Press release from Desert International Horse Park

Kyle King (USA) may not have had the ideal circuit, results wise, but he’s enjoyed every minute of time in the desert sun and particularly enjoyed Thursday of Desert Circuit 10, presented by La Quinta Resort & Club, when he took home the win in the $32,000 Bridgeport Farms CSI4* 1.50m Speed.

Aboard Odysseus, owned by Patricia Vasey, King was last to go over Peter Grant’s (CAN) track. While there had been several clears, most riders took a little more time over the technical track. Ali Ramsay (CAN) led the way with Bonita VH Keizershof Z, and King wasn’t exactly determined to be the winner.

“Honestly I wasn’t planning to try to win this because I was thinking about doing Odie in the four-star Grand Prix, which is the biggest thing he’s ever tackled,” King explained of his approach to the class. “I just followed his rhythm. I didn’t think I had won, but he’s a fast horse. I had an idea at the end that I was close so I rolled back quickly to the end.”

King captured the win, while Ramsay took second. Shawn Casady (USA) ended up third aboard Cool Quarz, owned by Morning Star Sporthorses.

“He’s a neat horse,” King said of Odysseus, a 13-year-old American-bred Holsteiner gelding (Osilvis x Riverman). “Patty Vasey bred him and did all the riding on him until he was 10 or 11, and I got the ride just over a year ago.”

The horse has surpassed every expectation, and King has had to constantly adjust his vision for the horse as he’s lived up to every challenge. “When I first rode him I thought the 1.30m was too big, then I thought the 1.35m was too big, and then thought the 1.40m was too big, but he’s just coming into a really special form,” he explained. “He’s always been a cool horse but he has so much in there, so much heart, his technique is so pure, and he’s handling this really easy.”

King calls the desert home for a large portion of the year, so he has enjoyed that the jumping surfaces have been switched up quite a bit this season.

“We’ve been on the grass a little more and I think it’s freshening the horses up,” he shared. “They come back here and respect these jumps. It’s for sure great confidence going into the rest of the week. I’m sure I’ll be a little nervous going on Saturday night under the lights – it’ll be scopier and bigger – but we’re going for it.”

King has a powerhouse of a horse in Odysseus, but he’s part of an even bigger squad of horses that King is hoping may peak just in time for some shows over the summer.

“The rest of the team has been great; I’ve been developing my other horses and they have been very good,” he said of the rest of his string. “I’ve got a nice young horse, Diamond, to do the National division who’s been stepping up. [SIG Chiari] has been great; he was second in the three-star a few weeks ago. I got my Etalon back, so I’m about to do him in one of our first classes back.

“My team for the summer is looking pretty strong,” he continued. “I got a ride on a nice new horse that I’m excited about that I almost won the National Grand Prix on last week, so if I can keep this string together then I”m pretty excited about what I can pull off this summer.”