Van der Putten Calls the Shots in 40-Rider Grand Prix at 2025 CDI Kronenberg Indoor

- Text © Eurodressage (this article expresses Eurodressage's' eye-witness account and opinion about the competition)  
-- Photos © Astrid Appels/Eurodressage - No reproduction allowed - NO SCREENSHOTS!

At the 2025 CDI Kronenberg Indoor on 27 - 30 November 2025, Dutch team rider Marieke van der Putten underlined once again that she will be The Netherlands' leading lady for the upcoming 2026 show season aboard the incredible talented, but sharp Oldenburg mare Zantana OLD. 

Not to be Missed

The CDI Kronenberg Indoor at equestrian center Peelbergen is one of the few not-to-miss indoor competitions of the winter show season in Europe, boasting classes packed with combinations from pony level to Grand Prix. Kronenberg is a magnet for top sport with new combinations getting ready for next year as well as Grand Prix riders testing out their younger GP horses in a rather low-pressure environment.

No less than 161 combinations were on the Masterlist, plus a further 20 horses came along as training horses. With two interconnected indoor arenas adjacent to the large warm-up and a fabulous bar and restaurant in the middle, Peelbergen knows how to make competition sport attractive: no frozen toes and noses, savoury food on offer (although the fast food French fries and bitterballen appeared to be sales hit of the weekend nonetheless) and with a top entry field to feed the eyes and brain. Bring it on. 

Crozet at the end of August was my last CDI. I came home and tucked my camera away. In the autumn I take a mental break from competition sport and actively engage in NOT watching any competition tests on Clip My Horse to reset my brain and give it a break from equines. Of course the regular news work continues in the office, but shows are on hold. This means that after three months, I'm hungry to watch dressage and Kronenberg is the perfect palet cleanser with a string of new horses and riders across the levels.

I'll do a second article on the youth classes, but here are a few quick impressions and pictures of the key class - the Grand Prix - on Friday 28 November, the only day I was there and able to photograph 125 combinations in two rings out of the 161 competitors. I'm patting myself on the shoulder here...

Ringing Names

The Grand Prix field included no less than 40 pairs with many ringing names, such as double Olympic champion Charlotte Dujardin who since her suspension was lifted made her second appearance on the European mainland and her first directly in the heart of horse sport (West Europe). Charlotte kept a very low profile, not to be seen anywhere all day, until she popped up in the warm-up to ride. Riding Ellen McCarthy's 11-year old Oldenburg Brave Heart (by Bordeaux x Zack), the Brit showed she hasn't lost any of her skills test-riding. She impressed with fantastic trot half passes and pirouettes. The passage was a bit tricky as the horse got uneven behind when collected, but when Charlotte rode the passage a bit more freely it was more regularly, but not passagey enough. In piaffe the bay goes very wide behind.  The Grand Prix was judged by Alice Schwab, Jean-Michel Roudier, Francis Verbeek, Maria Colliander, and Eva-Maria Vint Warmington, and they rewarded Dujardin with 72.804% which placed her second in the end. 

There were plenty of other "famous" names in Kronenberg. Dutch Olympian Emmelie Scholtens premiered her newest Grand Prix ride, Rom Vermunt's 10-year old KWPN stallion Kyton (by Ferguson x Ferro). The chunky liver chestnut with massive neck is an impressive, room-filling horse but could sit a little more in the piaffe and the extended walk could be more through the body and with lengthening. They scored 71.022% for third place. 

Swedish Olympian Juliette Ramel debuted a new Grand Prix ride, the 10-year old surprisingly Hanoverian registered Dutch warmblood bred Kratos (by Painted Black out of broodmare Terlia (by Krack C) who also produced the now disappeared full sister Dolcherie). Kratos has promising pirouettes and very uphill tempi changes, but in the ones he almost seemed like willing the buck on the diagonal. They scored 68.935% for 7th place. 

Ramel's former Grand Prix ride, Gideon K.H (by Rhodium x Krack C), was expected to be Juliette's successor for Buriel KH, but the Swede sold the horse to the German-Dutch former U25 ride Sophie Reef who now competes in the senior ranks. The horse has much talent for piaffe and passage and landed 6th place with 69.304%.

