Charlotte Dujardin's Imhotep is back

The Dutch-born KWPN gelding by Everdale came to Charlotte Dujardin, the three-time British Olympic champion, at the age of seven. The two worked together quietly for two years. Then everything happened very quickly. Imhotep took his first Grand Prix in 2022 and after two CDI appearances they were nominated for the World Championships in Herning. The pair’s lack of experience was still noticeable. It was a different story a year later at the European Championships in Riesenbeck. After winning gold with the team and, above all, the two bronze medals in the special and freestyle, Dujardin and Imhotep were among the candidates for an individual Olympic medal in Paris.

The medal favorites from the British Isles began their Olympic season in Hagen. As Eqwo.net later reported, the first talks between Porsche, her trainer Diederik Wigmans with Charlotte Dujardin and Carl Hester, the owner of Imhotep, took place back then. Porsche tried out the gelding and got on well with him. But he was to stay in England at least until after Paris. That’s how it turned out, although Dujardin did not compete in Paris.

Time to get to know each other

In the fall of 2024, however, Pete moved from the island to the Alpine region. In an interview with Eqwo.net, Diana Porsche said modestly at the time: “I’m well aware that I’m following in huge footsteps that I’ll probably never reach. Now it’s about getting to know each other, growing together and then we’ll see how far we get.”

That’s exactly what happened. Porsche didn’t stress about her new star in the stable. The two had plenty of time to get to know each other because the Austrian had given birth to a child in the meantime.

Tournament premiere with Porsche

Yesterday was the day of truth, the first tournament for Porsche and Pete at the national Grand Prix tournament in Stadl Paura. Nine pairs were at the start. But there could have been more, as the new duo were in a league of their own in Stadl Paura as the only pair with a – clear – 70 percent score. In his first international Grand Prix with Dujadin, Imhotep came out of the arena with 72.804 percent. With his new rider, he scored 72.133 percent yesterday.

Second place went by a clear margin (69.20 percent) to the U25 European Champion and current World Cup leader Raphael Netz in the saddle on Sola Diva, who he presented for the first time at a show in Ankum a few days ago and who is with him as a horse for sale.

Porsche was highly satisfied with her first performance on Imhotep: “I couldn’t be happier about our first show appearance. Of course we still need time to get to know each other in the arena and gain more experience as a pair, but this was the best first step I could have wished for. And being back in the arena after my maternity leave made it even more special.”

Werndl and Embolo win twice

Among the Bavarian riders who had come to Stadl Paura to take advantage of the good conditions for their start to the season was Benjamin Werndl with several young horses. One that he has high hopes for is the now seven-year-old Escamillo son Embolo. He came to Aubenhausen in 2022 for a whopping 590,000 euros via the Westphalian Elite Auction and has now competed in his first two advanced (S) level dressage tests for young horses and the FEI tests for seven-year-olds. It could hardly have gone better.

On Friday, he won with a final score of 80.557 percent, which was calculated from 75.313 percent for the technical execution of the task combined with 85.50 percent for the quality of basic gaits, scope and general impression. The trot was worth a 9.4 to the judges, the canter 9.5, the general impression 9.0 and the permeability 8.0. Only the walk had a 7 in front of the decimal point. It received a 7.0.

Embolo earned today’s victory with 77.475 percent, made up of 73.750 percent for technical execution and 81.20 percent for quality.

You can find all the results from Stadl Paura here.