Isabell Werth and Viva Gold OLD Win 2025 Louisdor Cup Finals

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2025 CDI Frankfurt

Isabell Werth and the Oldenburg licensed stallion Viva Gold became the winners of the 2025 Louisdor Cup finals for Developing Grand Prix horses at the CDI Frankfurt on Sunday 21 December 2025.

Louisdor Cup

The Louisdor Cup Finals are the German Championships for developing Grand Prix horses. Riders of all nations, but with a German FN licence, can compete on the show circuit and qualify for the Finals. Horses have to be aged between 8 and 10.

The 2025 Louisdor Cup season kicked off in Hagen and went to Hamburg, Wiesbaden and Donzdorf, before finishing in Guxhagen. The top two ranked pairs of each qualifier were invited to the finals.

Viva Gold OLD

Isabell Werth and the 9-year old Oldenburg stallion Viva Gold OLD (by Vivaldi x For Romance x Don Schufro) travelled to Frankfurt as the hot favourites for the title, simply because it's Isabell bringing forth yet another talented Grand Prix horse.

The two have been together for less than a year with Viva arrived in her barn in February 2025. Bred by Christine Arns-Krogmann and originally owned by the late Werner Gehring of Gestut Westfalenhof, the stallion is now managed by his heir, Antje Gehring. After Isabell tested the stallion for a while, she was able to convince her sponsor Madeleine Winter-Schulze to secure an ownership share for her. Viva Gold has performed very little in sport under Kathrin Sudholter. He did one show in 2019, three years later, in 2022, he did a handful of shows and qualified for the Bundeschampionate but never went to Warendorf. They returned once in 2024 at S-level.

Viva Gold made his mark as a breeding stallion though. From his first crop of foals no less than 12 stallions were licensed. His most famous licensed sons are Viva Vegas, V-Power, and Viva Diamond. He is one of the most popular and successful young breeding stallions in Germany with numerous top selling offspring in the auctions and state premium daughters.

The Queen's Gambit

So when a top breeding stallion got matched to Germany's most successful dressage rider ever, Isabell Werth, hopes became very high for the pair to thrive. Werth showed him three times before Frankfurt. She won the Louisdor Cup qualifier in Hamburg in June with 76.809%) and did one classic Grand Prix test in Munster in August, winning with 74.380%. The chess board was fully in place with the Queen's Gambit.

The Louisdor Cup is traditionally judged by a fully German panel of judges and this year it was no different: Evi Eisenhardt, Katrina Wüst, Henning Lehrmann, Dietrich Plewa, and Ulrike Nivelle. In the warm-up round for the Final on Friday, Werth and Viva Gold already set the board ready for check mate, winning the Short Grand Prix tet with 76.681% and staying leagues ahead of the second placed pair, Thomas Wagner on Escolar's Emil.

In the finals on Sunday, the classic Grand Prix test, the judges panel was fully in agreement with each other, rewarding Viva Gold's test with a 75.620% for the title. All five panellists put them first. The super beautiful and expressive Viva Gold is true eye candy and shows much talent for collection. In the piaffe he does lower the haunches, but at this point in his training still leans on the shoulders and the front leg shifts too far back under the body, indicating of a lack of balance. The rhythm was good though, so the stallion is well on his way for the future. The piaffe scored between 8 and 9. The passage is quick off the ground and has an expressive, energetic silhouette, but is not a true passage in which the horse is self carried, regular, and collected. No worries, the judges barely saw it and rewarded the passage work with 7.5 to 8.5. Werth's total score would have been higher if not for a bobble in the one tempi changes. Viva Gold got 7.5 - 8 for the extended walk and 7.0 - 7.5 for the collected. The pirouettes showed good sit and were small. All in all, Werth clearly has another super star in the barn and the road to the 2028 L.A. Olympics is paved for this bright young stallion.

