Isabell Werth and Wendy win Grand Prix in Balve

Isabell Werth and Wendy won the Grand Prix at the start of the German Dressage Championships in Balve by a margin of 4.68 percent. Isabell Werth already has 42 DM medals with 15 different horses in her trophy cabinet – or rather in several cabinets. Wendy contributed one of them in gold last year in the Grand Prix Special, before winning two individual bronze medals in addition to the team gold at the European Championships in Crozet in the summer. At the World Championships in Aachen, Werth’s living room so to speak, where she danced to an unforgettable title in the Grand Prix Special with Satchmo in 2006, the route for the individual classifications is therefore clear, even if it is only ever hinted at: another medal, preferably gold.

After tension repeatedly arose in Basel and Fontainebleau, particularly during the series changes, which then led to massive mistakes, Werth tried out a new tactic for the first time in Hamburg: more “Légèreté”, as she called it. She rode the canter changes one-handed, tapping the mare reassuringly with the other hand. That was successful. In Hamburg, Wendy was already much more relaxed and (almost) fault-free. However, the FEI regulations stipulate that (except in the freestyle) both hands must be on the reins and at most a discreet half-pat is permitted. Today in the Grand Prix in Balve, Werth did exactly that and performed faultless turns in the arena.

Wendy is born with a good rhythm and load bearing in piaffe and passage and the passages today were also more actively developed from the hind leg than was seen in Fontainebleau, for example. As always, the strong walk was shown with good scope and beautiful extension. This earned double points. The judges awarded a total of 81.240 percent today. A world-class score. However, if you compare the ride with similarly scored performances by the other two European Championship medal winners Justin Verboomen (BEL)/Zonik Plus and Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour (DEN)/Freestyle, you have to say: Isabell Werth will have to bring a whole lot more suppleness, suppleness and ease of contact into the arena if she wants to overtake them this time.

Evergreen Bluetooth OLD

If there’s one pair you can always rely on, it’s Frederic Wandres and Bluetooth. Today, the pair once again presented themselves as a well-rehearsed team. Wandres had the 16-year-old Oldenburg Bordeaux son beautifully in front of him, especially at the beginning of the task, and Bluetooth was on the move with plenty of energy. In the piaffe, especially in the first two, one would have wished for a somewhat more even footing. Here Bluetooth seems to take more weight on the left hind than the right hind. The canter was very sure-footed with a but in the right pirouette, where the gelding clearly supported both legs behind.

All in all, the judges Katrina Wüst (E), Elke Ebert (H), Thomas Kessler (C), Knut Danzberg (M) and Henning Lehrmann (B) awarded 76.560 percent. The first two ranked the pair in third place. They would have been fourth in C and M and second in B.

Viva Gold and Dante’s Pearl neck and neck

Isabell Werth’s Louisdor Prize winner Viva Gold OLD would probably not have had such an easy time in Frankfurt in December if Charlott-Maria Schürmann’s Dante’s Pearl had been there. The eleven-year-old Dante Weltino daughter, who is also registered with the Oldenburg Verband, had qualified but contracted an infection and was unable to compete. So today was the first meeting between the two. The result: they shared third place with 76.520 percent. The two young horses finished just 0.04 percent behind the team gold medal winners of the 2024 Olympic Games. That’s a house number.

Viva Gold OLD

As she had two horses in the competition, Isabell Werth and Viva Gold were one of the first pairs to compete. The ten-year-old Oldenburg stallion by Vivaldi-For Romance, a Weihegold grandson bred by Christine Arns-Krogmann, particularly shone in the canter tour with his energetic jump-through, from which he developed beautiful double changes, among other things. However, the dark chestnut made a mistake today in the one-twos, which Wendy did not do.

Overall, we would have liked a softer contact and less curb action. Particularly in the trot, the stallion was not entirely happy in the mouth, didn’t swing much in the reinforcement and we would have liked the traversals to be more flowing and more secure in time.

Dante’s Pearl OLD

They still have little international experience, but since the Grand Prix Special in Munich at the latest, Dante’s Pearl and Charlott-Maria Schürmann have also been talked about in connection with the WEG in Aachen. A place in the team could become more realistic in view of the injury-related withdrawals from Balve of the European Championship pairs Ingrid Klimke/Vayron and Katharina Hemmer/Denoix. Balve is actually an obligatory championships sighting for the dressage riders. But there have always been exceptions in recent years, so the World Championship train is far from over for Klimke and Hemmer. For Schürmann, however, it is definitely of the utmost importance to present herself in the best possible light in Balve.

