Blog Report from the 2025 CDI Hagen: "The World is Your Oyster"

Text © Eurodressage (this article expresses Eurodressage's opinion and eye-witness account of the competition). 
Photos © Eurodressage NO REPRODUCTION ALLOWED / NO SCREEN SHOTS for social media

I'm back by popular request. My "Bouillabaisse" report seems to be a success, one with a futility I prefer to compare to Sabrina Carpenter's pop hit  'Espresso' - a fun song that is clubbed to death on the radio and in five years time few will play it ever again, not withstanding the test of time.

A few futile paragraphs that have little to do with Hagen

I know people love blogs, a diary style type of article which I have been writing since 1998 North America Young Riders Championships, but back then the word "blog" didn't even exist, as the internet was still a rarity for most. In 2000 I wrote editorials which were more public confessions of a young adult going through emotional turmoil. I also penned little show impressions of the first big competitions I did, like the 2000 CDIO Aachen. My first, most famous blog series was from 2001 when I went on a road trip with Mary Phelps to Dressage at Devon right after 9/11. Funnily readers often prefer to find out what I eat and which wine I drink over my grand views on how to save dressage sport for the future. So guess what, I'll try to do these "blog reports" a bit more often. You'll get my impressions on the competition in a diary style article.  It all depends on my motivation and energy level, just so you know.

After I wrapped up last night's "blog report" on my first day of competition at the 2025 CDI Hagen round 1h45 AM, I went to bed and still played on my phone until at least 2h45. I had to do the mandatory Eurodressage social media posts and like a true face-hugger phone addict required a hit of at least 30 minutes of senseless Reels-doom-scrolling before I reached realisation point that I wasted another half an hour of my life polluting my brain with SoMe nonsense. I always do a little test: "which reel did you see in the last three hours that is worth remembering? I'm usually able to name just one out of the 250 I've seen: a person saving an abadoned puppy from the street gutter. Or a delivery guy caught on Ring cam running away from an aggressive dog. Yes my evening life is that pathetic! As soon as I closed my phone I fell asleep after having been awake for 22 hours. 

A Brighter Day

When I checked into my hotel Thursday evening the hotelier kindly mentioned that there was no breakfast available this weekend. I'm not a big breakfast person as I require two cappuccinos not to feel hungry until lunch time. I normally have to bridge a gap of three hours with no food before lunch as I start the work day at 9 AM instead of  when the rooster cock-a-doodle-doos at 7 AM or earlier. At horse shows life is different and wake-up time is usually either 6 and 7 AM. My Iphone alarm clock is always a surprise: it can either be a soothing symphonic wake-up tune or a brain crushing beep-beep-beep. I never know what I'm going to get. This morning I woke up to violin strings but quickly realised I didn't have enough sleep for my age. I got up at the very fair 8 o'clock, washed, got dressed and headed to the horse show.

The morning started out heavily overcast, rather chilly, but totally dry so there was no complaining from my part. I wondered how muddy the parking field would be, but it was tolerable and I parked my car at exactly the same spot as yesterday, nose down, so I could slide my way out of there again, if necessary.  I briskly walked to the dressage area where I got my first essential cappuccino of the day in the tent: a caffeine kick required to be full focus on the Grand Prix for Special 4* competition which started at 9 AM.

Morning Session 

There were only 11 pairs in the Grand Prix for Special 4*, a historic low for Horses and Dreams that usually serves as a magnet to bring out Germany's best and attract a bunch of European riders dying to compete at the glorious Hof Kasselmann. We are living in strange times with shows begging for entries. Some are packed with 40 combinations per class, other CDI's can't even field 40 entries in total from pony level to Grand Prix. In the USA some CDI's are thrilled they have even 15 pairs showing up.

The FEI removed its "date clash" clause during COVID and never re-instated it. So now too many shows take place on the same date, spreading themselves thin. An additional factor that needs to be considered is that a bunch of riders avoid competing internationally due to the current animal welfare debate. I have spoken to plenty of international dressage riders, who might not be big shots, but choose not to pay at least 2000 euro for a weekend of CDI competition to get another 65% score and run the risk of getting videoed by an animal welfarist who will stigmatise him/her as an abuser on social media because the mouth was open.

This year in Hagen there were 25 combinations in the CDI 4* and 24 in the 3* (49 in total). Last year in the 2024 Olympic year (which always does better so maybe it's not the right comparison), there were 27 in the 3* and 39 in the 4* (total 66). There were 59 in 2023 and 77 (!!) in 2022. FEI, take this into your statistics !!

