At the international para-dressage competition in Stadl Paura, the German pairs swept the board

At the German Championships in Balve, Heidemarie Dresing had defended her title against European champion Poesie. This weekend in Stadl-Paura, the Grade II rider competed with her Paralympic bronze medalist, Dooloop. The 14-year-old Oldenburg stallion was also in top form. The pair won all three classes: the Grade II Grand Prix A and B, as well as the freestyle—the latter with an impressive score of 78.533 percent.

Gianna Regenbrecht and First Florentine CT followed closely behind—once again confirming their performance at the German Championships in Balve, where the pair had also won silver. National team coach Silke Fütterer-Sommer told the FN: “Gianna and the mare haven’t been a pair for very long, and they’ve improved yet again here. It’s great when they manage to top their performance at every competition they ride together.”

Only three pairs competed in Grade II, and the third pair was also from Germany: Julia Porzelt riding Belle Bintou, who both placed third.

Grade IV

Six pairs competed in Grade IV, and newcomer Helen Brandt, riding Vulkan Vegas IB, set the standard. At the German Championships—where Brandt was still known as Schildknecht—the pair had won silver. This time, they secured two victories in the Grand Prix classes. In addition, Brandt had a second horse in the mix: the mare Federweiß placed second in each class and won the freestyle with her, while Vulkan Vegas took a break.

Charlotte Schindler and her Lissaro son, Leomax, placed third twice and then second in the freestyle.

Grade V

Isabell Nowak returned home with two wins and a second-place finish in the Grade V classes. For the final World Championship tryout, she had saddled her European Championship gold medal-winning mare from Ermelo, Siracusa OLD. That mare had a break during the German Championships, where Nowak rode Ellis NRW, a son of Escolar—once a Bundeschampionat finalist and also a full brother to the highly decorated junior-level mare Espe (Annabella Pidgley). Siracusa now put herself in the running for the World Championships in Stadl Paura with two victories in the Grand Prix classes and a second-place finish. Unfortunately, there were only three competing pairs in each of the Grade V classes as well. The winner of the freestyle was Hungary’s Ildiko Fonyodi riding the Hanoverian François de la Serre.

Grade I

There was more action among the eight participants in the Grade I classes, where riders compete at a walk only. Former world-class eventing rider Pepo Puch (AUT) dominated these classes with the DSP gelding Royal Choice, bred at the Schwaiganger State Stud. Twenty years ago, Puch was still nominated for the World Equestrian Games (WEG) in Aachen in eventing. This weekend, the 60-year-old and Royal Choice earned their place in another championship appearance at the Soers with victories in all three qualifying classes.

The weekend ended with two third-place finishes in the Grand Prix classes and a second-place finish in the freestyle for Martina Benzinger and her DSP gelding Sir de Cour. Benzinger was a member of the German team at the 2023 European Championships in Riesenbeck, riding the Lipizzaner mare Nautika at the time. The pair had also been nominated for the Paralympics in Paris. However, complications arose during a CT scan of the mare, resulting in her tragic death. This was a bitter blow for Benzinger, who suffers from multiple sclerosis. Benzinger has been competing internationally with Sir de Cour by San Muscadet since the fall of 2024.

You can find all the results from Stadl Paura here.