WELLINGTON, Fla.--Christian Simonson on Fleau De Baian won the CDI3* Grand Prix Special over a field of 14 at the Global Dressage Festival on Feb. 7.
Christian Simonson on Fleau De Baian (Photo by Centre line Media)
Simonson had never before ridden a CDI special on 16-year-old stallion Fleau De Baian, and he won on a score of 70% on a sunny Saturday.
Ashley Holzer on Hawtins San Floriana was second on 69.447, and Jennifer Williams on Joppe K scored 68.872% to place third.
Simonson and Fleau De Baian earned plenty of eights, but had mistakes in both lines of changes on the diagonal.
This result marked the first CDI win for them since Simonson took over the ride in late 2023 from Adelinde Cornelissen, who also rode Fleau De Baian’s full brother Parzival at two Olympic Games.
“Horses are always a learning process, and with ‘Felix’ I’ve learned an immense amount about them already,” said the 23-year-old Simonson. “It’s a testament to my trainer Adrienne Lyle and the team that we can deconstruct what happened and look at how we can best understand it and move forward. Today was a good reflection of our mentality to always try to do right by our horses, understand them better and present them better."
“FELIX HAS so much strength and just wants to go, go, go, especially in the last extended trot today," he said. "I was thinking, ‘Oh man, don’t break. if we break, Adrienne will be upset with me. I had mistakes in the changes, but that’s just him and me learning how to compete in the stadium. I was able to do the piaffe transitions really well, though. He has such a good heart and really tries his hardest."
“This was our first special and I’ve only done a couple of them total, so it’s been really fun,” he said. “It’s very different than the grand prix or freestyle because there are so many transitions. Last season, we were only focusing on the U25 with Felix, so it’s been kind of a refinement. At home, we’re focusing on suppleness and elasticity with him. Around the barn, he loves showing off and yelling at the other horses, but he is never wild and is good-natured. He’ll scream, but doesn’t actually do anything, which is cute. We call him a little lion because he loves roaring at everyone.”
Sweden’s Tinne Vilhelmson Silfvén rode the former licensed stallion So Perfect, who is now a gelding, to win week 5’s Future Challenge qualifier with the best of the 10 tests on a score of 70.941%.
Ashley Holzer finished second on Liberty L with 69.235% and Sarah Tubman on Gorklintgards Smarties was third with 67.677%.
The Future Challenge is open to horses between eight and 11 years old and aims to encourage riders to show their up-and-coming international quality horses in a championship-type environment without the pressures of a CDI, such as having to stable away from home.
All qualifying rounds held throughout AGDF 2026 use the FEI Intermediate II test, with the final being the FEI Young Horse Grand Prix test.
“The chance to get the young horses in the international arena and meet the international judges is super,” said the seven-time Olympian who has been riding So Perfect for just over six months. “To be able to do this with him every second or third week is the perfect thing to build up our partnership. It’s a unique chance to get these horses in a big atmosphere."
