Wellington, Fla.—Jan. 14 

“I must say, it was a good feeling to be in the ring again after he had a break for a while. It’s nice to see.”

Tinne Vilhelmson-Silfven of Sweden and Lovsta Stuteri’s Don Auriello (Don Davidoff—Wey o mey, White Star) returned from a six-month hiatus to win the first Grand Prix of the winter circuit at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival, the ADGF 1 CDI-W Grand Prix, Thursday afternoon in Wellington (Fla.). The duo had not competed since contesting the European Championships last August, and on Thursday they topped a class of 38 competitors to earn the top prize, a qualifier for the Reem Acra FEI World Cup Dressage Finals in Gothenburg (Sweden).

Vilhelmson-Silfven and Don Auriello (76.90%) were the only pair to score above 76 percent. Laura Graves and Verdades (75.54%) finished second in their first outing since winning the USEF Dressage Grand Prix National Championships at the Festival of Champions (Fla.) in December, while Leah Wilson Wilkins and Fabian JS were third (71.70%).

“I’m super happy with him today,” Vilhelmson-Silfven said. “He felt super, even in the warm-up. He hasn’t shown in a while, so he got a bit excited when he came into the ring, and I could feel that. He has five gears more, so I was a bit careful when I started. I’d like to have him even more on top without losing control, but I’m still very happy.”

Don Auriello’s time off was not planned. The 14-year-old Hanoverian gelding injured himself in a minor paddock accident and was given ample time off to heal.

“He was out in the field and he got a bit too happy, and he ran to the gate and he fell, and he fell under the gate,” Vilhelmson-Silfven said. “So, he was injured, but from something really stupid. He has been off having a rest and just back in training again, but he feels actually very good from that break, so maybe it was good for him.”

Tinne Vilhelmson-Silfven and Don Auriello

Don Auriello is a world-traveling veteran of five-star competitions, the European Championships and the FEI World Equestrian Games. Vilhelmson-Silfven said that experience, combined with the horse’s willing demeanor, played to her advantage when returning the gelding from the extended layoff.

“It’s always good to ride an experienced horse, because you know a little bit more what you have under you, but when you haven’t shown in a while, you still don’t really know where you are until you’ve been back in the ring again,” she said. “But he has such an extremely nice character and he wants to do his best every time. He’s a nice horse to compete. He always tries and it’s rare that he ever puts me in a bad position. He’s really a great competition horse.”

Indeed, the horses with the most experience were met with the greatest success Thursday, especially in cold, dreary, uncharacteristic Florida weather conditions that transpired throughout the day. The stark drop in temperature caused many horses to act up during their tests. Several riders withdrew, while others coped with misbehaving mounts, including Katie Poag, whose Zonnekoning reared on two occasions during their test. Mette Rosencrantz’s Marron spun and jumped directly out of the arena before re-entering and completing the test. Low scores plagued the first half of the competitors, and only seven pairs received scores above 70 percent.

“Sometimes that experience becomes something you can trust, and the horse puts you at ease instead of the other way around,” Graves said. “I’m fortunate like Tinne that my horse tries so hard, no matter what.”

Laura Graves and Verdades

Graves and Verdades were the highest-placed American pair on the day, as they built off their strong performances at the Festival of Champions.

“I’m really excited that we seem to be finding our next gear,” she said. “It seems like we beat the 74 percent rut that we were in last year. It’s exciting to see that what we were able to produce at the Festival last month carried on to this competition, too. We had a couple mistakes that were mine, and that’s always a nice thing to say.

“We’ve found second gear now, and hopefully in the next three weeks, we can solidly stay in our third gear,” she continued. “That’s where we’re hoping to really push the boundary this year. We could get through a Grand Prix last year and a little bit the year before, but now I’m really riding the transitions. It’s knowing when I can put my leg on, how much leg to put on, how to ride with my seat, and not really schooling anymore but trying to find the points with the precision.”

The top two finishers came as no surprise to many, but Leah Wilson Wilkins surprised even herself with her finish. The Canadian rider, who claimed her first CDI victory at the Grand Prix level just last October at Devon (Pa.), is aiming to receive scores high enough to earn her an individual spot in the Rio Olympics, despite being seven months pregnant.

“I’m a little flabbergasted that I placed this high!” Wilson Wilkins said.

“[Fabian JS] was just really on for me today and much more relaxed than I expected, which gave me a lot more rideability than I’m used to having,” she added. “Hopefully I’m able to carry that forward.”

Both Vilhelmson-Silfven and Graves will ride in Friday night’s Grand Prix freestyle, but Wilson Wilkins and Fabian JS will instead compete in Saturday afternoon’s Grand Prix Special. 

“The baby obviously lessens the amount of times we could try to qualify [for the Olympics],” she said. “No pressure, but hopefully at the next show we can get some more good scores!”