Grand Prix Neumünster

Juliane Brunkhorst and the ten-year-old DSP gelding Diamante Negro by DeLorean won the Grand Prix of the national tour in Neumünster with 73.040 percent. The only other pair to also have a 7 in front of the decimal point were Nicole Wego-Engelmeyer and DiCaprio OLD with 70.480 percent in second place. Third place went to the Schleswig-Holstein local hero Felix Kneese in the saddle on San Simeon with 69.240 percent.

The best comes at the end

After coming second in the 2024 Nuremberg Burg Pokal, Juliane Brunkhorst and Diamante Negro did not have their best day in the 2025 Louisdor Prize Final and fell well short of their potential. But despite the faults that ultimately saw the pair finish eighth, it was clear that this was not what this horse is actually capable of. You could see that today.

There was a world of difference between Brunkhorst and the rest of the field today, and not just in the final result. The score reflected how much closer the pair Brunkhorst/Diamante Negro were to the ideal of lightness in dressage than the competition. The most remarkable aspect of the test was the constant fine contact. Not all the movements worked perfectly, but in every second of the test the gelding was in front of the driving aids and secure in his self-carriage, so that Brunkhorst really only had the proverbial weight of the reins in his hand and the poll always remained the highest point.

The whole horse bounced in the trot. Diamante Negro has a lot of talent for piaffe and passage and especially the transitions. He still lacks the strength to piaffe on the spot and still tends to sway, but that should be a matter of time. The double changes were relaxed, jumped through the body and far uphill. The single changes were a touch more hesitant. One of the striking things was that Brunkhorst even managed to keep the gelding in front of him in the zig-zag traversals and never once backed up. In the pirouettes, one would have wished for a little more weight bearing on the inside hind leg. The transition from canter to collected trot is a seemingly minor detail, but one that says a lot about back activity and permeability. This was exemplary for the pair.

Okay, where there is light, there is also shadow and that was the walk today. Diamante Negro moved clearly out of phase in both the strong and collected walk.

But all in all a dream round! Juliane Brunkhorst herself thought so too. “I’m really pleased with the ride today, the percentages and of course the victory. I changed a few little things in preparation, especially to improve the balance in the piaffe-passage tour, especially in the piaffe. Today he did it like a pro – with so much security, confidence and ease. It was almost as if he was saying: ‘Let me do it and I’ll be fine’. I’m very, very proud of him. Especially when you consider that it was only his third Grand Prix.”

Another “pretty good” round

Nicole Wego-Engelmeyer and the twelve-year-old Dimaggio son DiCaprio OLD have significantly more experience at Grand Prix level than the winning pair. They have been competing in the S*** arena since 2024. The chestnut is a full brother to the 2022 Bundeschampion of seven-year-old dressage horses, Dos Amigos. DiCaprio is a horse with a lot of go, who on the one hand showed reinforcement that deserves its name, but on the other hand also brings great talent for the collected movements and, despite a tendency towards overbuilt hindquarters, clearly absorbs weight. Unfortunately, the amount of impulsion that DiCaprio OLD brings with him meant that Nicole Wego-Engelmeyer always had to stand “on the brakes” and couldn’t really let go.

All results from the Grand Prix in Neumünster can be found here.