kind of an odd morning with the two rain delays,” said Lyle. “It was a lot of changing, but that happens; that's part of horse show life. You go in the ring, and there are plants blowing down and puddles and all that, but that's what you need to know they'll be capable of handling. He still went in there and put in a clean test and that's really important that he can handle everything we throw at him.”
Lyle and Lars will contest their first Grand Prix Freestyle together on Friday evening with old freestyle music that Lyle used with her first grand prix horse Wizard. “It’s really fun music,” she said. “It fits Lars’s cheeky personality, and it’s going to be fun to do it at night here under the lights.”
Sadis and Valerius Ymas Score First PSG Win
In their third CDI competition together, Katrina Sadis and Valerius Ymas, owned by Yeguada de Ymas S.L. and Cristina Danguillecourt, won their first Prix St. Georges 1* class with a score of 69.471% from judges Alban Tissot (FRA), Kristi Wysocki (USA), Natacha Waddell (BRA), Alice Schwab (AUT) and Raphaël Saleh (FRA).
While Sadis is only 25 years old, she has been riding professionally for seven years. While in online high school and at Florida Atlantic University, she also worked full-time for David Marcus and Nicholas Fyffe before seizing the opportunity to work for Yeguada de Ymas two years ago.
“It’s really turned into a super situation for me,” said Sadis, who joins Bacariza Danguillecourt and Pablo Gomez Molina as riders at the business that is based in Spain and Wellington, FL. “It’s a really great team environment there. We are trying to do the best we can and support each other and bring the horses along.”
Sadis has ridden Valerius Ymas, a nine-year-old Westphalian stallion (Vitalis x Dancier), for two years and has brought the talented horse up from Third Level. “He’s a really cool stallion. I really enjoy riding him,” she said. “This is our first year at international level, and I think he’s really taken this step on well.”
In their Prix St. Georges test, Sadis noted they had a little mistake but felt really solid since they arrived at WEC – Ocala and in the trot work of the test. She continued, “I think the cooler weather helped him a little bit. My changes are always really nice to ride on that horse and the extended canter too. I was really happy with the way it turned out.”
-- WEC press release, edited by Eurodressage - Photos © Lily Forado
Related Link
Scores: 2024 CDI Ocala