Reigning individual world champion, Great Britain’s Charlotte Fry, secured a clear victory in the Grand Prix to get the FEI Dressage World Cup™ Final 2024 underway in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia this afternoon. Partnering her Tokyo Olympic ride, the 15-year-old stallion Everdale, Fry was top choice of all seven judges when scoring 75.388 to pin Sweden’s Patrik Kittel into second place with Touchdown while Denmark’s Nanna Skodborg Merrald and Blue Hors Don Olymbrio finished third.  The surprise of the day was the fourth-place finish for German legend Isabell Werth whose test…

British equestrian organisations are paying tribute following the passing of Juliet Seal. Juliet, one of the most influential figures in the development of Para Dressage in Great Britain, died peacefully at home on 30 January at the age of 86. As a BD List 2 Judge, FEI Para Judge, Para Selector and Chair of Selectors, Juliet’s unwavering support played a key role in shaping and cultivating Para Dressage, leading to successive Championship successes for the British team during her time at the forefront of the sport. In 2015, Juliet received…

Continuing her incredible breakthrough year, Becky Moody rode to success at Myerscough Premiere League Show in the Grand Prix with her new superstar, James Bond II. The super 10-year-old Desperado x Fidertanz stallion owned by Becky’s longtime supporter, Jo Cooper, sealed his first Grand Prix win in a hot class. After her success with stable mate Jagerbomb at the London International, Becky rode James Bond II to win the class on 70.8%, narrowly ahead of stalwart Emma Hindle on Zippo MI, another exciting new horse. “Clever Mr Bond was determined…

The 37th season finale of the global FEI Dressage World Cup series is fast approaching. For the first time, the best dressage athletes in the world will meet for the World Cup Final in the capital of Saudi Arabia, Riyadh, from Tuesday, 16 April to Saturday, 20 April, 2024. Athletes can collect points for the final in four leagues: In the Western European League (WEL), the Central European League (CEL), the North American League (NAL) and the Pacific League (PAL). Out of all those four Leagues 18 riders receive their…

By Louise Parkes German dressage legend, Isabell Werth, posted her second victory of the season at the eleventh and last leg of the FEI Dressage World Cup™ 2023/2024 Western European League in ’s-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands today. Taking maximum points with Emilio on home ground in Stuttgart last November, she did it again when the pair were runners-up to compatriot Jessica von Bredow-Werndl in Basel in January because the 2023 series champion was not entitled to qualifying points at the Swiss fixture.  Today Werth topped up her points tally to a…

FEI Dressage World Cup™ 2023-2024, Western European League. Written by Louise Parkes Belgium’s Domien Michiels couldn’t hide his delight when winning the penultimate leg of the FEI Dressage World Cup™ 2023/2024 Western European League series in Gothenburg, Sweden with his 16-year-old gelding Intermezzo van het Meerdaalhof. The pair have extensive experience together having flown their country’s flag at the Tokyo Olympics Games in 2021, the World Championship in 2022 and the last two European Championships. But in their long partnership, they never posted a major international victory – until today. “It…

Germany continues reign of dominance in Wellington with fourth consecutive FEI Dressage Nations Cup™ victory written by Catie Staszak The 2024 FEI Dressage Nations Cup™ series kicked off Thursday in Wellington, FL (USA) with a fourth consecutive victory in the event for Germany. Two combinations returned from last year’s winning squad in Anna-Christina Abbelen (Sam Donnerhall) and Felicitas Hendricks (Drombusch). Frederic Wandres (Totall Recall) and Michael Klimke (Domino 957) completed the winning team, with Klimke also serving as chef d’equipe. Their winning total was 213.369. The United States finished second…

FEI Dressage World Cup™ 2023-2024 Western European League Written by Louise Parkes Partnering the 11-year-old stallion Indian Rock, The Netherlands’ Emmelie Scholtens clinched victory at the ninth leg of the FEI Dressage World Cup™ 2023/2024 Western European League in Neumünster, Germany today. Already under the spotlight after topping yesterday’s closely-contested Grand Prix, the Dutch pair were awarded the winning mark once again today by judges Ulrike Nivelle (GBR), Clive Halsall (DEN), Hans-Christian Matthiesen (NED), Maarten ver der Heijden (GER) and Henning Lehrmann (GER) with less than 2.5 percent separating the top…

