OCALA, Fla.--Adrienne Lyle on Helix won the Grand Prix Special CDI3* on Sunday, May 15 at the World Equestrian Center.
Adrienne Lyle on Helix (Photo by Andrew Ryback)It was a satisfying return to the show ring for the pair that competed at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games and who haven’t shown internationally for a year.
Lyle scored 73.213% for the win.
“I've been working a lot on my position a little bit and tweaking it,” said Lyle. “It’s how I can sit differently to balance Helix, get more on my seat, be able to open the frame and lift, and find a more uphill balance. I think we're starting to click into that.”
With two wins this week, Lyle is thrilled with how Helix handled every question.
“It feels awesome,” she said. “I'm super proud of him. We haven't done a special in a CDI since Kronenberg before Paris, so it's been a while. We didn't do any last year. I'm just totally thrilled with him. It's hot, and it's the end of a long week, so I had to support him a little bit more to help him through the test today. He was just really accepting of that and let me ride him and put in, I think, the best effort that he could. So, that's all you can ask for. I was really happy.”
While there are not currently any competition plans for Helix, he will join the rest of Lyle’s team and head to Europe in a few weeks, where they will base in Holland.
SECOND and third places from Friday’s Grand Prix swapped in the Grand Prix Special, with Kevin Kohmann on Sonata MF finishing second on a score of 69.298%.
Third place went to Denielle Gallagher of Canada on Come Back de Massa with 68.064%.
Christian Simonson, who was trying to claim a second straight U.S. Championship title on Indian Rock, pulled the horse from the deciding Grand Prix Freestyle at WEC after the performance in the Special.
Christian and the 13-year-old stallion received an uncharacteristically low score of 68.532% and 6th place in the Special.
Two days earlier, Christian and Rocky, as the horse is nicknamed, scored 75.196% to win the Grand Prix.
The duo was entered in the Freestyle scheduled for Saturday night, and it was widely thought that the performance would give the 23-year-old rider and horse their second straight title, coming a month after claiming reserve World Cup champion at the Final in Fort Worth, Texas.
Christian responded to a question about the withdrawal as such: “Unfortunately, it just wasn’t Rocky and I’s day, and I certainly didn’t help him out with an error of course."
“Despite leading the championships, we’ve made the decision to focus on Felix for tomorrow night’s Freestyle and give Rocky the night off, given he’s done so many great freestyles already this season, including his stellar performance in Texas just a few weeks ago.”
There was no response from the U.S. Federation that is staging these championships.
A major factor in this championship, described as an “observation” event, has been to decide on a squad to go to Europe before the selection of the four-member team for the World Championships in Aachen, Germany, in mid-August.
The change in the horse’s schedule was not expected to impact decisions on the European swing that will focus on a CDIO4* Nations Cup in Hagen, Germany, the first week of July.
Selection of the World Championship team will follow shortly after.
The depth of a squad has already been diminished by the withdrawal from these championships of the 12-year-old mare Jane, ridden by Marcus Orlob, after a minor injury.
The partnership led the standings of combinations that fulfilled the Grand Prix and Special requirements to qualify for the national championships.
