Wellington, Fla. – Jan. 24, 2019 – It’s been four months since Kasey Perry-Glass last rode down centerline aboard Goerklintgaards Dublet at the FEI World Equestrian Games where she placed sixth place individually in the Grand Prix Special and helped the U.S. earn a team silver medal. Since then the pair has enjoyed taking a break from the demands of rigorous training and competing in California before returning to Wellington in early December.
The break paid off as they returned to the ring as strong as ever to win the CDI-W Grand Prix during the third week of competition at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival. Perry and her mother, Diane Perry’s 16-year-old Danish Warmblood gelding, earned a 77.913 percent with multiple scores of 9 from the judges for their one-tempi changes and piaffe.
U.S. teammate Laura Graves and her own 17-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding Verdades finished just shy of Perry-Glass’ score of 77.913 percent with a total of 77.087 percent. After also helping the U.S. claim a team silver medal at the World Equestrian Games in Tryon, North Carolina last year, Graves allowed Verdades the rest of the year to recuperate before returning to Florida to compete in the 2019 winter season. The pair dominated the Grand Prix competition in the first week of the AGDF, and have set their sights on qualifying for the FEI World Cup Finals to be held in Gothenburg, Sweden in April of this year.
Finishing in third was another member of the U.S. dressage team, Adrienne Lyle riding Betsy Juliano LLC’s Salvino. Lyle and the 12-year-old Hanoverian stallion performed well to earn a score of 74.717 percent, which was a significant score improvement from their 69.043 percent in the Grand Prix Special at WEG.
The division will continue Friday, Jan. 25 with the CDI-W Grand Prix Freestyle taking place at 7 p.m.
FROM THE WINNERS CIRCLE
Kasey Perry-Glass – CDI-W Grand Prix winner
On Goerklintgaards Dublet’s break:
“We didn’t take nearly as big of a break as we did last year, but I did go back to Orangevale, California, and give him some time off. We then built him back very slowly. I continued to stick to the program that I have going. We AquaTred with him three to four times a week while he is in full work and he is turned out all day to try and keep his mind healthy. Sometimes, it makes me feel like he is a little bit on the lazy side, but as long as he is happy, he gets in that arena and sparks up completely. He loves his job and is a very special horse.”
On how she is feeling about the win:
“I am not surprised by the results because I know this horse has a lot of potential. Coming out for your first show, you always want to do well and start where you left off at the end of last year. I felt like that test was better than I have ever felt him; the rideability was there and his mental game was there. It really showed that he is ready for this year.”
On her WEG teammates:
“I love having them standing up there with me. I love those girls and I miss Steffen [Peters] and Olivia [LaGoy-Weltz] being here. I want them to win and do well just as much as I want to. It is always nice when one of us is in first, second, or third. I am so happy and proud of them. I love my team and I love the people that are coming up. Katherine Bateson-Chandler did amazing today, she really set the bar. It was a fun day.”
On her freestyle:
“I am going to stick with the same freestyle. I love my music too much to want to change anything. Once I get a little bit settled after this show I am going to tweak the degree of difficulty a little bit and work a bit with that. I might also tweak the music to it, but I really love my music – Tom Hunt does an amazing job. He is brilliant and so easy to work with.”
Moving forward:
“I would like to fine tune things a little bit. I came out and had a really challenging school right before the show started and it really made me have to ride him today, which I think is awesome. I just had a few light bulb moments with our riding. Even after being on the Rio team and the WEG team, you still have those moments. We are just going to keep continuing to grow and see if we can get the scores up even by half a point. We will keep chasing the higher scores.”
On her relationship with Goerklintgaards Dublet:
“I am very close to him. He is my baby. I am around him all day and I look after the smallest little things with him. My vet is always telling me ‘Kasey, he is fine!’ but you really just never know. The earlier to catch things, the earlier you can fix things. I take his care very seriously along with all of my other horses. That is why I try to keep my ratio low because it can be very stressful!”
RESULTS: FEI World Cup Grand Prix
Place / Rider / Country / Horse / Score
1. Kasey Perry-Glass / USA / Goerklintgaards Dublet / 77.913
2. Laura Graves / USA / Verdades / 77.087
3. Adrienne Lyle / USA / Salvino / 74.717
4. Tinne Vilhelmson Silfvén / SWE / Don Auriello / 73.826
5. Shelly Francis / USA / Danilo / 73.522
6. Jill Irving / CAN / Degas 12 / 69.413
7. Yvonne Losos De Muniz / DOM / Foco Loco W / 68.587
8. Jessica Kozel / USA / Denzello / 66.870