Renaissance

In 2022 German team rider Sönke Rothenberger "relaunched" his career aboard Danish warmblood gelding Kjaerholms Fendi (by Franklin x Diamond). His celebrated top horse Cosmo had his downfall at the 2021 European Championships in Rotterdam after so many highlights in Arezzo, Rio, and Gothenburg. The horse disappeared from the public eye never to be seen or mentioned again. A once majestic Grand Prix horse, Cosmo became a distant echo that floated into oblivion. With Fendi young Sönke experienced a coveted renaissance, scoring a winning  77.079% in the Inter II Louisdor Cup qualifier in Hagen in 2022 and winning the Grand Prix 4* in Hagen in 2023 with another 77.152%. Rothenberger and Fendi  never made it onto the German team as the young Grand Prix pair was not resilient to the pressure at the German team selection trial at the 2023 CDIO Aachen and in 2024 it was from the frying pan into the fire with scores dropping. Although once hailed as the most talented Grand Prix horse in Germany, the past year Fendi could not live up to the expectations and the  whisper was "Fendi has lost it" (meaning the ability to score high). In each test mistakes crept in and the piaffe and passage no longer looked as promising and impressive as they once did in 2022.

Coming from a Grand Prix high score of 77.152% in Hagen 2023 to a 69.826% in the CDI-W Basel Grand Prix in January 2025, Rothenberger and the 11-year old Fendi did not begin the new year on a high note. However, they turned a page today and won the 4* Grand Prix for Special with 72.826%. Keep in mind that this results, due the recalibration of the the scores in to the animal welfare debate, would have been at least a 74.826% a year ago ;)  As third last to go in the class, the pair lacked polish and could easily have scored more. They impressed with its trot half passes, but only did four rein back steps instead of five (score 6.5). The second trot extension barely had overtrack  and the first piaffe was laboured. The extended walk needed more stretch over the back, even though one to two hooves overstep were achieved.  The zig zag went well, there was good sit in the pirouettes, the passage was gorgeous but not always even. A mistake in the ones happened, and the piaffe at X was the best one of the three. Judges Raphaël Saleh, Katrina Wüst, Evi Eisenhardt, Isobel Wessels, and Hans-Christian Matthiesen were not entirely in unison as they scored the pair between 70.435% and 74.891%.

The most effortless ride with the best bridle contact came from British born German based Susan Pape (née Draper) aboard Harmony sporthorses' 14-year old KWPN mare Giulilanta (by Jazz x Flemmingh). The pair came fresh off a season competing in Wellington, Florida, and showed their best form in months on European soil in Hagen. Although the trot extensions were a bit hurried and lacking in ground cover, all the other Grand Prix work looked so solid and smooth. The mare has really gelled with its rider over the years and today they looked at ease with each other, speaking the same language.  They scored a well earned 71.217% for second place. 

Ingrid Klimke and the 14-year old Westfalian gelding Vayron (by Vitalis x Gloster) were the penultimate pair to go and looked like they were cruising to victory until mistakes started to happen. The giant bay gelding produced big, easy trot extensions and there was much ground cover in the half passes but the hindquarters almost led to the forehand. The rein back had big steps, the first piaffe was carefully ridden but on the forehand and narrow behind. The extended walk had good relaxation and marching, the collected walk was good. There was a break in the rhythm in the second piaffe and in the strike-off to canter the croup came high. The pair rode very big, easy two tempi changes, the passage work had improved considerably with more straightness in the body. Vayron did an unscripted flying change in the extended canter and there was some loss of balance in the zig zag. The ones were nice, the pirouettes almost felt like slow motion, but were small. They posted 69.956% for third place. 

One of the horses that showed the most improvement overall was the 10-year old Hanoverian gelding Fortunity S (by Franziskus x Weltmeyer) under Portuguese Nuno Palma e Santos.  The chestnut is a mega Grand prix horse with fabulous piaffe-passage, straight tempi changes, super half passes.... but he can't walk.. just like white men can't jump..  I was immediately thinking this horse needs more relaxation exercises, massages, reiki, chakras opened, cavaletti work, walking into the ocean.. if his walk would be fixed, he could be a world beater. Today it was 67.500% for 6th place.  By the way, there is only one rider left in the world riding in beige breeches and that's Nuno (after Sven Rothenberger hung up his tails in 2005).

Meandering

After the Grand Prix class I meandered across the show grounds, first watching Jessica von Bredow-Werndl school Times Kismet, before searching for food. I landed near the show jumping arena where I had a small piece of lasagne while watching - to my surprise - American Young Rider Kat Fuqua compete in show jumping on a rather heavy duty course with a super grey jumper, Nate Archibald. They had one rail down, but that was not the horse's fault. 