Reigning Olympic, World Cup and European champions, Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and the spectacular mare TSF Dalera BB, topped the podium at the seventh leg of the FEI Dressage World Cup™ 2023/2024 Western European League at the Longines CHI Classics in Basel, Switzerland today. This was their second victory in a row at the annual Swiss fixture, and it was compatriots Isabell Werth (Emilio) and Matthias Alexander Rath (Destacado FRH) who filled second and third places ahead of Austria’s Florian Bacher (Fidertraum OLD) in fourth. The winning pair produced a fabulous…

Great Britain’s Charlotte Fry and her Tokyo 2020 Olympic ride, Everdale, were convincing winners of the sixth leg of the FEI Dressage World Cup™ 2023/2024 Western European League in Mechelen, Belgium. Scoring 84.980 they pipped The Netherlands’ Marlies van Baalen and Habibi DBV for top spot, while two rising stars – Belgium’s Flore de Winne with Flynn FRH and Germany’s Rapahel Netz with Great Escape Camelot – filled third and fourth places. The event attracted a truly international line-up, with Singapore’s Caroline Chew (Blue Hors Zatchmo) and India’s Anush Agarwalla…

With all the authority that she carries as the most consistently successful athlete in the sport of Dressage, Germany’s Isabell Werth strutted to victory with Emilio at the third leg of the FEI Dressage World Cup™ 2023/2024 Western European League in Stuttgart (GER) on Saturday. In a competition in which multiple rising stars and established performers produced combination-best results, it all came down to Werth’s last-to-go ride, and she aced it with confidence and style.  Emilio was in the zone from the first beat of their musical score. There was…

Germany’s Frederic Wandres steered Bluetooth OLD to victory in the second leg of the FEI Dressage World Cup™ 2022/2023 Western European League in France where Denmark’s Nanna Skodborg Merrald and Blue Hors St Schufro finished second ahead of Pauline Basquin and Sertorius de Rima Z IFCE from France in third. The previous day’s Grand Prix class saw Wandres also pipping Skodborg Merrald by almost a full three percentage-point margin, however, it was a closer contest this time around with the judge panel awarding a score of 83.415 to the winning…

19th PanAm Games Santiago 2023 (CHI) – Dressage. Written by Louise Parkes Ecuador’s Julio Mendoza Loor is not a man to hide his emotions, and his smile was a mile wide when he was crowned individual Dressage champion today at the Pan American Games in Quillota, Chile. This was his country’s first Dressage gold medal in the 72-year history of the Games, and partnering the lovely Dutch-bred gelding Jewel’s Goldstrike he produced a fabulous Freestyle performance for a mark of 87.230 that proved impossible to beat when third-last to go.  “I…

Everything Horse Magazine 19th PanAm Games – Santiago 2023, written by Louise Parkes After the intense excitement of The Team competition during the 19th PanAm Games, in which the USA took gold and Brazil and Canada claimed silver and bronze along with qualification for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, attention has turned to the individual Dressage Freestyle title-decider at the Pan American Games 2023 in Quilotta, Chile. The second horse inspection took place this morning, and 20 horse-and-rider combinations from 10 countries will come before judges Carlos Lopes (POR), Michael…

Team USA hold the lead after the opening day of Dressage at the Pan American Games 2023 in Quillota, Chile today. But a super test from the last man into the ring, João Victor Marcari with Feel Good VO, saw Brazil overtake Canada for second place going into tomorrow’s second day of action. Marcari heads the individual leaderboard with the biggest score of the day, 76.478, while a personal-best of 76.065 leaves defending individual champion Sarah Tubman from the USA in second place with First Apple. Another Brazilian, Renderson Silva…

FEI Dressage World Cup™ 2023-2024 Western European League – written by Louise Parkes Three athletes from the Danish team that clinched bronze at the recent FEI Dressage European Championship 2023 in Riesenbeck, Germany will be in action when the first leg of the FEI Dressage World Cup™ 2023/2024 Western European League gets underway on their home ground in Herning (DEN) next week. Nanna Skodborg Merrald, who also took Grand Prix Special silver in Riesenbeck, Daniel Bachmann Andersen and Andreas Helgstrand will be joined by compatriots Anna Kasprzak, Nadja Aaboe Sloth, Anna…

FEI Dressage European Championship 2023, written by Louise Parkes Germany’s Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and TSF Dalera BB reclaimed the Dressage Freestyle title on the thrilling closing day of the FEI Dressage European Championship 2023 in Riesenbeck (GER) on Sunday. Great Britain’s Lottie Fry and the fabulous stallion Glamourdale pushed the reigning Olympic and defending European champions von Bredow-Werndl and her magical mare all the way to the line to take silver, while fellow-Briton and triple Olympic gold medallist Charlotte Dujardin stepped up to bag the bronze with Imhotep. Highly-anticipated A…