Last Updated on January 26, 2024 by adminahb
A nail-bitingly close class heralded the start of week three of the Adequan® Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) in Wellington, FL. The top five combinations in the CDI4* FEI Grand Prix, sponsored by US PRE Association, all topped 70%, and just 0.044 percentage points split the winner, Felicitas Hendricks, from the runner-up, Susan Pape (GBR).
Hot off her double of World Cup™ wins in week 1 of the AGDF, the 23-year-old Hendricks (GER) once again showed her widely praised, quiet, and effective riding to nab a new personal best score. She and her own 13-year-old Oldenburg gelding Drombusch OLD scored 72.457% from first draw.
Pape’s performance with the 10-year-old Harmony’s V-Plus was also richly rewarded by the judges (72.413%), while Sweden’s Caroline Darcourt piloted the 14-year-old Lord Django to third with 70.196%.
Hendricks is now unbeaten at the 2024 AGDF on the Destano x Dimaggio gelding, whom she bought through her trainer and uncle, Christoph Koschel.
“The horse is just getting better and better and I’m really glad that our scores are reflecting that,” enthused Hendricks. “And the best thing is that there’s still room for improvement. I feel like the sky really is the limit for this horse because he wants to do it, and I know he will.”
Last summer, the pair won team and individual golds at the Under-25 European Championships in Hungary, and since then have only competed in senior ranks despite still being eligible for under-25 classes. The tactic is paying off as Hendricks is more than holding her own in senior company.
Jennifer Williams (USA) topped the FEI Grand Prix CDI3*, sponsored by ProElite®, putting herself in pole position heading into Saturday’s Grand Prix Special. She and Joppe K led the 18-strong field on Thursday, claiming the winner’s sash with 68.848% despite the horse’s sensitivity to noise.
Sandwiched between Americans, Susan Pape took another runner-up spot with 68.609%, riding her own and Harmony Sport Horses’ 15-year-old stallion Harmony’s Eclectisch (by Zenon x Olivi). The 20-year-old Erin Nichols clinched third riding Premiere Sport Horses’ 15-year-old gelding Elian Royale, by Glock’s Johnson. This was the pair’s second ever senior CDI Grand Prix and they earned a new personal best in this company of 67.696%.
At 10 years old, Joppe K was the equal youngest horse on the start list. This is the Harmony’s Rousseau gelding’s second year at the level, having made his international grand prix debut at AGDF in 2023.
“He was quite rideable in the piaffe/passage; he stayed in front of my leg, kept pretty on the spot, and reactions were good,” said Williams, who splits her time — as well as her two children’s schooling — between Washington and Florida. “We had an unfortunate mistake in the ones, and those are usually a strong suit for us. He just started to feel a bit tired toward the end of the test and I was working a bit more than I’d have liked to, but he gave really good answers and tried to do the best he could.”
For more information and results, visit https://gdf.coth.com.