April 13, 2024 – Ocala, FL – With new mount Helix, owned by Zen Elite Equestrian Center and Heidi Humphries, U.S. Olympic team silver medalist Adrienne Lyle scored a hat trick of victories at the World Equestrian Center (WEC) April Dressage CDI3* sponsored by Hampton Green Farm and Discover Dressageon Saturday, April 13, 2024. They won the Grand Prix Special CDI3* for Lyle’s third win in three days. Fédération Equestre International (FEI) and USEF/USDF-rated classes at the show conclude on Sunday, April 14.
Helix started competition on Friday in the Grand Prix with a 2% winning margin, and Lyle won on Thursday in the Grand Prix for Freestyle CDI3* with Lars van de Hoenderheide, who Lyle also guided to second place in Friday night’s freestyle. Helix returned to the ring on Saturday morning as the final entry in a 15-horse field. Lyle and the 12-year-old KWPN gelding by Apache x Jazz won by a smaller margin this time, but with a solid test and a score of 71.553% from judges Alban Tissot (FRA), Kristi Wysocki (USA), Raphaël Saleh (FRA), Alice Schwab (AUT) and Natacha Waddell (BRA).
“Helix is coming off of three weeks of intense showing, traveling and training, and it’s catching up a little bit with him,” conceded Lyle. “He felt a little bit tired today, so we didn’t go pedal to the metal full power. However, I think for the long term when you’re trying to develop a relationship with a horse it’s really important that they know you’re never going to ask more than what they’re capable of that day in the ring. He still went in there and did everything I asked, and I think that’s really important.”
While Lyle’s recent schedule has been busier than usual, she is not taking the situation to have two top grand prix horses for granted. In her limited time with Helix and Lars, Lyle has competed more than she normally would in order to gain qualifying scores to be considered for the U.S. Dressage Team short list for this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris, France.
“It’s been a challenge for sure, but it’s an amazing opportunity to have that challenge,” she acknowledged. “We have a lot of different goals along the way. Short term, what number of shows do we have to do minimally to even have the chance to qualify? And then long-term, what is really important? Because we want these horses for the long-term. This year, obviously, is a goal, but long-term is the bigger goal. You are constantly weighing all of that and trying to come up with the best program for them.”
In addition to being an Olympic-level athlete and training top riders, Lyle is a new mother to six-month-old Bailey. She had stopped riding when she was five months pregnant but got back on her trusty Olympic mount Salvino just three weeks after Bailey arrived. It took three months to regain her riding fitness, and now with six months under her belt, she feels back to where she was when she last competed at a CDI in January 2023.
“I worked really hard at physical fitness and workout routines to be fresh because when I looked at the calendar, I was like, ‘Oh wow, [the Olympics] are pretty close.’ On January 1, I wanted to at least be feeling like I could go down centerline somewhere if I wanted to.”
Ots and Bohemian Rise to Second
Another new combination, Endel Ots (USA) and Zen Elite’s Bohemian, a 14-year-old Westphalian gelding (Bordeaux 28 x Samarant) also owned by Zen Elite Equestrian Center, finished second with 71.021% in a harmonious test.
“I was really happy with the feeling in the test with him,” said Ots. “I was a little bit nervous going around the outside, and he felt nice and fresh. He’s ready within five minutes to go through the tests. It’s a lot more just making sure that I’m mentally ready for going through the tests. He’s ready for everything. You’re really asking him in the ring to do things. It’s not so much telling him anything. He’s a really, really intelligent horse.”
After five successful years under Danish Olympian Catherin Laudrup-Dufour that included European Championships and the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, Bohemian went on to compete with Korean rider Dong Seon Kim and Swedish Olympian Patrik Kittel before being offered for sale once again.
Ots, who had been working with Heidi Humphries of Zen Elite Equestrian for two years, went to try “Bohemian” when Humphries wanted to buy the talented horse. Ots remembered, “I loved him the second I got on him. Recently Heidi actually texted me a screenshot. She said, ‘Do you remember what you said when you texted me after your first ride on him?’
“She sent me a screenshot and it said, ‘I’ll sell one of my kidneys, give my firstborn child, whatever I have to do, to ride him,” laughed Ots. “That’s how it came to be.”
While Ots has plenty of experience competing with young horses and in Small Tour CDI classes as well as training other riders, he had not shown at the grand prix level internationally until Bohemian came into his life in 2024. This Grand Prix Special test was their fourth class together.
Ots works with a sports hypnotist to prepare for competition and felt ready for competition on Saturday morning. “I felt way more confident in there,” he said. “I know when my mind is in the right spot, and I know when it’s not in the right spot. I feel really good, and I am just really grateful to be a part of Heidi’s team and able to be up there with Adrienne and Katherine and Kasey. It’s really a dream come true, and I’m very thankful.”
Katherine Bateson Chandler and Haute Couture, a 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare by Connaisseur x IPS Krack C that she owns with Jennifer Huber, were third with 67.447%.
Grand Prix Special CDI3* Results
Full Show Results and Ride Times
The World Equestrian Center April Dressage CDI3* concludes on Sunday, April 14, with classes for children, amateur and young horse divisions as well as the Intermediate I Freestyle CDI1* and the Intermediate II CDI2*. For more information, visit www.wec.net.