Salvino, Adrienne Lyle’s partner for Olympic and World team silver medals, has retired at 17, Lyle and the stallion’s owner, Betsy Juliano, announced Thursday.

“This has been a very difficult decision to make, but more than anything we feel it is the right decision for him,” Lyle said in a press release announcing his retirement. “He continues to be ridden at home; he loves to work and show the other horses how it should be done. He has given us so much, and Betsy and I are committed to making sure he keeps on living his best life.”

In 2021, “Vinny” helped the U.S. win a historic silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics. The following year he won every class he entered at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival (Florida) and was second in the Aachen CDI4* Grand Prix (Germany). He represented the U.S. at the 2022 Blue Hors FEI Dressage World Championships (Denmark) and was sixth in the freestyle, the best U.S. competitor. He was later named the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s International Horse of the Year.

In 2023, Lyle and Vinny were once again undefeated in four starts at AGDF and were heading towards the FEI World Cup Final (Nebraska) but Vinny missed the final qualifying competitions following a minor colic episode and a popped splint. Lyle sat out the rest of the year while pregnant with her daughter Bailey Da Silva, who was born Sept. 29, 2023.   

 “Salvino is still quite fit and energetic, but Adrienne and I feel the rigors of the qualifying process, in addition to the leadup to the Olympics would not be in his best long-term interests,” said Juliano, who noted Salvino will also breed in his competition retirement.

In recognition of the Olympic silver medalist’s retirement, we’re revisiting this Behind The Stall Doors feature, which was first published in July 2021.

---

Adrienne Lyle already was an Olympian when she met Betsy Juliano’s Salvino, but since partnering with the stallion in 2015, she has reached even greater heights in dressage.

Salvino, a Hanoverian (Sandro Hit—Dynastie, Donnerhall), helped Lyle earn her first score above 80 percent at Grand Prix in 2018 at the Nations Cup CDIO3* Grand Prix freestyle (Florida), and from there its been an ascent to what will be Lyle’s second Olympic appearance later this month at the Tokyo Olympic Games.

They earned a team silver medal at the FEI World Equestrian Games (North Carolina) in 2018 and competed at the FEI World Cup Final (Sweden) in 2019. This year, they’ve been undefeated in their three competitions at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival (Florida) and the Tryon International Equestrian Center (North Carolina) and topped both tests at the U.S. Dressage Olympic Shortlist Mandatory Observation Event with personal best scores in June, punching their ticket to the Tokyo Olympic Games.

We went behind the stall door with Salvino and one of his grooms, Monica Stanke, to learn more about this people-oriented stallion.

• Salvino is a man of many nicknames, including: Vinny, Vincenzo and Vincent.

• He loves his mid-morning naps.

• He’s got a larger-than-life personality, and it’s accompanied by a love of “talking.”

“He’s a big talker, but sometimes his nickers are so quiet that you can only hear them if you’re standing right next to him,” Stanke said.

• If he was a person, Stanke said he would be the “cool friend; he’d want to be a part of everything and have lots of friends.”

• He knows his people and really trusts them.

“He loves his owner Betsy Juliano, Adrienne and his other groom, Morgan Klingensmith,” Stanke said. “He can be a little guarded until he gets comfortable with you, but once he knows you, his personality really shines through.”

• He’s big on the treats, especially the sweet ones!

“Whenever he gets a treat he licks forever, so you always know when he’s had one,” Stanke said. “He’ll sometimes lick before like, ‘Hey, I want one! Can I have one?’ but he’s never rude about it; he’s so sweet. He’s the gentlest horse to give treats and food to. He loves his apples, and right now he gets the [Purina] Carb Conscious treats, which luckily he likes!”

• Though he does have his “stallion moments,” Salvino is typically as gentle as they come.

“He’s got a little bit of a hidden personality in there,” Stanke said. “He definitely knows how cool he is and likes to show that off. He has his stallion moments from time to time as expected, but he’s typically a gentleman and quite calm.”

• While some horses can be picky drinkers, Salvino enjoys his water and particularly loves to drink out of the small buckets after cooling down from a work session.

• When it comes to a routine, consistency is key.

“We try to keep their routines pretty consistent,” Stanke said. “He gets hand walked two to three times a day, just to get out and move as much as he can. When we walk, we have this little cement path around the barn, and it’s so funny, it’s like we’re walking around his palace like, ‘Everybody look at me.’ He also goes on the aquatread to help with fitness levels. He loves to swim and loves the water.”

• Though Stanke typically stays at home with the other horses when Salvino and Lyle travel, she never misses an opportunity to watch the pair in action.

“It’s amazing,” she said. “Sometimes I sit in on a ride and watch them together, and am like, ‘Oh my gosh. Those two are amazing!’ It just shocks me every time. Salvino loves to show off, too. It’s obvious that he loves the crowds, and he performs so well for them. He really loves it, and he tries so hard. It’s like he comes out and goes, ‘I’m here to work, and I want to work.’ ”

•  Being on the silver medal-winning team at the World Equestrian Games is a favorite moment for Lyle, but not “the” favorite.

“That was awesome,” she said. “But I think my favorite ride ever was at the World Cup Finals [in 2019] in Sweden. That was just a really, really cool environment to ride in, and it was his first indoor show he’d ever done in his life. He just loved it. He loved the attention, loved the audience. That was pretty special.”