DRESSPROD

While all eyes are on the Netherlands and the World Cup in 's-Hertogenbosch scheduled for this afternoon (see HERE ), further south in Ornago, dressage is also in the spotlight. Twenty-four horse and rider combinations started this morning in the Grand Prix qualifier for the Special. Although live scores are not yet available, the podium positions are already known. After Bordeaux, Australian Simone Pearce continues her winning streak, which could send her to the World Champ

Hexagon's Ich Weiss, previously ridden in CDI Grand Prix level by he Dutch rider Thamar Zweistra, has been sold to the United States. Bred by the late Leunis van Lieren, this son of Rubiquil & Negro made his international competition debut in Le Mans in February 2020 in Small Tour classes; a competition he returned to the following year for his CDI Grand Prix debut. Selected for the Dutch team for the Nations Cup in Aachen in 2021, Thamar Zweistra & Hexagon's Ich Weiss qualif

This week and the last few days have been favorable for births! Besides Dalera, the former star of Jessica von Bredow Werndl, two other Grand Prix mares also gave birth to their first foals: Elvive and Unazalée de Massa. Tuschinski x Don Schufro crossed mare, Elvive won a bronze medal at the 6-Year-Old Championship in the Netherlands with Veronique Roerink. Acquired by the Oatley family in 2017, the bay mare competed in the Small Tour level in Germany that same year, then in

One week after the confrontation between Cathrine Laudrup Dufour & MSJ Freestyle and Isabell Werth & Wendy de Fontaine on the CDI 5* of Herning, the World Cup in 's-Hertogenbosch promises to be a real clash of the titans. Initially announced with her Everdale, the British rider has finally changed her mind... and decided to favour her top horse: Glamourdale; a turnaround that promises to be particularly interesting since the British duo will be up against none other than Just

Although never seen on international leve but still identified as one of her potential successors, Jessica von Bredow Werndl has finally parted ways with Got It BB. Bred by Danish trainer Morten Thomsen, this son of Grand Galaxy Win and Don Schufro was approved in DWB in 2018. Co-owned by Andreas Helgstrand, he competed once in Denmark with Mette Sejbjerg Jensen before being sold in 2020 to Beatrice Burchler-Keller and Uli Tawfik. The dark bay returned to competition in Apri

Dalera BB, Jessica von Bredow's former top horse, gave birth to her first filly last night. After winning everything, the 19-year-old Trakehner mare by Easy Game has become a mother for the first time, having been bred last year to the well-known stallion Vitalis. Champion foal in the Netherlands and winner of his three-year-old tests, this son of Vivaldi and D Day was initially sold to Charlotte Jorst, with whom he won the American Six-Year-Old Championship, scoring 10 for t

Isabell Werth & Viva Gold Old competed in their first Grand Prix Special today in Herning. And what a Grand Prix Special it was, as they nearly reached 80% with a score of 79.042%. Often ridden horses with a quite atypical morphology... like Superb, Warum Nicht, Satchmo, El Santo, Emilio, First Class... Isabell Werth has with Viva Gold Old a horse born and bred for high-level dressage, although one might perhaps find his neck a little short. For their return to the Danish ar

Same again: as in the Grand Prix, Herning's 5* Freestyle saw yesterday another duel between Cathrine Laudrup Dufour and Isabell Werth. And once again, in this game, the Danish rider took the lead. Despite some cautious extended trots, few contact discussions, and flying change sometimes a bit closed in the front, the 16-year-old Hanoverian mare delivered a flawless freestyle, displaying an overall supple and relaxed test. At the end of a very challenging final line with a seq

5-star judge and President of the International Dressage Officials Club (IDOC), the Dane Hans-Christian Matthiesen regularly speaks about the discipline. This morning he published his vision and advices regarding the application of judging guidelines on tension, submission, acceptance of contact, and harmony: In our current climate, how  we apply the FEI judging guidelines on tension, submission, acceptance of the contact, and harmony is more than technical accuracy—it’s the

The afternoon was dedicated to dressage in Herning. After the CDI 3* (see HERE ), the day continued with the 5*, dominated, as could quite logically be predicted, by Cathrine Laudrup Dufour & MSJ Freestyle who took the lead over Isabell Werth & Wendy de Fontaine. This 2026 edition is successful for Cathrine Laudrup Dufour: winner yesterday of the Saint Georges CDI 1* with Franko Unik at 73.235% (photo), the Danish rider then went on to victory with the 16-year-old daughter of

