The participant lists for the Horses & Dreams in Hagen are online

As is to be expected at Hof Kasselmann, dressage plays an important role at Horses & Dreams in Hagen. Accordingly, the lists of participants in the CDI competitions, as well as in the Burg Cup and Louisdor Prize qualifiers for the four-legged youngsters, are first-class.

Number one in the 4* tour

The highlight in the arena is the four-star tour, where the two world number one riders Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour and Mount St. John Freestyle from Denmark will be competing. Among others, they will meet the two European team champions Katharina Hemmer (who was also the Special bronze medal winner of the Hearts) with Denoix and Ingrid Klimke, who is bringing two horses with her, Vayron and First Class. Also taking part in the Grand Tour: Louisdor Prize winner Viva Gold OLD with Isabell Werth. European Championship mare Wendy is competing in the Nations Cup in Fontainebleau this weekend.

Speaking of Vayron, his previous rider Daniel Bachmann Andersen is bringing along a horse that already knows the arena in Hagen well: the twelve-year-old Oldenburg gelding Flash Gordon by Fiderbach, who competed in the 2024 Louisdor Prize qualifier in Hagen with his previous trainer Mathis Goerens. Daniel Bachmann Andersen has been riding the chestnut since last year and has only competed in two tournaments with him so far (Aarhus and Herning), but has already shone with such strong (or rather not strong, but harmonious) performances that they can be considered candidates for the World Championships.

The World Cup winner from Gothenburg, Maria von Essen, is coming from Sweden. Therese Nilshagen is bringing her Tolbert winner Navarro, and Moritz Treffinger and Semmieke Rothenberger, who have just returned from the World Cup Final in Fort Worth, are two current and former U25 European champions and Piaff-Förderpreis winners respectively.

Louisdor Alumni in the CDI3*

Several riders will use the CDI3* Tour to show the horses in the Grand Tour that competed in the Louisdor Prize last year, first and foremost the Special winners from Tolbert, Charlott-Maria Schürmann and Dante’s Pearl, who also won the Louisdor qualifier in Hagen in 2025.

They will face the finalists from Frankfurt Katharina Hemmer/Special Gold PCH, Juliane Brunkhorst, Diamante Negro, Lena Haßmann/Chere Celine as well as pairs who have been in the Louisdor Final for some time, such as Helen Langehanenberg with Straight Horse Ascenzione, who has just won her CDI debut at Stadl Paula after a long break from competition.

Louisdor candidates

And who are the potential top horses of tomorrow? Anna Schölermann and her eight-year-old model pupil Vitally PCH are among the candidates hoping to secure their ticket to the Louisdor Prize Final in Frankfurt early on in the season. This means that three Weihegold offspring will be competing in Hagen this weekend – grandson Viva Gold with his sons Special Gold and Vitally.

Bianca Nowag-Aulenbrock is now presenting the Burg Pokal runner-up Vaida-Girl OLD at S*** level. “Landlord” Frederic Wandres has three irons in the fire with For Prime, Imo Pectore and Veuve Clicquot FRH. Benjamin Werndl is bringing the nine-year-old Oldenburg son of For Romance, Fosbury, who has been trained in Aubenhausen since his youth, to the start. The Werth stable will be represented by three pairs.

On the one hand, there is the boss herself, who is bringing a new horse to the start with the DSP stallion Back for Good. Rider Lisa Wernitznig will present Majestic Taonga, who won the Intermédiaire II in Aachen last weekend. Niklaas Feilzer will ride Valdiviani, who has also already been successful at S*** level at regional level.

Castle Cup

A total of 34 pairs have been entered for the Nuremberg Burg Cup, and according to the list, this could be one of the most interesting competitions. For example, Benjamin Werndl is on it with the Escamillo son Embolo, who came to Aubenhausen as a youngster via the Westphalian elite auction, was not nominated for the World Championships for Young Dressage Horses, but has otherwise won dressage horse tests of all classes with top scores in a row.

World Championship horses will also be there – San to Alati with Bernadette Brune, Skyline To B from Yara Reichert (although she could also ride Finest Hour or About You II) and Elliot the Dancer NRW from Stefan Wolff, who presented a fantastic trot tour in Verden last year. Katharina Hemmer will be presenting her own Escanciador, full brother to Asian Games winner Etro from her stable colleague Anush Agarwalla, while Isabell Werth will be presenting the Helgstrand stallion Feinsten for the first time.

All starter lists are now available online at www.horses-and-dreams.de.