British Olympic medal winner Laura Tomlinson brought two horses to Kronenberg: her cousin Beatrice Marienau's Issey (by Johnson x Rubinstein) and her mum Ursula Bechtolsheimer's home bred Oldenburg Full Moon (by Furstenball x Gribaldi). The powerful Issey showed nice trot extensions and passage work and produced a solid round that placed them fourth with 70.022%. Full Moon broke in the first trot extension and struggled with the collected walk, to end up 14th with 67.696% but the lovely bay went on to win the Special with 69.383%.

Dutch Olympian Dinja van Liere was back for a rematch with Theo Driessen's 12-year old KWPN stallion Imposantos (by Wynton x KrackC) after having to retire at the CDI-W Stuttgart when the black threw the tongue over the bit. In Kronenberg, Van Liere still had a few contact issues with a gaping mouth, but she rode the black cleverly through the test for some confidence building. The piaffes are still very small, but Van Liere seems on the right path to consolidating the other GP moves on the breeding stallion. They got 68.739% for their Grand Prix test for 8th place. 

After first competing far away in Motesice (SVK) for her first CDI since her 18-month suspension, French Olympian Morgan Barbançon rode her second CDI in Kronenberg on the soon-to-be 20-year old Oldenburg Sir Donnerhall II (by Sandro Hit x Donnerhall). The bay stallion is in his 10th year of showing at international Grand Prix level and knows the movements by heart with so many miles in his legs. They got 68.196% for 10th place.

Van der Putten Calls the Shots

In the end it was homeside hero Marieke van der Putten calling the shots in the Grand Prix aboard the Lemmens couple's 11-year old Oldenburg mare Zantana (by Zonik x Sir Donnerhall). The black mare is one of the few truly exciting horses to watch for the future, but she is so incredibly sharp and needs to find more inner relaxation in order to be cracking the 75% marker. Until then she will be correctly lingering at the 73% marker. 

Zantana is such an elegant, athletic mare, nimble and quick on her feet, but the trot extensions do not have the correct lengthening of stride and frame (not enough overtrack, more leg flash). The half passes are gorgeous and the second piaffe-passage line was the highlight of the test. They posted 73.457% for the victory. 

New Faces

Talking about rising stars and interesting horses. Dutch Robin Bernoski was the last rider to go in the class on his own and P. Luersman's 11-year old KWPN mare Jamaica (by Vivaldi x Ferro). The big chunky bay mare, who already has 12 foals on the ground through E.T., also shows great talent for piaffe and passage, but had issues in the rein back, one tempi changes and left pirouette. She ended up with 65.782% but more is in the tank.

Swedish Emma Jonsson, who now competes under her married name Emma Sanderson, made her come back after a 1.5 year absence from international showing. After selling her career starter Gerion to Taiwan, she returned to the big ring with a new Grand Prix horse, the 11-year old Hanoverian mare Date Me (by Dancier x Rotspon). The bay was presented in a sympathetic frame, but should develop more connection through the back. At the moment the neck stays rather high and back hollow, but overall the pair was pleasant to watch. They got 65.174% for 28th place. 

Franziska Stieglmaier has a super talented hors ein the 10-year old Hanoverian gelding Zahin (by Zack x Dancier) with great ability to collect, which shows in the piaffe and passage, but the horse resisted and the trust and confidence between rider and horse in the test was not strong enough in Kronenberg. One to watch though. They got 63.957% for 36th placce. 

Dutch Moroccan Yessin Rahmouni debuted a new Grand ride, Joy Nouvelle Geerts' 10-year old KWPN gelding Kind of Magic (by All at Once x Jazz), while Belgian Olympian Jorinde Verwimp also presented a new big tour ride, H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan's 9-year old KWPN gelding Lotus-S (by Grand Galaxy Win x Juventus). Lotus is a former KWPN approved stallion.

- Photos © Astrid Appels/Eurodressage - No reproduction allowed - NO SCREENSHOTS

Eurodressage took photos of (almost) all competitors in Kronenberg. If you are interested to buy photo prints or digital files for social media, email us.

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