Gold for the seven-year-olds at the World Championships for Young Dressage Horses goes to the KWPN mare Odi Murona

Compared to the qualifying test, the final test at the World Championships for Young Dressage Horses demands considerably more from the seven-year-olds—including, among other things, letting the horse chew on the reins while trotting on a half-circle, performing half pirouettes instead of working pirouettes at a canter, not only four-beat but also three-beat changes, a double half-traversal with a flying change when changing direction, etc.

It was precisely these technical requirements—which clearly reflect the horses’ level of training—in which the new world champion excelled. We’re talking about the KWPN mare Odi Murona by Farrell-Johnson, ridden by 22-year-old Tessa Kole.

The pair had already impressed in the qualifiers with a very precise and harmonious performance, securing third place. Today, they took it up a notch—energetic trot extensions, even and curved lateral movements, and a willingness to extend when the reins were released. Sufficient reach in the strong walk, good return to collection, a brief moment of loss of balance in the second walk pirouette. But then in the canter as well—great riding! Beautiful preparation for all the movements with prompt responses from the mare. She is certainly not the type of horse that shows off with “exaggerated movements,” but she captivates with her light-footed elegance and liveliness, as well as her excellent rapport with her rider.

An Exemplary Performance

“This is exactly how we’d like to see a horse presented,” said Dutch rider Monique Peutz-Vegter (

) as she began her commentary for the panel of judges. She knows the rider Tessa Kole well, as she not only serves as a judge but also coaches the next generation of Dutch riders. She has already accompanied Tessa Kole to three European Championships, from the U21 to the U25 level. Just a few days ago, the two were still together at the U25 European Championships in Pilisjaszfalu, celebrating the team’s bronze medal.

In the trot, the judges awarded a 9.5 for light-footedness, natural cadence, and the beautiful transitions. In the walk, they would have liked to see a bit more stride length at a strong tempo and had to take into account the brief loss of balance in the second pirouette, 8.5. In the canter, they praised the horse’s weight-carrying ability, activity, and steady rhythm, awarding a 9.0. Regarding responsiveness, they concluded: “Beautiful frame, always responding to the driving aids—a happy horse—9.5.” That was also the score given for future potential.

With the 92 percent that Peutz-Vegter and Elke Ebert awarded in C, Tessa Kole and Odi Murona were able to make up for the fact that they had “only” achieved the second-highest scores in the technical marks: 74.429 and 75.286 percent. Final score: 83.429 percent. That secured the gold medal for the Farrell mare, bred by J.J.M. van de Broek and owned by BG Van Belois.

Suddenly a World Champion

It’s no wonder that Odi Murona and Tessa Kole are such a well-matched team. Tessa started riding the mare when she was three years old. Her owners bought her as a foal, originally intending her to be a broodmare. But, as owner Ko van Belois reports: “Tessa started training her, and she won practically everywhere she competed. Some people told me I’d be wise to keep her in the sport for a while. So we changed our plans, and now we’re world champions!” he beamed. Tessa is the “perfect rider” for the mare.

Odi Murona did, however, have a foal when she was five years old. At age six, she would have been eligible to compete in the World Championships. But her rider was not. “Last year, the rule was still in effect that you couldn’t compete in two championships, and I also competed in the European Young Riders Championships, so I wasn’t allowed to compete in the World Championships.” This rule also prevented Rose Oatley, among others, from competing for the KWPN with Opoque in Verden last year.

Silver for Secret Agent

The pair that technically had the edge were the qualifiers’ winners: the Hanoverian stallion Secret Agent by Secret-De Niro, bred by ZG Sievers and ridden by his owner, Charlotte Dujardin. The supremely elegant black horse seemed more composed today than he had been in the qualifiers. Dujardin presented the stallion with beautiful natural posture and such responsiveness that she was able to highlight real highlights in the difficult test for a seven-year-old—the lateral movements, the textbook “letting the reins hang loosely” —here the stallion swung through evenly—, the fantastic transitions throughout the entire test, and the already very mature canter sequence. The walk was also better today than in the qualifier, and the pirouettes were ridden just as one would expect from Charlotte Dujardin.

Nevertheless, that move tipped the scales in the medal decision, because even today the judges noted the phase shift in the collection—which, while less pronounced than in the qualifiers, was still noticeable. Score: 7.0. The other individual scores—9.6 for trot, 9.5 for canter and responsiveness, and 9.3 for perspective (Peutz said it would have been higher, but they had to take the stride into account)—could not make up for this.

With a score of 83.115 percent, Charlotte Dujardin and her promising young horse—about whom she says she has never ridden a horse that is so naturally supple and elastic—won the silver medal. It won’t be her last medal, if Dujardin has her way. “The Olympic Games in Los Angeles aren’t that far off. It would be nice to have him as an option for that.”

