Wellington, Fla.—March 15

In the big atmosphere of the International Ring at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival, an animated Friday-night crowd watched two German riders take back-to-back wins in the CDI5* Grand Prix Special and CDI5* Grand Prix freestyle. First, Frederic Wandres clinched his second five-star blue of the week in the special on Hof Kasselmann’s 14-year-old Oldenburg gelding, Bluetooth OLD (Bordeaux 28—Lorena, Riccione) with a 78.34%—nearly 8 points better than his nearest competition. 

While Wandres also won Wednesday night’s CDI5* Grand Prix, a mistake in his test nagged at him. On Friday, he used that “wake-up call” as motivation for the Grand Prix Special and ended up clinching a personal best with “Bluetooth.” 

“It was a personal best, and it also felt like that,” Wandres said. “It felt super, flawless, a harmonious ride.”

“We really invested here this season into working on some details,” he added. “I think it worked out pretty good. I’m very, very happy that I was able to bring him here and spend the time—I spend a lot of time with my horses during the whole day. It’s not only the riding, it’s grazing, grooming, cleaning, everything.”

Anna Marek took second on Cynthia Davila’s 14-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding Fayvel (70.61%), while Ashley Holzer and P.J. Rizvi’s 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding Hansel tailed just behind (70.14%).

In the freestyle, 23-year-old German rider Felicitas Hendricks piloted her gelding, Drombusch OLD to their final in a series wins in Wellington, scoring a 77.24%. Hendricks, who partnered with “Drombusch” when the gelding was just 6 years old and she was 16, reflected on their progress.

“I’ve had him since he was 6,” Hendricks said. “I got him from my uncle Christoph Koschel, who thought we would be the right match, and turned out to be right. So it was a long way, but it was a very fun and very, very rewarding way. I couldn’t wish for a better dance partner. It’s even more special because we’ve gone all the way together.”

Hendricks has developed a reputation at Wellington for lively freestyles that get the crowd clapping, and she says both she and her horse appreciate the energetic atmosphere. In every freestyle with Drombusch, she has a favorite movement. 

“He has a great passage, which really feels like being on a cloud,” she said. “So that’s always my favorite part of the test for sure.”

Swedish rider Tinne Vilhelmson Silfvén rode Lövsta Stuteri AB’s Devanto, a 15-year-old Holsteiner gelding, to second with a 74.56%. German rider Anna-Christina Abbelen took third on her own 17-year-old Oldenburg Sam Donnerhall with a 73.89%.

Bateson-Chandler Claims Back-To-Back Victories On Haute Couture

Friday afternoon’s CDI3* Grand Prix Special proved to be a tight class, where each of the last six riders overtook the previous rider’s top spot. By the time the final rider and winner of the class, Katherine Bateson-Chandler, entered the arena on Haute Couture, she might have been the only person on the grounds of the Adequan Global Dressage Festival who didn’t know the score to beat. 

“I pay zero attention to that—I don’t look at scores, I don’t look at who’s in the class,” Bateson-Chandler said. “I’m going to do what I’m going to do, and I try not to put that extra pressure on myself.” 

But the pressure was on for Bateson-Chandler, who was relieved to win back-to-back classes Thursday and today after some recent difficult tests on the 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare (Connaisseur—Destiney, IPS Krack C) she owns with Jennifer Huber. With a 70.04%, she took the lead from Canadian rider Ariana Chia, who placed second on the PRE stallion Guateque IV, with a 69.34%. American rider Susan Dutta, on Don Design DC, claimed the third place spot with a 69.19%. 

“I’m just happy that we got through the two tests this show, and that she was a really good girl,” Bateson-Chandler said. “I made two mistakes in this test—they were one million percent mine—and [I’m happy] that we recovered, and they didn’t continue to snowball, because that’s happened, too.”

With these confidence-building wins behind her, Bateson-Chandler hopes to keep up the positive momentum with the mare. She trains with both Ashley Holzer and British dressage rider Carl Hester, who she said will be coming to Wellington next week and will work with the pair.

“It’s always half-halt, contact, connection.” she said of her lessons with Hester. “I mean, the horse knows the Grand Prix and I know how to ride a Grand Prix—it’s not that, it’s all the in between stuff, and just getting the throughness and keeping her truly through.”

Stay tuned for more 2024 AGDF coverage. For full results, click here.