Three hours followed of killing time. Instead of keeping momentum by scheduling the Louisdor Cup qualifier right after the Grand Prix 4* there was a major lull in the programme with an amateur Prix St Georges kur to music right after noon. Not that the horses, riding, or music were bad, but I felt my inspiration and drive vaporizing as the overcast sky made way for a few rays of sunshine. I was dragging myself through noon-time. I photographed the class, scouted for nice ring-side portraits and had a brief sit down at the No Concept clothes store, which after many years of no longer having a booth a dressage shows, made its long awaited return. The mater familias of the shop, Anette Schlummer wasn't there, but Maike Schlummer and her friend Michel Wantia were there with all their flair.

A brief respite from boredom came when the Oldenburg breed society and KWPN had their live presentation of the foal collection of the elite foal auction that was going to take place in the jumper stadium in the evening. It was fun to see the babies of dressage strut their stuff in the arena and immediately took a liking to the  colt Valentino AVE (by Sarai L) and filly Etoile Princiere (by Extreme US). It was no so surprise they later became the price highlights of the auction.

Louisdor Magic

One of the most anticipated classes of the weekend was the Louisdor Cup qualifier, starting at 15h30. There were twenty pairs entered, which is also less than last year (28 in 2024) but more than in the years before (15 in 2023 - 19 in 2022). There were plenty of ringing names on the entry list, top riders presenting their up and coming, developing Grand Prix horses, and it was no surprise that the ringside seats got filled and droves of people stood in between the warm-up and the competition ring. The sun now came out to cast some special light onto the Louisdor horses.

The breeding stallion that made his mark with his offspring in the Hagen Louisdor this year was Dante Weltino. Out of 20 horses, no less than four were directly sired by the Swedish Olympic team stallion: the winner of the class (Dante's Pearl), the third placed horse (Deltana) as well as Danestos (Manuel Springhetti) and Dantiamo (Lisa Müller). And let's not forget Patrik Kittel's Dante's Herzchen that competed in the 3* tour.

The class was judged by Isobel Wessels, Henning Lehrmann, Ralph Schmidt, Knut Danzberg, and Malgorzata Pawlowska and it felt like they slightly fell back into old habits being favourable to "famous riders" who were more  leniently judged that the majority. Also watching the tack inspection after the test was more than fascinating. As the Louisdor Cup is a national class it falls under German Equestrian federation regulations and to my observation the tack check seemed more a formality than a serious matter. I saw the  steward check the tightness of noseband by barely even touching the noseband, in most cases by putting the tip of the finger against it, hardly under it. From my viewpoint there was no pressure applied to see if the noseband could even be lifted off the side of the face. I saw that in a millisecond the tightness was "looked" upon. The left spur was touched, the right on was just glanced at, not even touched (not the flank of the horse), a few strands of tail hair were felt.. in some cases... Oh well, different standard for different circumstances. I also saw two horses very irregular in the rhythm in the trot extensions (one in the 4*, one in the Louisdor) but they were not rung out. No welfare bell in Hagen.

The World is your Oyster

"The world is your oyster" Shakespeare's expression goes and in the Louisdor cup warm-up round the winner was Dante's Pearl, a 10-year old Oldenburg mare by Dante Weltino x San Amour which Hof Kasselmann sold as a youngster to former Swiss youth rider Caroline Marie Scheufele. After having briefly ridden the mare herself, Scheufele returned her to Germany for Charlott-Maria Schürmann to produce her up the levels. This black beauty finished 6th in the 2024 Nurnberger Burgpokal Finals for developing PSG horses and now made the leap into the developing Grand Prix horse class. 

Dante's Pearl did a square halt at entry, has lots of suspension in the trot work, but was clearly more elastic in the half passes to the right than to the left. Her passage work was elegant, but she only showed very few steps of piaffe. In the extended walk she appeared short-long in front and the rhythm was mediocre (6.8 score). The medium canter with flying change at X was lovely and the mare showcased good ability to sit in the pirouettes. The tempi changes were straight, the passage on the final centerline could have been slightly more collected. She was soft in the contact. She scored a whopping 75.237% for the victory although the spread between the judges was rather big: 72.500% as low score and 76.579% as high score. 

Probably my favourite ride of the class was Benjamin Werndl's on the 9-year old Hanoverian gelding Quick Decision (by Quaterhall x Rotspon). The bright chestnut with plenty of white marking was produced to Grand Prix level by Uta Gräf before selling to Aubenhausen in December 2024. Werndl finally found his successor after the tragic passing of his 2022 German WEG team horse Famoso.  The chestnut is very well trained by Gräf and Werndl immediately reaped the fruits of that work. As first pair to go in the class they held the lead for a long time until Dante's Pearl's ride. The horse was very submissive and willing to do the work. He had a cute, floaty passage, the piaffes were slightly on the forehand and he could drop more in the hindquarters, but the rhythm was fine. There were nice uphill strides in the extended canter, the extended walk had a two hooves overtrack and a clear V-moment in the rhythm. The twos were nice, the first change of the ones was short. There was a miscommunication in the left pirouette.  The right one was much better. The contact was soft and elastic at all times. They scored 73.526% to place second. Their marks went from 71.053% to 75.789%.