That’s not unrealistic. In 2028, Secret Agent will be nine years old. That’s how old Freestyle was when Dujardin won bronze with her at the World Equestrian Games in Tryon.

Bronze for Denmark

The Danish rider Theresa Rosenkilde and Brandtbjerg’s Divya approached the final with a charming sense of ease. The daughter of Hesselhøj Donkey Boy, who was born at the Buhl family’s Brandtbjerggaard farm and was ridden to a silver medal last year by Anders Sjøbeck Hoeck, moved to the Rosenkilde family after the World Championships. Theresa is only 20 and has already gained plenty of experience and won numerous medals in junior championships. Today, she added her first medal at a Young Horse World Championship.

She presented her mare in a very beautiful side view during the trot sequence. The mare gave the impression that she was out on a Sunday ride—she was so relaxed and, in a positive sense, alert; she took everything in but remained focused on the task at hand. The trot itself—active in the hind legs—had energy flowing through her entire body. When she was allowed to chew with the reins out of her hands, one might have wished for a bit more extension.

At a walk, Divya set off with ease, as if wearing seven-league boots, at a moderate to brisk pace. In the collected walk, however, one would have liked to see more cohesion, and this carried over into the canter sequence as well. As a result, she lost some points, as the judges pointed out to the rider.

“We’d like to see more focus and better preparation for the lessons,” Monique Peutz-Vegter noted. But that didn’t change the positive impression the two left behind. “The mare works willingly and with focus and has three very good basic gaits,” said Peutz-Vegter, explaining the 8.8 score for potential.

They scored an 8.9 for trot, a 9.0 for walk, an 8.6 for canter, and an 8.5 for responsiveness. All in all, the score was 80.979 percent.

Benicio’s Legacy

Fourth place went to a Hanoverian competing under the Portuguese flag, Belcanto HB by Benicio-Rascalino, bred by Helmut Bäßmann and presented by his owner, Mafalda Galiza Mendes. The pair had already placed eighth in the final for five-year-olds two years ago. Anyone who sees Belcanto is immediately reminded of his sire, Benicio—slightly lighter in color, but similarly colorful and with the same power and freedom of shoulder in his movements. In the qualifiers, the pair placed fifth. Today they managed to top that: fourth place with 80.465 percent, despite a mistake in the triple changes, for this highly motivated and likable chestnut.

And the Germans?

Once again, Ann-Christin Wienkamp and her powerhouse gelding MZ OLD by Secret-De Niro (breeder: Ewald Grotelüschen, owner: Mandy Zimmer) were the top German pair. The start of the test was superb—a perfect “business card” greeting position, a fantastic trot with plenty of power, cadence, and freedom of the shoulders, all executed in an exemplary manner. Just as we were about to celebrate the extension of that exemplary performance into the extensions, Schatzmeister broke into a canter during the second extension. At a walk, the gelding presented himself with a long stride and steady rhythm, but he could have closed up a bit more in collection. Especially in the canter, Schatzmeister then became quite heavy on the bit, which the judges took into account in the suppleness score—as they did with the flying changes, which were still a bit stiff. All in all, Ann-Christin Wienkamp and Schatzmeister scored 79.322 percent, placing sixth.

Right behind them, Senta Kirchhoff and the elegant Don Martillo son Dribbler —bred in Hanover by Angela Fitschen—secured seventh place (78.643), just ahead of the two-time defending champion, the KWPN stallion Red Viper by Romanov-Sir Sinclair (breeder: Coen Kerbert) ridden by Dinja van Liere, who had some great moments but still needs to be more confident in his self-carriage and also broke into a canter during the left-hand half-pass at a trot (78.2).

The “Great, greater, Greta” poster created by the Heemsoth family—who practically call Verden home—welcomed the Hanoverian mare Felice FRH by Fürst Samarant-Riverside (breeder: René Janzen), as she entered the arena with Greta Heemsoth in the saddle as the first pair of today’s final day in Verden. They kicked off the day in the best possible way with a seamless performance featuring a flowing trot sequence, beautiful contact, and a very mature canter sequence. Only during the flying changes did some tension arise at times, and the mare jumped twice. While this did lower the score, it did not detract from the positive overall impression, which the judges summarized with a prospects score of 8.9 for the 2024 National Champion mare. All in all, she scored 77.1 percent.

The winner of the small final, Carina Scholz’s Oldenburg mare La Jolie SW OLD—a daughter of Escamillo and Londonderry—began with a wonderful trot sequence—expressive, supple, actively springing off the ground, and beautifully yielding. However, tension arose during the canter sequence, which was particularly noticeable in the flying changes. With a score of 76.486 percent, the pair placed eleventh.

You can find all the results here.