Isabell was thrilled with her Louisdor Cup win and particularly with the rideability of her stallion. "He won’t do anything wrong, if anything, I will," she said. "For both of us, it was our first indoor show together." Werth collected her third Louisdor Cup win in her career, having first won on El Santo in 2010 and on Emilio in 2015.

Escolar's Emil

The runner-up in the class was Thomas Wagner aboard the 10-year old Rhinelander Escolar's Emil (by Escolar x Contender).

Bred by Antonius Schulze-Averdiek and owned by Christine Wagner, the bay gelding has made his show debut under Thomas Wagner in 2022 at S-level and competed in the Burgpokal qualifiers in 2022, 2023, and 2024. They were fifth in the Finals in 2024. This year they stepped up to developing GP level and campaigned in the Louisdor Cup qualifiers in Hagen, Wiesbaden, Donzdorf and Guxhagen, as well as several others. They competed in 17 tests before heading to the Finals in Frankfurt.

The pair was second in the warm-up round with 72.979 and posted 72.380% in the finals test to become the reserve champion.

"We're so happy with both rounds and are looking forward to the 2026 season," Wagner stated at the end of the show. "I'm so proud of Emil. In the warm-up test there were expensive mistakes in the one tempi changes, totally my fault. He was mega and gave me a genius feeling."

Quick Decision

German 2022 WEG team rider Benjamin Werndl might have found a new Grand Prix horse to re-connect with German top sport since the untimely passing of Famoso and the retirement of Daily Mirror. The 9-year old Hanoverian Quick Decision (by Quaterhall x Rotspon x Lauries Crusador xx), bred by Blanka Heier, arrived in his barn in December 2024 and since then has been sold to a syndicate consisting of Anette Göbelsmann-Schweitzer, the Werndls, and their business partner EE Invest GmbH.

Benjamin debuted Quick Decision in February 2025 in the Inter II in Stadl Paura, Austria, and this entire season they have been oscillating between doing the developing GP tests for the Louisdor Cup as well as classic Grand Prix and GP Special tests. Their CDI debut was two weeks ago in Salzburg where they won the GP Special with 71.723%.

In Frankfurt the pair went from a fifth place in the warm-up round (72.128%) to a third place in the Finals test (70.660%).

"The final centerline has occupied me all year," Werndl stated. "Today's final line was my highlight of the weekend because the transitions between piaffe and passage were so much better. How to achieve this on all lines is my challenge for the winter."

Previous Winners
Harnisch and Sheldon Cooper Win 2024 Louisdor Cup Finals
Stremler and Fürstin Bea Win 2023 Louisdor Cup Finals in Frankfurt
Rothenberger and Kjaerholms Fendi Win 2022 Louisdor Cup Finals in Frankfurt
Total Hope Wins 2021 Louisdor Cup Finals for Developing Grand Prix Horses
Sandra Nuxoll and Bonheur de la Vie Reign Supreme in 2020 Louisdor Cup Finals
Senta Kirchhoff and L'Arbuste, Surprise Winners of 2019 Louisdor Cup Finals for Developing Grand Prix Horses
Blue Hors Veneziano Wins 2018 Louisdor Cup Finals for Developing Grand Prix Horses
TSF Dalera BB Wins 2017 Louisdor Cup Finals for Developing Grand Prix Horses
Sammy Davis Jr Wins the 2016 Louisdor Cup Finals for German Developing Grand Prix Horses
Rothenberger and Cosmo Win 2015 Louisdor Cup Finals' Warm Up Class at 2015 CDI Frankfurt
Brigitte Wittig and Balmoral W Win 2013 Louisdor Cup
Thomas Wagner and Very Keen Win 2012 Louisdor Cup Finals
Diva Royal Wins 2011 Tesch Inkasso Cup for Upcoming Grand Prix Horses
Werth's El Santo NRW Wins 2010 Medien Cup Finals
Dablino Wins 2009 Medien Cup Finals
Carabas Wins 2008 Medien Cup Finals
Floresco Wins 2007 HKM Upcoming Grand Prix Horse Finals