U.S. team rider for the 2024 Paris Olympics Adrienne Lyle emphatically opened her 2025 account on day one of opening week – Lloyd Landkamer memorial week—of this year’s Adequan® Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) in Wellington, Florida. She topped the FEI World Cup™ Grand Prix, sponsored by Palm Beach Equine Clinic, riding Helix to a winning margin of over three percentage points. AGDF, which hosts seven weeks of CDI competition, runs through March 30.

Photo – Adrienne Lyle & Helix. (©susanjstickle.com)

Lyle posted 74.065% for the unanimous win from the five judges from final draw of 13 starters on Zen Elite Equestrian Center’s 13-year-old Helix (Apache x Jazz). Germany’s young talent Felicitas Hendricks returned to Wellington with her 14-year-old Drombusch OLD after a sterling 2024 season in which they were only beaten once in their eight CDI starts. The 14-year-old by Destano logged 70.913% to secure the runner-up spot. Sweden’s seven-time Olympian Tinne Vilhelmson Silfvén finished third with Devanto, Lövsta Stuteri’s 16-year-old Holsteiner gelding by De Chirico, on 69.565%.

Chilly

The conditions were unusually chilly for Florida as a blast of arctic air has lowered the temperatures considerably this week, but Helix was unfazed.

“Conditions do not affect him at all,” explained Lyle. “It was 100 degrees in Paris and he was still hot to trot. Hot, cold, doesn’t matter—he’s ready to roll any day. Personally, I love it.”

Lyle partnered with Helix in January 2024, with a tight window in which to qualify for the Paris Games and the pair made their international debut at the 2024 AGDF in late March.

“It’s really good to be back here,” said Lyle. “I’m excited to get a jump start on being able to show a little earlier this season and not have everything crammed into the end of it. It’s been nice to be home for a few months after Paris and to be able to relax and train without a big, looming deadline quite so close.

Continued Improvement

“In our test today, I thought there were places we were able to show continued improvement in the self-carriage, and a better frame,” added Lyle, who trains with Debbie McDonald. “I thought the piaffe/passage felt good; a bit more powerful than the grand prix we had in Ocala in December. In the changes I felt like I could really relax and ride into them.”

Lyle praised the KWPN gelding’s character and his willingness to adapt to his new circumstances, saying, “Helix has been so agreeable to changing programs and changing rider, and all of that with a tight qualifying schedule last summer.

“He’s a sensitive horse and he’s very hot in a good way,” she added. “He likes a routine, so I have to figure out what works for him and stick to it. If I do my job right, he does his and he doesn’t make mistakes, which is a pretty awesome quality to have in a horse. Now it’s a matter of building strength, improving the self-carriage and lengthening the neck. All of that will come from him getting stronger and carrying more weight on the hind legs. It just takes time.”

Qualifying

Lyle has not ruled out a run at qualifying for April’s 2025 FEI World Cup™ Final in Basel, Switzerland. She may also aim Helix at the lucrative new 2025 US Equestrian Open of Dressage, which offers $200,000 in prize money. During the current season, AGDF will host seven qualifiers for the US Equestrian Open of Dressage Final, taking place in California in November.

“We will go step by step with Helix,” added Lyle, who will contest the first ‘Friday Night Stars’ freestyle evening of the season under the lights on Friday, January 10. “He’s still a relatively young grand prix horse with a lot of years left in him hopefully, so we’re just looking to keep slowly building him for the future.”

Click here for full results from the FEI World Cup™ Grand Prix, sponsored by Palm Beach Equine Clinic.