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Saturday, June 28, 2008

Olympic Selection Trials for Dressage at the Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Festival of Champions

Adrienne Lyle and Wizard Lead in Brentina Cup Competition
By Lynndee Kemmet for DressageDaily.com

San Juan Capistrano, California – Adrienne Lyle may be getting a bit of help in the Brentina Cup competition from the Cup's namesake. Lyle trains with Brentina's rider, Debbie McDonald, who hinted that Wizard may be getting a bit of advice from Brentina herself.

"I'm sure Brentina talks to Wizard at night," McDonald joked.

Lyle and Wizard, a nine-year-old Oldenburg gelding, head into the final day of Brentina Cup competition in first place after winning Friday's Brentina Cup Test competition with a score of 67.846 percent. Behind them in second was Kelly Casey with Luzifer, a 14-year-old Warmblood gelding, and a score of 64.872 percent.

Humor aside, McDonald was quite pleased with the performance of her young protege and gave Lyle full credit for her success. "I think Adrienne is a very talented girl and he's a very talented horse. So, they're doing it themselves. I'm just the lucky one that gets to coach them," she said.

Lyle said she has had the opportunity to ride Brentina, but mostly just "to hack out. She's an incredibly sensitive horse." Those unique opportunities to sit on Brentina have also helped make Lyle a better rider, although she admits the mare is so sensitive that she doesn't dare ride with whip or spurs. Knowing Brentina as well as she does gives Lyle an incentive to live up to the image behind the Brentina Cup.

"She has such grace and finesse. You see the way Debbie rides her and how happy that horse is. It puts into your mind the idea of what dressage is and should be. To watch that every day makes you want to work that much harder to reach that level. That horse is amazing to watch," Lyle said of Brentina.

Debbie McDonald and Student Adrienne Lyle Have Mutual Admiration

Adrienne Lyle credits Debbie McDonald with helping her earn the right to compete in this year's Brentina Cup and McDonald couldn't be happier with Lyle's performance in the first day of Brentina Cup competition. "I was incredibly happy with her ride," she said. "Considering this was the first time doing a big competition like this, I was happy with both of them. They had a couple little mistakes, but I think the quality was so amazing. It's just an exciting combination to see for our future."

Lyle, also, is looking toward the future and sees her Brentina Cup run as just the start to a long career for Wizard. "My horse is young so it's really exciting for me. I'm a little overwhelmed. It all feels so amazing for me. I'm so excited for the future with him and I'm so grateful to everyone who has given me the opportunity to ride – the Thomases for supporting me and Debbie for training me."

Lyle is especially grateful to McDonald and calls her "an absolutely great teacher. She's given me such opportunities and she's so generous." What Lyle really appreciates is that neither the Thomases nor McDonald pressure her when it comes to Wizard. "They understand that he's green and he can have his days when he's on and off. We're working together and it's getting better and better. And we're going for it as much as we can, but this isn't the end of the road. We have a lot to look forward to regardless of what happens here at the Festival."

Although standing in second place in the Brentina Cup competition, Kelly Casey said she was very pleased with her first-day ride on Luzifer. "I was really happy because he stayed with me mentally." Both she and Lyle are competing in their first Brentina Cup competition and had high praise for the program. Both riders are 23 and said the Brentina Cup gave them one last opportunity to compete with riders their own age, many of whom have been fellow competitors from the junior ranks onward.

The final day of Brentina Cup competition will be quite a challenge for the young riders as they'll be riding a new test for the competition called the Young Rider Grand Prix. It's a test with which Lyle and Casey said they had not been familiar and in fact, Casey said she had to do a bit of online research to find the test. It's very similar to a regular Grand Prix test but shorter in format. Both Lyle and Casey said Saturday's final test will be interesting, but they're ready.