On March 18, the second day of competition for the FEI Stillpoint Farm Nations Cup CDIO3* at the Adequan Global Dressage Festival in Wellington, Florida, the team from Germany took home their first-ever gold medal at the Wellington Nations Cup with a score of 448.56. The U.S. team was just behind for the silver medal, earning 448.38, and Canada was awarded the bronze medal with 437.07.

First in the ring for the Germans was Michael Klimke piloting Domino 957, Uwe Kappel’s 9-year-old Westphalian mare, to a score of 68.00% in the FEI Intermediaire I CDIO3*, which ultimately became the drop score for the team.

“First I want to say thank you to the organizers,” said Klimke. “It’s a very difficult time with the pandemic and the outbreaks, and the show has gone on perfectly organized. We all come from Germany, and there is [no competition] going on there, so a big thanks from the German riders, the German team and the German federation to the organizers. We are very, very happy to be sitting here.”

(Far left) AGDF Director of Sport Thomas Baur and (from left) Stillpoint Farm’s Tuny Page and judge Christoph Umbach presented the German team of Kevin Kohmann, Christoph Koschel, Frederic Wandres and Michael Klimke with gold in the Stillpoint Farm FEI Dressage Nations Cup CDIO3*. SusanJStickle.com Photo

Klimke, who was also serving as the team’s chef d’equipe, noted the strength of the other riders he was leading.

“We have three top riders here,” he said. “My mare was a little tired, but the other three did a super, super job, and it was so close, and we are more than happy that Germany won. Christoph and I have been here for eight years, and Germany has never won. Normally the Germans are only winning in Germany, so it makes us more happy and more proud.”

U.S. Chef d’Equipe Debbie McDonald led the team of Katherine Bateson-Chandler and Alcazar, Ben Ebeling and Illuster Van De Kampert, Adrienne Lyle aboard Harmony’s Duval, and Jennifer Schrader-Williams with Millione. This is the first team appearance for both Ebeling and Schrader-Williams in a senior Nations Cup representing The Dutta Corp. U.S. Dressage Team.

“I can always expect our team to deliver,” said McDonald. “We had two rookies in their first senior Nations Cup appearance and two combinations who have been there several times, so it was good for our newer two combinations to have mentors on the team. As far as the performances, today we were one, two and three in the Special, and the Germans also did a very good job. More than half of their team was at small tour, and it was an amazing competition with an exciting ending. I’m so proud of our U.S. team.”

The Dutta Corp. U.S. Dressage Team of (from left) Adrienne Lyle, Katherine Bateson-Chandler, Jennifer Schrader-Williams, Ben Ebeling and Chef d’Equipe Debbie McDonald claimed silver in the Stillpoint Farm FEI Dressage Nations Cup CDIO3*. U.S. Equestrian Photo

With four combinations competing at Large Tour, a 1.5% coefficient was added to each of their individual scores in both the FEI Grand Prix and FEI Grand Prix Special.

Three of the U.S. team combinations held tightly to the top of the overall individual leaderboard in the FEI Grand Prix Special to conclude the second and final day of team competition. Lyle and Harmony’s Duval, a 13-year-old Hanoverian gelding owned by Duval Partners, finished with a 75.98% to lead the class rankings. Schrader-Williams (Olympia, Washington) piloted Millione, an 18-year-old Danish Warmblood gelding owned by Millione Partners LLC, to second place following a personal best performance and a career-high score of 75.45%.

Ebeling (Moorpark, California), the youngest member of the team, rode Illuster Van De Kampert, a 13-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding owned by Amy Ebeling and Sasha Cutter for Nuvolari Holdings LLC, to a 74.56% for third place in the class. The veteran combination of Bateson-Chandler and Alcazar, a 16-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding owned by Jane Clark, received a 71.01%.

“For me, it is super exciting to see someone as young and as talented as Ben with such a lovely horse,” said McDonald. “I see that partnership continuing on an uphill trend, and this is a wonderful experience for our new combinations to be on a team and experience that kind of pressure. Jen [Schrader-Williams] is an amazing rider, and her horse is a bit older and is just amazing—a little machine. I look forward to seeing what she has coming up in her pipeline for the future too.”

All four pairs will move forward to contest the FEI Grand Prix Freestyle CDIO3* for individual medals tonight, which will be available for live-stream viewing on USEF Network beginning at 8:15 p.m. ET.