Herning, Denmark – Adrienne Lyle and Salvino impressed in their FEI Grand Prix Freestyle under the lights at Stutteri ASK Stadium this evening, producing an 83.704 percent to take sixth place overall in the extremely competitive final competition for dressage combinations this week at the ECCO FEI World Championships Herning 2022. Charlotte Fry (GBR) took the gold aboard Glamourdale with a score of 90.654 percent, while Catherine Laudrup-Dufour (DEN) and Vamos Amigos earned silver on a 89.411 percent, while Dinja van Liere (NED) and Hermes secured bronze on an 86.900 percent.

Surprisingly, as one of the Dutta Corp. U.S. Dressage Team’s most veteran athletes, Lyle (Wellington, Fla.) has never contested a freestyle at a championship event for the United States and was excited to show off her choreography and increased degree of difficulty with the 2007 Hanoverian stallion owned by Betsy Juliano LLC. Salvino notoriously loves showing off for a crowd and Lyle felt the excitement and energy from the warm-up as they were preparing for their test.

“He was very electric today in the warm-up. This is the third time he’s been in the stadium now packed with people and he started to realize there was a big crowd in there and had a few more nerves than we normally do, but once we got into the ring he took a breath and she knew what his job was and what he was doing and that’s what makes him such a special horse,” said Lyle.

Finishing sixth amongst an incredibly strong field, Lyle commented on the highlights of the test and why riding the freestyle is such an extraordinary experience, especially in front of an enthusiastic and engaged crowd.

“We’ve added the piaffe pirouette to highlight some of the movements he does well and to bump the degree of difficulty up and we were able to have a clean ride, so that’s huge when you have a high degree of difficulty and are flirting with that line of pushing it as far as you can, while still making it look organized and elegant,” she said. “The final centerline is always my favorite part on him. He just loves that and I was happy he was so focused through the changes and all of the canter work given how fresh and anxious he was in the warm-up and he put his head down and went to work in there.”

With the team goal of Paris 2024 qualification secured, Lyle will give Salvino a well-deserved vacation before re-evaluating their plans for 2023, which could include an appearance at the 2023 FEI Dressage World Cup Final in Omaha, Neb. The pair have successfully completed their third championship together and Lyle noted that she’s grateful and cherishes everyday she gets to spend with “Vinny,” and they have formed an incredibly close partnership over the past seven years.

“We have such an amazing team. I’m always blown away when I come to these championships but how much of a village, we have behind us and we’re so incredibly fortunate to have that. We want everyone to succeed,” she said. “Every day with Vinny is such a blessing. He feels great and he’ll go home and get a good break. Next year we have the World Cup Finals in our backyard in Omaha and that’s always in the back of my mind because we both love the freestyle and as long as he feels fresh and fit and wants to keep doing this, he will.”

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