Wendy de Fontaine

One of the last foals to see the light of day at Danish horse breeder Kurt Gosmer’s was a long-legged black mare, a daughter of Sezuan out of the then eight-year-old Soprano daughter Skovens Vanilla by Soprano-Solos Landtinus-Lobster. The foal was given the name Queenparks Wendy, better known today as Wendy de Fontaine. It was a striking appearance with very good movements, so Gosmer had no difficulty in selling little Wendy as a foal. But she didn’t stay in her new home for long. For personal reasons, the new owner, breeder Annette Bugge, had to sell the foal again. She sent a video to horse dealer Andreas Helgstrand. He knows a good horse when he sees one. This is how Queenparks Wendy grew up in the meadows of Voskov in North Jutland.

Even as a remonte, Queenparks Wendy was an exceptional horse. As a three-year-old, she and her breeder Kurt Gosmer were awarded the gold medal of the Danish Horse Breeding Association. As a five-year-old, the mare won the Danish Young Horse Championships. She was one of the horses that Andreas Helgstrand himself rode and presented at shows. Wendy represented the Danish Warmblood Breeding Association at the World Championships for Young Dressage Horses at the age of five and seven. She won bronze at her first appearance. As a seven-year-old, she came sixth.

Grand Prix career

Andreas Helgstrand brought the mare into Grand Prix sport at the age of eight. She was victorious nationally and placed highly internationally. However, the mare’s career only really took off when she came to Isabell Werth and was renamed. Although Bolette Wandt from Château de Fontaine was already co-owner of the mare with Helgstrand, the mare was only renamed from Queenparks Wendy to Wendy de Fontaine with Isabell Werth. In January 2024, Andreas Helgstrand was still co-owner of the mare. Since July 2024, she has also officially belonged solely to Isabell Werth’s long-time patron Madeleine Winter-Schulze and Bolette Wandt.

The reason for the change of rider at the beginning of 2024 was the television report about the training methods at the Helgstrand stable, which was broadcast on Danish TV in the fall of 2023. As a result, Andreas Helgstrand was removed from the squad by the Danish association. As a result, the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris took place without him. He then gave his two best horses – Wendy and the now deceased Jovian – to other riders: Jovian to Patrik Kittel, Wendy to Isabell Werth.

This new pairing not only marked a new era for Wendy and Werth, but was also the beginning of the close collaboration between Isabell Werth and Helgstrand, which has led to Helgstrand Germany being based at Isabell Werth’s facility in Rheinberg since the beginning of 2026.

From zero to Olympic gold

Wendy came at the right time for Werth in the run-up to the Olympic Games. Although the most successful equestrian athlete of all time still had the previous year’s European Team Champion Quantaz in her stable, the chance of an individual medal was greater with Wendy – as was the chance of defending her title with the team. Within a few weeks, the pair had bonded so well that they were victorious in Aachen at the first attempt. The mare changed a lot during this time, muscled up, became rounder and moved more supple. She had always been able to piaffe and ride like a world champion.

After their success in Aachen – where the then dominant pair Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and Dalera were not present – the pair Werth/Wendy were nominated for Paris alongside the double Olympic champions from Tokyo as well as Frederic Wandres and Bluetooth. What nobody expected: they not only delivered a personal best (which they have since surpassed) in the Grand Prix and Special, but also such a good freestyle that they won silver in the individual classification. They also benefited from the fact that the best pair from the Grand Prix, Cathrine Laudrup Dufour and Freestyle, were not in the form they were in at the start of the tournament.

A year later, at the European Championships in Crozet, the tide turned in favor of the Danish pair, who took silver, while Werth and Wendy won bronze. And both were beaten by Belgian dressage sensation Justin Verboomen on his beautiful Zonik Plus. However, the story of Werth and Wendy is far from over.

Multiple mother

Wendy is not only making headlines in sport, but also in breeding. She already has seven offspring, all stallions, three of them licensed. One of the youngest, the Franklin son Ferdinand de Fontaine, born in 2020, represented the German colors at the World Championships for Young Dressage Horses in 2025 and qualified for the Grand Final in third place with the Finnish rider Merita Hagren in the saddle, where he finished eleventh.

The talent of her offspring is no more a breeding coincidence than Wendy herself. The mare comes from a successful Danish dam line. Her granddam, the elite mare Viola Stensvang by Solos Landtinus, produced three foals, two stallions and a mare. The Conteur son Royal Flush became a successful show jumper in 1.50 meter courses, the Romanov son Skovens Rosselli an S*** dressage horse. And the mare became the dam of Wendy.

Wendy’s dam line also produced another mare who has represented Denmark several times at the World Championships for Young Dressage Horses and is one of the best young dressage horses in the world for this reason alone: the Revolution daughter Valerie B. She was also trained at Stall Helgstrand, represented the DWB as a five and six-year-old under Anne-Mette Strandby Hansen at the World Championships, won the qualifier both times and came fourth in the final. Now seven years old, the mare is now owned by Patrik Kittel and won her first advanced (S) level dressage test at the first attempt with a clear lead.

Valerie B and Wendy have a common ancestor in Vanessa Stensvang by Lobster. This DWB gold medal mare is Wendy’s great-granddam and Valerie B’s granddam.