WELLINGTON, Fla.--Endel Otis on Zen Elite's Bohemian won the CDI3* FEI Grand Prix on Thursday, March 28 at the Global Dressage Festival.
Endel Otis on Bohemian (Photo by Susan Stickle)Otis won over 24 starters with 72.761%.
Adrienne Lyle on Helix placed second with 71.065, and she placed third on Lars Van De Hoenderheide on a score of 70.652%
Zen Elite Equestrian’s team of three new top horses had the top three scores.
Owner Heidi Humphries bought the high-profile horses Bohemian, Helix and Lars Van De Hoenderheide for the U.S. riders Endel Ots and Olympic team silver medalist Lyle at the end of 2023, and this was the first CDI appearance for all three.
Bohemian was fourth at the Tokyo Olympics and won freestyle silver in 2021 under Denmark’s Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour.
Ridden by Otis, Bohmian had a number of of eights, particularly for piaffe and passage, but the final score was lowered by mistakes in the two-time changes, which earned twos and threes from the panel of five judges.
U.S. riders placed first through sixth in the class, which was a qualifier for Saturday’s Grand Prix Special.
OTIS WAS making his international grand prix debut with the 14-year-old by Bordeaux.
Although a seasoned competitor nationally, this was Otis' very first grand prix in a CDI.
“It’s all very surreal,” said Ots, who has trained with Albrecht Heidemann since he was 18. “You always see all the famous people like Adrienne Lyle and Kasey Perry [who finished fourth with 70% on Heartbeat WP], and I am just thankful and happy to be in there with them and part of the group.
“Heidi from Zen has a vision on what she’s looking for and what she wants to do in the sport." said Otis. "She saw Bohemian’s ad on Eurodressage and that he was going to auction and said she wanted me to go and sit on him. So I did, and I called her right afterwards and said, ‘I could do a CDI grand prix on him right now, he’s such an unbelievable animal.’ He’s really a crazy cool horse.
“He has the biggest heart I’ve ever felt of any horse, with such a wonderful personality. This one is something special and a beautiful soul. This is such a fun experience.”
“I should have warmed up for 10 minutes less today," he said of his mistakes. "I’ve been trying to get comfortable with doing less warm-up with Bohemian, and I was reminded that if the rider has the right mindset with him, he can go in there and do everything great. It’s been a question of getting my own mind under control.”
Ots will continue working with Heidemann, and their weekly schedule includes a couple of schooling sessions plus bareback riding and hand walking.
Next, Bohemian will be focused on two Florida CDIs to hopefully secure a place on the U.S. squad who will compete in Europe this summer to bid for a place on the Olympic team.
“Yesterday I got into a fight with a stall fan and zip ties because I couldn’t get it to hang up, and then today we are out here doing this. It’s a very humbling sport and every day is a blessing,”said Otis.
Sweden’s seven-time Olympian Tinne Vilhelmson Silfvéns on Hyatt won the CDI4* Grand Prix, with 70.979% in the horse’s four-star debut.
Germany’s Anna-Cristina Abbelen on Sam Donnerhall, the oldest horse in the class, was second on 0.87%, and less than a percentage point behind, Katherine Bateson Chandler on Haute Couture was third with 69.913%.
“I’ve been working on my relationship with Hyatt, doing some shows then training a bit,” Vilhelmson Silfvén said. “I needed this time in the arena to get to know her and see how hot I want to have her in the warmup, or how careful I have to be, or how I should prepare her.
“Right now it’s getting better," she said. "She was a bit excited from the wind, but it’s good for her to train that too,she has to learn all this. She has really no experience actually, as before I got her she had done just a few shows. She will tell me how fast we can go. She has so much more power in her that I’m still saving so that she feels secure, and I don’t want to overdo it.
Vilhelmson Silfvén and her team of horses will return to Europe after AGDF ends, take a break in April and then show at the CDI Compiègne in France in May.
