Silvia Rizzo, the Italian dressage rider based in Germany, is back in South Florida for the second year of showing in the sun, this time with a brand new horse to ride.
Sal, a 15-year-old Lusitano stallion whom Rizzo calls “Salame,” will be Rizzo's partner in Grand Prix competition at Wellington's top shows this season. Sal is a pure bred Lusitano (PSL) (Mississippe x Maia X Agareno II) and Just like Donnerbube 2, Rizzo's ride during the 2013 winter season, “Salame” loves bananas.
Rizzo has been working with Sal for only three weeks, and part of that time was spent in transit as the pair traveled from Hof Marabunta, Rizzo's farm in Germany, to their winter base in Wellington. Rizzo competed with Sal for the first time on Jan. 18 at the Gold Coast Opener national show, and she had plenty to smile her megawatt smile about after their first venture down centerline together.
The warm-up for their test was the first time Rizzo had ridden Sal with other horses, and she was happy with the way he handled it.
“He has a really good brain,” she said. “It was windy. The warm-up was completely full of horses, of every level, of every color, of every size. . . and the other horses were around him, and he didn't care at all. There was one horse that was rearing up next to him in the warm-up! And he didn't mind – I could focus on my own work. I was so happy with him.”
Rizzo was also pleased with their score of 64.75 percent and is excited to keep improving as she and Sal get to know each other.
“What more could I ask in our first test together in our brand new partnership?” she asked. “I am so proud of him.”
While Rizzo and “Salame” are new dance partners, they are both seasoned competitors on the world stage. Sal has earned top placings in CDIs in some of Europe's best venues with the portuguese dressage rider Nuno Palma, who is based in Hamburg, while Rizzo has ridden in major competitions around the globe, including invitational events such as the World Dressage Masters CDI5* Palm Beach and the Chi Al Shaqab festival's CDI4* in Doha, Qatar.
Rizzo and Sal will be back in action Jan. 23-24 at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival 3 CDI-W, where they will compete in the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Freestyle. They will debut their freestyle pattern set to energetic popular tunes.