Benjamin Werndl's former National Champion, Vogue, finished behind stablemate Filippa at Gut Ising

Vogue, a seven-year-old Hanoverian son of Vitalis-Fidertanz bred by Pastor Herbert Werth from the Rhineland, is now seven years old. He has a maternal half-brother, Global Hope, who is one year younger, has also been licensed, was named Bundeschampion, and will soon be up for auction. However, it was Vogue who instantly brought Herbert Werth’s mare Fräulein W into the spotlight.

As a two-year-old, he was the reserve champion at the Westphalian Main Licensing and was subsequently purchased by Helgstrand Dressage for the top price of 940,000 euros. The following year, Leonie Richter competed him at the Bundeschampionat and won the title by a wide margin. In 2024, Vogue moved from Syke—then the headquarters of Helgstrand Germany—to Aubenhausen to join the Werndl family. Today, he is owned by EE Investoren GmbH, which is backed by the Viessmann family.

Vogue is now seven years old; he is no longer a stallion but a gelding and has already achieved several successes at the S level this year. He has managed to secure a top-three finish at every competition. This was also the case today at Gut Ising, where he put in a wonderful performance under Werndl—still not always completely confident in his movements and occasionally a bit distracted, but the very picture of a young horse who is on the right track in terms of training. As the first pair in the class, they took the lead with a score of 70.516 percent.

Victory for Felippa

Two years older than Vogue, Werndl’s second young horse, which Benjamin Werndl presented today in Ising, is the Oldenburg mare Felippa by Feinrich-World of Dreams (breeder: Edda Kessen). This was their first competition together, and it has been more than two years since the highly supple and sensitive chestnut mare last competed. Ridden by Leslie Rohrbacher, she most recently won her first and only M*-level dressage competition in Germete in early September. She has not made a public appearance since then. Consequently, she still lacked the necessary composure and confidence today to fully demonstrate her potential. But what was on display was very promising and was rewarded by the judges with a score of 71.508 percent. That was enough for the victory ahead of her stablemate Vogue.

Florestan-F also dominated the rest of the standings. Third place went to Rosenthal’s Fabiano, a son of For Romance, ridden by Franz Trischberger, with a score of 70.079 percent. Alexandra Sessler followed with the gray Feile by Floriscount (68.849), followed by Jessica von Bredow-Werndl on Feliciana BB by Follow Him’s Schönweide (68.651), who struggled with the series changes today.

Intermédiaire II: Dancier Gold

The Intermédiaire

II class

served as the grand finale of the first day of competition at Gut Ising, with Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and Dancier Gold leading the victory lap. The four-time Olympic champion did a good job of maintaining the flow in the movements of the 11-year-old Hanoverian stallion. Despite his elasticity, the son of Dancier tended to stiffen up in the back and “lock up” at the start of their competitive career together. Jessica von Bredow-Werndl seems to be getting this under control better and better—not always, but more and more often. The judges awarded a score of 73.202 percent.

Second and third place went to Franz Trischberger, first on the Bavarian Belcanto del Mondo by Benetton Dream (72.544), and second on the Totilas son Tamburin Man (69.868). Ralf Kornprobst followed behind on the Trakehner gelding Cayenne TSF by Imperio (69.474).