WELLINGTON, Fla.--For the third consecutive year, Germany won the FEI Nations Cup in Week 7 of the Global Dressage Festival on Feb. 24, while the day before the U.S. won the Under 25 Nations Cup
Felicitas Hendricks on Drombusch 2 (Photo by Susan Stickle)The Nations Cup in Wellington is a mixed team competition, allowing countries to put forward a combination of small tour and big tour combinations, with the grand prix combinations being awarded a bonus of 1.5% on their score.
Germany’s winning team of Frederic Wandres, Felicitas Hendricks, Anna-Christina Abbelen and Michael Klimke finished on 437.844 points, with the silver medal winning USA team team of Charlotte Jorst, Anna Marek, Christian Simonson and Susan Dutta on 427.285, and Sweden's team of Christina Devine, Caroline Darcourt and Tinne Vilhelmson-Silfvén finishing third on 414.498.
Germany’s top score on Friday came with a 72.234% (rounded up to 73.734% with the bonus) personal best in the CDIO3* Grand Prix Special from rising star Hendricks, the youngest rider on the team, on Drombusch 2.
“I’m really glad I had the opportunity to show here, and I think it’s perfect conditions for us riders and a top series,” said the 22-year-old. “I was able to have the highest score today, and I love the grand prix special. It went well with the passage and extended trot parts. Those were our highlights today. I couldn’t be prouder of our team.”
ABBELEN, another young rider on the rise on the international stage, rode Sam Donnerhall to a high score on Friday of 71.915% (73.415% with the bonus).
“I think the passage was a lot better than yesterday, the extended trot is his favorite party trick,” said the 26-year-old who has owned the son of Samarant for six years. “He felt very secure and supple, so I’m very happy with how he showed himself. Having to gain all the strength for this long grand prix special test is a lot for the horses, and he really tried his heart out until the last halt.”
Team Germany veteran and AGDF regular Wandres, who is here for the third consecutive season, was his nation’s only small tour rider.
He rode Harrods 3, and had two scores over 72%.
“Having the Nations Cup here is something special, and also the team spirit between the teams is the best,” he said. “We always put the pressure on to keep winning, but I also recognize the American team this year was on it to bring a good team.”
Klimke rode Sanrino to a personal best of 71.255% (72.755% with the bonus) in the grand prix special.
“We’re very lucky to have won it three years in a row now,” said Klimke, who rode on his first Nations Cup team in 1990. “I’m very proud of the two girls because they are both riding amazing and of course Freddie [Wandres] is our riding chef and hero who keeps the troop together.”
For the USA, it was the senior team first-timer Christian Simonson, at 20 the youngest rider on the squad, who impressed with a new personal best and the team’s highest score on Friday.
Riding Son Of A Lady, he scored 72.706% in the CDIO3* Intermediate I.
Simonson is based in Wellington and trains with Adrienne Lyle.
THE FEI Nations Cup for Under 25 riders on Thursday was a clean sweep for the U.S., winning the gold medal with a point total of 139.736 and also the silver medal with a finishing score of 135.500.
Ben Ebeling on Status Royal OLD. (Photo by Susan Stickle)Canada won the bronze medal with a final total of 133.118.
Benjamin Ebeling had the only score to break 70% in the CDIOU25 Intermediate II, which gave him both with the team gold and individual gold medal on Status Royal OLD.
Ebeling’s performance was a repeat of his victory during the same event last year in which he and Status Royal OLD scored only a slight fraction below their most recent test on a percentage of 70.647%.
In an impressive performance during her debut as a team rider for the United States, Callie O’Connell placed second with a score of 69.089% on Eaton H.
“This has been a dream of mine since I was a little girl to be on a team, and a year ago I never would’ve thought I would be in this situation,” said O’Connell, 24. “I partnered with this horse at the end of March last year and we went straight into the under-25 division because it is the last year that I’m eligible. My main goal coming to Florida this year was to make the team.”
“I have competed on an under-25 team several times now, and I have competed abroad, but this experience is always so much fun,” said Ebeling. “It’s a fantastic way to get experience riding on a team at the Grand Prix level. It’s a good time, a great team environment, and just overall it is fun to compete for team USA.”
“One of my mentors, Robert Dover, always says that the first three movements are your ‘business card’ and you need to nail those specifically,” Ebeling said. “My horse’s extensions are always pretty good, but today I was really focused on the trot half pass.”
“I only just competed in my first CDI two events ago, so there have been a lot of firsts for me recently,” O'Connell said. “This was our best test so far. His rideability overall through the whole test was unbelievable. He can sometimes be a little ahead of me and today he was just ready and waiting. My coach told me just to ‘ride every moment’ so I patted my horse, told him I believed in him, and did just that.
Both Ebeling and O’Connell train with Germany’s FEI World Championship team bronze medalist Christoph Koschel.
The following day, O’Connell scored a new personal best of 70.231% on Eaton H to win the U25 FEI Grand Prix.
She finished over her teammate from the Nations Cup, Ebeling, who had won the previous day’s U25 Intermediate II on Status Royal OLD.
The 14-year-old Eaton H was previously campaigned by Germany’s Christoph Koschel ,and O’Connell only started competing him internationally in January of this year.
This was the pair’s first CDI win and the first time they broke the 70% barrier.
“I’m still kind of at a loss for words,” said the 24-year-old O’Connell. “The goal today was a 70, I think I dreamt about it all last night and I knew we were capable and he got a little excited outside the ring, but the second we entered the ring he was right there, so I thought to myself, ‘Just trust him and ride it’. I was really hoping for top three, but to win it is just the coolest thing."
"I wanted to show a little more expression in the piaffe and passage, after looking at my test from yesterday I thought that’s where I could show more,” she said. “This is my last year of U25 so I want to go as far as I possibly can. I’d love to represent the US on a senior team one day. Feeling that positive pressure in a team atmosphere like this is amazing and I love it.”
