Adrienne Lyle and Valor Secure Title in the Markel/USEF Young Horse Five-Year-Old Dressage National Championship Final

Fourteen combinations returned to the ring to ride the FEI Five-Year-Old Final Test of the Markel/USEF Young Horse Five-Year-Old Dressage National Championship. Adrienne Lyle put in another excellent ride on Valor to score 9.24 in the class, earning scores of 8.4 for the trot, 8.5 for the walk, 10 for the canter, 9.5 for submission, and 9.8 for general impression. Lyle (Wellington, Fla.) and Kylee Lourie’s 2017 Westphalian gelding secured the National Champion title with an overall score of 9.248.

Photo - Adrienne Lyle and Valor (SusanJStickle.com)

“He was super again in the ring today,” said Lyle. “There was a little bit more atmosphere, even more people, and more electricity. But he put his head down and went right to work. He's so rideable and such a kind, giving horse. And I think that's what I enjoy the most about him.”

Watch the full class.

Alice Tarjan (Oldwick, N.J.) and Ierland’s Eden, her 2017 Oldenburg mare, won the FEI Five-Year-Old Final Test with a score of 9.24 and collected the Reserve Champion title with an overall score of 8.848. Lindsey Holleger (Middletown, N.Y.) and MW Fürstencharmant, Jennifer Vanover’s 2017 Oldenburg stallion, were third in the FEI Five-Year-Old Final Test with a score of 8.68 and third overall with a score of 8.792.

Overall championship results

From the Mixed Zone:

Tell us about your horse’s background.

Lyle: “He's owned by Kylee Lourie, who supports Katie Duerrhammer and owns the horse that she just was at the World Championships on, so we all just kind of hustled back here for this [event]. We bought him off a video. He had just turned three and had just been started under saddle off a video from Germany. He has been with us since then, and he's just been really fun to develop. This is my first year ever doing the young horse classes or the championships, so I'm learning a lot as I go as well and I’m very happy to be here.

Lindsey and Alice, talk about how your horse progressed since being in the four-year-old division last year.

Holleger: “I think my horse’s canter has changed a lot. And really the trot, too. But he's just gotten more engagement and just matured a lot in the last six months. They change so much when they are young, and it's cool to see them progress.”

Tarjan: “I think the balances start to shift from the USEF Four-Year-Old Test to the FEI Five-Year-Old Tests, so it is coming along.”

Competition concludes Sunday at 8 a.m. CT in the Markel Arena with the FEI Six-Year-Old Final Test of the Markel/USEF Young Horse Six-Year-Old Dressage National Championship, while the Grand Prix Arena starts at 8:30 a.m. CT with the FEI Children Individual Test of the USEF Children Dressage National Championship.

Watch the U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions live stream this week on USEF Network.

Complete Schedule
Live Scoring