She succeeded in this to a large extent today. Dante’s Pearl’s trot and canter are second to none. The walk, on the other hand, falls off a little and there was some tension in the collection today. But the overall picture of harmony between rider and horse is right, the contact, the suppleness, the suppleness. They also have some real highlights: the passage, increasingly also the piaffe (especially the last one today), especially the pirouettes, not to mention the reinforcement. After the whole parade before the backwards, the black mare was not under the center of gravity, so the backwards were only possible with difficulty. But apart from that, Schürmann did not lose a single point.

The other winners in the short report

In 2025, Semmieke Rothenberger and her KWPN gelding Farrington competed in the seniors for the first time and secured a fantastic fifth place in the freestyle. The pair also finished fifth today. Even at 16, the Jazz son has lost none of his energy and lives up to his nickname “Ferrari”. But he is also very confident in his movements and if Semmieke Rothenberger has learned one thing in all her championship appearances (and gold medals) from the ponies to the U25 camp, then it is to ride tests. Today was no exception. The pair scored 74 percent.

Raphael Netz brought his “two boys” with him to Balve, Dieudonné and Great Escape Camelot. The more experienced Camelot left his stable mate behind with 73.820 percent. Dieudonné scored 72.340 percent. As different as the two horses are, they also have things in common – both are equipped with a lot of go. Both benefit from Raphael Netz’s solid riding, which manifests itself in particularly fine contact and good straightness. Netz was once again honored for this today with a special prize.

Forster and Tobias Nabben are a couple who look like they could complete the Grand Prix task with their fingers up their noses. Their special history together has visibly welded them together. Few horses make such a relaxed, contented impression at all times as the eleven-year-old Finest son. He piaffes and passes with a springy lightness, sure-footedness and activity reminiscent of Dalera. Especially as the Hanoverian black horse also simply plays with the transitions. Precisely because everything seems to come so easily to the pair, one would wish for a more accentuated and precise ride for even more than 72.140 percent and eighth place. The potential is there.

When talking about the reliability of a Bluetooth, Dr. Svenja Kämper-Meyer’s Amanyara M is a prime example. The black mare is always committed, always on the ball, but was not always relaxed and supple at all times today. With a score of 72.120 percent, they were narrowly beaten by Forster and Nabben.

Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and Times Kismet came tenth and thus last in the list of the 20 pairs placed in the test. One had the impression that the four-time Olympic champion was able to present the eleven-year-old Ampere daughter (a half-sister of Amanyara) today with a more secure connection from the hind leg over the back into the hand, albeit not always straight and securely balanced. The first piaffe was really good. However, the transitions still need to become more secure and in the two other piaffe’s Kismet did not find the beat securely. This is probably also a matter of safety, strength and experience.

Jessica’s brother Benjamin Werndl was unlucky with his Louisdor Prize finalist Quick Decision. The Hanoverian Quaterhall son seemed to find the arena in Balve quite scary, did not really dare to go into the corners and behaved clearly, so that Werndl had to use all his riding skills to compensate for the lack of forward movement and guide “Quicks” through the task. With a score of 70.660 percent, they fell short of their potential.

You can find all the results here.

Rose Oatley wins U25 opener

Today was also the warm-up for the U25 generation before the medal rounds. Victory went to the new pair Rose Oatley and Alive and Kicking. Less than a quarter of a year ago, the ten-time European Championship gold medal winner for young riders had taken over the All at Once daughter Alive and Kicking, trained by Charlotte Dujardin, and was able to join the Piaff-Förderpreis ranks as a lateral entrant and, as in Mannheim, she also won the Intermédiaire II today, scoring 73.210 percent for the pair.

Lucie-Anouk Baumgürtel and her ten-year-old, self-trained First Vienna came second with 72.211 percent. Third place went to Katharina Schuster and Qence L (70.921).

The gaps between third and seventh place in particular were so small that anything is still possible here. Seventh-placed Sophia Gerlach, for example, showed a wonderfully harmonious test with her Amaru F NRW, which illustrated the real basic training of the gelding, who is also by All at Once. She was 70.395 percent to Knut Danzberg at E and 70.0 percent to his colleague at E, Thomas Kessler. But what was third place for the former was seventh place for the latter. All in all, they achieved 69.816 percent.

All results of the U25 Tour can be found here.