German Olympic team gold medal winner Frederic Wandres rode two horses in the Louisdor class and placed third aboard Elizabeth Morrell's 10-year old Hanoverian mare Deltana (by Dante Weltino x Charon).  The muscled black mare is a talented horse but still quite green in the Grand Prix work. Today the hindlegs were too far out in the passage and in the piaffe she needed quite a bit of motivation from the rider to pick up her legs. The extended walk scored 7s and 8s. In the pirouettes she showed good ability to sit and the two tempi changes were very ground covering and impressive. Deltana relied heavily on the piloting and experience of her rider and it all could and should look lighter and more fluent. They scored 72.605% for a third place; riding on home turf seemed to have played to their advantage. The judges had marks between 70.658% and 74.079%. 

A wonderful ride was produced by Juliane Brunkhorst and the 9-year old Diamante Negro (by DeLorean x Furst Romancier). The pair won last year's Nurnberger Burgpokal qualifier in Hagen and now proved readiness in the Louisdor Cup qualifier. Although in general the horse looked more convexed on the left and concave on the right, the horse produced very nice piaffe and passage work. He was soft-footed in trot. He could have marched more in the extended walk and was hesitant in the right pirouette. The two tempi changes were very nice, the ones straight, but he swayed a bit in the hindquarters in the passage on the final centerline. He scored 72.421% for fourth place with marks between 69.737% and 74.737%. 

Leonie Richter and the 9-year old licensed Rhinelander breeding stallion Lord Europe (by Lord Leatherdale x Boston) completed the top five. Owned by Hungarian young rider Mira Dicso, Lord Europe has only been lightly competed over the years. In Germany he debuted in 2022 under Julian Fetzer and has been in Richter's career since the spring of 2023. He already sold to Dicso last year but the sale was kept quiet and Richter retained the ride. The black stallion is impressive to look at: handsome, tall and he has plenty of scope in his gaits, but he has a right hind leg rotating outwards in his movement mechanism  The right trot half passes were more elastic than the left ones and in passage and piaffe the hindlegs stayed too far out at this point in his training. He ground his teeth and curled himself in the extended walk instead of marching over the back into the contact. There was a lovely flying change at X in the medium canter, the left pirouette was small. The ones were much straighter than the twos. The downward transition to trot went via walk and there was a break in the final trot extension. The pair was last to go and that played to their benefit as their 71.026% score was more than generous. He scored between 68.289% and 73.026%. 

Jessica von Bredow-Werndl premiered the 10-year old Danish warmblood Got It BB (by Grand Galaxy Win x Don Schufro) at his first major premier league competition after having done some small shows in south Germany and Austria. Owned by Beatrice Burchler-Keller the bay stallion was bought at Andreas Helgstrand's in Denmark five years ago. Werndl rode the horse in a light contact, the canter work was soft-footed with nice pirouettes and good two tempi changes. In the piaffe he leaned too much on the shoulders and the first passage lacked collection but improved throughout the test. There was a mistake in the ones and in the extended walk he got slow and a bit peacocky, instead of really marching over the back. They posted 70.947% today for 6th place. 

Hurry to the Hotel

As soon as the Louisdor prize giving ceremony was finished I hurried back to the car to make my way to the hotel. I did wonder why I didn't  stick around and socialized more with people, but I came to Hagen alone and my social safety-net colleagues hadn't come along to hang out with. So I felt more comfortable relying on my routine of going to the hotel and work.

In my hotel room I first posted the scores of the CDI's in Ypaja, Hagen, Gossendorf and Golega before going downstairs to fully master eating a big hamburger and sweet potato fries. Then I went back to my room, wrote this article and wondered why I just can't be concise and to the point. Any time I write an article, whether it is a report or a blog, it turns out to be a long winded excursion with too many details and too much information. Sometimes I get tired of myself.. and I haven't even begun organizing and preparing the photos for this piece. I'm going to be burning the midnight oil once again...

At 1h30 I called it quits. The article was ready but not the photos and I got too tired. Two hours into my sleep the reckoning came. My body punished me for eating greasy crap food two days in a row and woke me up, ordering me to release some of the load. I fell back asleep in seconds and felt much better.  I woke up at 8h30, aware that I missed the first group of the Intermediaire I, but decided that rounding up this article had priority.

Photos © Eurodressage - NO SCREENSHOTS!

Eurodressage took photos of almost all CDI competitors in Hagen.  If you are interested in photos for social media use or print, send us an email and you can BUY our photos. No reproduction allowed - NO SCREENSHOTS!

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