Aboard her striking black Danish Warmblood gelding Goerklingaards Dublet, Kasey Perry-Glass has done the USA proud: in addition to participating in many Nations Cups for Old Glory, the pair was instrumental in clinching the team bronze medal in Rio in 2016. Now, they’ll ride once again for the red, white, and blue as part of the United States Dressage team at the FEI World Equestrian Games in just a few short weeks.
So how is the California girl preparing to ride down the centerline at Tryon? With just days to go before the Games begin, Kasey and Dublet are partaking in
Skara Glen’s Machu Picchu is named after the stunning Incan citadel in Peru, but the 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding won’t be visiting his namesake anytime soon. The bay is instead bound for Tryon, and while that might not quite be one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, the North Carolina resort town is unquestionably the must-visit travel destination of the summer.
The World Equestrian Games are set to take place at the Tryon International Equestrian Center in less than two weeks’ time. There, “Machu” and longtime partner Paul O’Shea will jump their respective first championships for a formidable Irish squad led by Chef d’Equipe Rodrigo Pessoa, himself the individual gold medalist of the 1998 WEG in Rome, Italy.
After the retirement of her 2012 Olympic and 2014 World Equestrian Games partner, Wizard, some wondered what the future would hold for Adrienne Lyle. But with 8-year-old Salvino, a 2010 stallion she found in Europe as a youngster, Adrienne is anything but done. In a few weeks time, Adrienne will again ride for the United States, this time at the World Equestrian Games in Tryon.
“It’s an incredible honor to be selected for the team,” says Adrienne. “Dressage gets more competitive every year and it’s that much more challenging to make a team, and even more rewarding to be picked.
Now based in Wellington, Fla. with coach and mentor, Debbie McDonald (who will be taking over the role of US Technical Advisor when Robert Dover retires after the WEG), Adrienne is busy prepping her stunning bay partner for his first team experience.
Spencer Smith has learned to always answer his phone - you never know who might be on the other end of the line, after all.
Smith, still a veritable young gun at 21, had never before ridden on a senior Nations Cup team when he received a phone call inviting him to compete alongside Team USA at CSIO5* Rome in May of 2018. He was in Germany at the time, preparing to jump at CSI4* Wiesbaden, when he got the call to represent his country following the defections of Lauren Hough and Kent Farrington. Jumping at the opportunity, he packed up his horses and immediately set off on another two-day trip across Europe.
Five days later, outfitted in his own red coat, he contributed to a silver-medal winning effort the U.S. alongside Beezie Madden, Laura Kraut, and McLain Ward. While contributing the drop score in both rounds on scores of eight, he did more than impress some of the biggest names in American show jumping around him.
Eventers like speed, right? Try this one on for size: last October, less than a year before the start of the 2018 World Equestrian Games at Tryon, the United States Equestrian Federation hired Erik Duvander as the U.S. High Performance Director for Eventing. With limited time to become familiar with the horses and riders and make an impact on the program before the next major championship, Erik prioritized preparation for the Games, while simultaneously formulating his plan to return the U.S. to a powerhouse position in the sport of eventing.
Since taking on this new position, Erik has spent close to four months away from his family in New Zealand, traveling around America and to competitions worldwide, working with the U.S. high-performance three-day event riders.
“I really need to invest my time and spend enough with the riders to try to fully understand them and their horses so I can be of best value to them,” Erik says. “I feel the time invested has been really good. It’s worked out and I think it’s a lot to