Oatley and Werth Win Kur Gold at the 2026 German Dressage Championships

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2026 German Dressage Championships

The 2026 German Dressage Championships in Balve came to a conclusion on Sunday 7 June 2026 with the Kur to Music finals in the Under 25 and senior Grand Prix division. A separate set of medals is awarded to the Kur winners after titles were already distributed for technical tests earlier on the weekend.

Seniors: Viva Gold Brings Werrth's Tally to 20 Gold Medals

In the Kur to Music finals, German dressage legend Isabell Werth topped up her tally of German Championship medals to 44 in total of which 20 are golden. Giving her number one horse Wendy, Bolette Wandt and Madeleine Winter-Schulze's Danish warmblood mare by Sezuan x Soprano, a break from a third test in one weekend, Werth rode the younger 10-year old Oldenburg stallion Viva Gold (by Vivaldi x For Romance) in the kur finals and got the gold with her Neil Diamond routine. They scored 83.650%.

"“Viva has developed a lot here in Balve over the past few days; today’s freestyle was his best test. I had a lot of fun with Viva today,” said Isabell. " I just need to get him to realise that he needs to keep on going when he’s js to poop and not stop."

The Championship silver medal winner, Frederic Wandres and the 16-year old Oldenburg Bluetooth (by Bordeaux x Samarant) skipped the freestyle final as well and will be focusing on the final German trial - the CDIO Hagen - for World Championship team selection.

This left room for a new medal winner on the podium. The 26-year ol Semmieke Rothenberger and the 16-year old KWPN gelding Farrington (by Jazz x Samba Hit) scored silver with 80,880% while Raphael Netz and Sonja Krall's 15-year old KWPN bred Great Escape Camelot (by Johnson x Turbo Magic) got the bronze with 79,030%.

The bronze medal winner in the Special, Charlott Maria Schurmann and the 11-year old Oldenburg mare Dante's Pearl (by Dante Weltino x San Amour), landed off the podium in fourth place with 78,780% after issues in the halt at entry, the walk part and the piaffe pirouette.

Under 25: Rose Oatley Wins Kur Gold

The top two medal winners of the U25 Short Grand Prix swapped medals in the freestyle with Rose Oatley going for gold, Lucie-Anouk Baumgurtel on silver and Pia-Carlotta Gagel back in the bronze medal position after the freestyle.

On Sunday morning Rose Oatley piloted the 12-year old Westfalian mare Alive and Kicking (by All at Once x Furst Piccolo) to a winning Kur score. The all German panel of judges, including Thomas Keßler, Evi Eisenhardt, Elke Ebert, Pascal Strohbücker, Tina Viebahn, rewarded the ride with 78.300% for first place. Rose trains with her mom, Australian Olympian Kristy Oatley.

“I still can’t believe it, I’ve only had her for two months, but I feel incredibly comfortable on her,” said Oatley about the mare she bought from double Olympic champion Charlotte Dujardin. “She’s already become a real family horse. Rose is officially still in the “Young Riders” age group, but the acquisition of "Audrey" prompted her to leap into the Under 25 division quicker than expected.

The silver was for Lucie-Anouk Baumgürtel on the 10-year old Hanoverian mare First Vienna (by Vitalis x First Dance). She scored 77.125% for silver. Bamgurtel used to be trained by Marion Wiebusch but has also been relying more intensively lately on the coaching of Sebastian Heinze. "Vienna is very loving and very ambitious. I've been training her since she was five years old, and we know each other inside and out," said Lucie.

The 22-year-old Pia-Carlotta Gagel from Helmstedt in Lower Saxony and her 16-year-old Oldenburg gelding Riccio (by Rock Forever x Argentinus) won the bronze medal in the Freestyle, just as they had in the Grand Prix. Gagel is the daughter of German 5* judge Henning Lehrmann and took over the ride on Riccio from Martin Pfeiffer a few years ago. "We've been a team for a very long time, and his experience always guides me well through the arena," said Pia. "My father occasionally brings his judge's perspective to training, which is definitely an advantage."