Slightly calmer week on the international calendar, with the CDI in Herning and a World Cup in Motesice, Slovakia. While the highlight of the day will come later this afternoon with the highly expected meeting between Cathrine Laudrup Dufour & MSJ Freestyle and the return to her homeland of Wendy de Fontaine partnered with Isabell Werth, the German rider took also advantage of the trip to compete in the 3* with her very promising horse, Viva Gold Old. He already has quite a r

Biggles, the Swedish Grand Prix horse, has died. Bred by Ingrid Lundberg-Persson, this SWB by Briar and Krevad came into the spotlight early aged, ridden by Jan Brink. He competed at the 2003 World Championships for 5-year-olds, where he placed 7th in the Preliminary test with a score of 8.34 and finished 11th in the Final with 7.94; an edition won by Holga Finken & Furst Heinrich. Jan Brink presented him in Grand Prix in Sweden in 2008 and 2009. The bay, clearly influenced

Since the Frankfurt's 5* last December, where he won the Grand Prix with a 81.587% and the Freestyle with a 91.195%, Zonik Plus stayed at home. After a few weeks dedicated to breeding and light training, the 10-year-old stallion will make his come back to competition next week at the 's-Hertogenbosch World Cup qualifier; an event where he already competed in last year. Just few days before leaving Wallonia to head to North Brabant, Justin Verboomen spoke with to the last Worl

Till now owned by Gestüt Schafhof, Destacado FRH, ridden by Matthias Alexander Rath, will now be ridden by a german young rider. Born and raised at Heinrich Gießelmann's farm, the father of international rider Jan-Dirk Gießelmann, who presented him for Hanoverian studbook approval in 2015, this son of Desperados FRH and Londonderry was then acquired by Gestüt Schafhof. Ridden by Matthias Alexander Rath since the summer of 2017, he represented Germany at the World Championshi

Almost two years after he arrived in Normandy, Chippendale will make his competition return this week, in Le Mans. He is undeniably associated to the van Olst stables: bred by P. van de Brandt, Chippendale started competing in the Netherlands in 2011 with Eric van den Wildenberg, finishing 4th in the Dutch 4yo Championship. Joining later Severo Jurado Lopez, based at that time in Den Hout, Chippendale participated in the 2012 World Championships for 5-year-olds and finished 8

Despite the sale of Djembe de Hus (see HERE ), Justin Verboomen remains firmly established at the top of the world hierarchy and retains his number one position this month: the Belgian is now announced for the World Cup in 's-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands, where he already participated last year (photo). With 1846 points, Justin Verboomen leads shortly Isabell Werth with 1835 points and Charlotte Fry with 1801 points. Among the major changes, Carina Cassoe Kruth jumps fro

Starting respectively in the Grand Prix Special and the freestyle, the German Katharina Hemmer and the Belgian Larissa Pauluis won this afternoon in Lier. Despite being distracted at his first halt, Denoix once again demonstrated the consistency of his work and his desire to excel. Under the expert eyes of Hubertus Schmidt, Monica Theodorescu, and Henrike Lochthowe, the chestnut gelding made no mistakes, although he could have maintained his neck a bit higher during the piaff

Four years after being partly sold to Madeleine Winter Schulze for Isabell Werth, Majestic Taonga is now closed to Grand Prix. This son of Toto Jr and Jazz, born in the Netherlands at Willeke Bos's stud farm, was approved by the KWPN and then the DWB in 2020. Presented only once in Denmark, for Andreas Helgstrand stables, in a 4-year-old class in September 2021 by Merita Hagren, the stallion moved to Isabell Werth's yard at the age of 5. He then joined the string of horses of

After a 3* Grand Prix largely dominated by Germany (see HERE ), today no less than 27 combinations took part in the 4* Grand Prix, with again some serious German contenders but also Larissa Pauluis and her Flambeau who were expected to play spoiler against this possible hegemony! Katharina Hemmer & Denoix are back in action: the German rider working with and for Hubertus Schmidt finished 4th yesterday with Special Gold PCH. Not perfectly square in his halt before the rein bac

Year after year, Lier's CDIs have built a solid reputation. Organized by international dressage rider Wim Verwimp, the show keeps to attract top riders; the event becomed in few years one of the most important indoor competitions in Europe. Yesterday, no less than 41 riders competed in the 3* Grand Prix! A good show debut for Thomas Wagner & Escolar's Emil FRH: for their first CDI, they simply ... won ! The 2013 German Professional Riders Champion and this 11-year-old gelding