Making USA Proud, Terrorism Survivor Equestrian Beatrice de Lavalette Secures Gold at Adequan Global Dressage Festival

The 2024 Adequan Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) took off for the season on the 26th of January, inviting equestrian talents in impressive visuals and numbers. Tagged ‘largest Dressage circuits around the globe,’ the festival stood to celebrate the discipline and athletes with its many presentations. However, owning the spotlight for the final evening was the US para-dressage.

The US Dressage brought along a roster brimming with young and exceptional talent for the AGDF 3 on the 26th of January. Paralympian, Beatrice de Lavalette, young yet a veteran of the festival, made the team alongside cherishable equestrian names to not just make it to the AGDF team for a third time but also secure a win of an equaling number.

The equestrian adds more to the list

On the 27th of January US Dressage team on Instagram took to the platform to announce the exciting win of the US Para Dressage at AGDF week 3. “It was a gold medal finish for the Perrigo U.S. Para-Dressage Team at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival 3 CPEDI3*!” the post read as the team led by Chef d’Equipe Laureen Johnson sat adorning bright smiles. The team included Rebecca Hart, Fiona Howard, and Cynthia Screnci alongside Beatrice.

Lavalette lost both of her lower legs at age 17 when she was caught in an incident at Brussels Airport. The equestrian suffered brutal injuries and lay in a coma for about a month. It took her four more to get back on the saddle and work towards her dream of making it to the Paralympics. “That was my big goal that kept me going for years,” she says recalling the incident. Today, following years of resilience and passion, the 25-year-old has conquered her dreams and more rather well.

Beatrice de Lavalette at AGDF

Beatrice de Lavalette made her para-dressage debut four years ago at the AGDF 3 CPEDI3*. The equestrian placed second in the Grade II Freestyle and ultimately help the team secure gold. The same year, De Lavalette and her equine, Clarc helped the team garner another win at AGDF 9 and finished first in the Grade II Individual and Freestyle Tests and second in the Grade II Team Test.

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The equestrian made her appearance back again in 2023 as she helped the team put up a combined total of 434.813. Furthermore, the 25-year-old also added an individual win in the CPEDI3*. “We’re such a good team,” de Lavalette said of her teammates. “We really care about each other, so it’s a really nice little team that we have here,” she added. The equestrian will further aim for another Paralympics having witnessed a strong season start.

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