Early Season World Cup Points for Kittel at 2026 CDI-W Wierzbna Biały Las, First Ever 4* in Poland

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2026 CDI-W Wierzbna Bialy Las

-- Text by Agata Grosicka, edited by Eurodressage - Photos © Lukasz Kowalski

The town of Wierzbna Biały Las hosted the first ever 4* level international dressage competition in Poland on 4 - 6 September 2026. For many riders competing at the CDI-W Wierzbna Biały Las was an opportunity to get points for the 2026-2027 World Cup ranking early in the season

Aachen Vibes in Bialy Las

The show was on the calendar only three weeks after the 2026 World Championships in Aachen, yet it featured many top-class combinations including several Aachen competitors.

An exquisite panel of international judges officiated with Małgorzata Pawłowska (4* POL) as the president of the ground jury, assisted by Evi Eisenhardt (5* GER), Clive Halsall (5* UK), Mariette Sanders- Van Gansewinkel (5* NED,) Magnus Ringmark (5* SWE), and Kurt Christensen (5* DEN).

Early World Cup Points for Kittel

This Central European leg of the 2026/2027 World Cup season was won by German based Swede Patrik Kittel on his new Grand Prix horse Zum Gluck (by Zonik x Florestan), who scored 81,221% in the freestyle. Second place went to home favourite Sandra Sysojeva and her Oldenburger mare Maxima Bella (by Millennium x Christ) with 79,770%, while Danish combination Nadja Aaboe Sloth and Favour Gersdorf (by Foundation x Leandro) were third with 79,665%.

"Zum Gluck is the horse with no weaknesses," said Kittel after his winning ride. "He is a very strong and beautiful horse and very light in the contact. He really has the energy and the power to do this at this level. The Freestyle which I chose today with Billy Idol music is the classic I’ve had for many years. When you just start with a young horse it is a really good test. It was just perfect for him. He might be one of my LA prospects, but I take it slow. He is still inexperienced and we just take it step by step as he really needs to learn to trust me in the arena. I just love riding. LA is in the future. I just enjoy everyday riding to be honest.”

Brother and Sister

Danish team rider Nadja Aaboe Sloth brought two horses to Biały Las: her Danish team horse Favour Gersdorf, with which she competed in Aachen 2026, and his full sister, the medium tour mare Bonita Gersdorf. They won the Inter II with a score of 70,265%.

Nadja was very happy with her both horses: “It was a very good test today – Favour was fresh and soft and he really listened to me. It was a very good show for me in general. We had really good riders in the World Cup which was nice. Bonita is only eight years old and she did a very good job today which makes me proud of her. My next show will be Herning and then we will be training at home, and I hope she will be ready for GP next year.”

Young Talent at Grand Prix

The GP Freestyle on Saturday afternoon was a real pleasure to watch with many great rides and world class combinations including several of the younger stars on the scene: Moritz Treffinger and Morricone, Annabella Pidgley and Vamos Amigos, and Cecilia Bergakra with My Friend.

Annabella Pidgley was very pleased with her Freestyle on Vamos Amigos (by Vitalis x Hotline). They were fifth with 75,202%.

“After Dufour competed in Herning 2022 I took over the ride and I have been riding him for over four years now, so we do have a long partnership and he is the second ever Grand Prix horse I’ve ever had," said Pidgley. "He’s been teaching me so much and he really is a big part of my career. I also brought my training 7-year-old horse. It is such a nice arena so I thought it could be good also for a young horse to learn from and it’s been great for him because the atmosphere is there, but it’s been calm at the same time. We really like it here and we will definitely come back. In the indoor season I would love to ride a couple of more World Cup qualifiers. I want to take Gio to Herning and see how it goes there. He’s had a busy season because we competed in U25 Europeans where we finished fourth in the Final. Just to keep getting experience. I have two great GP horses and I just want to learn from them as much as possible.”

Central European Favourite

One of the favourites on the Central European show circuit is Lithuanian Justina Vanagaite-Samuile on her Olympic and World Championships horse Nabab.

Justina also brought two GP horses to Biały Las and rode Nabab in the 4* and the 12-year old Rhinelander gelding Fedon (by Feedback x Revan) in the 3* Grand Prix.

"I only competed Fedon in the World Cup qualifier in Estonia (in May)," said Justine. "First I wanted to compete with Nabab in the CDI-W but I decided to switch the horses and I think it was a good decision. My plans for the indoor season are to take Fedon to the CDI 2* Tallin next month and probably I will go to CDI-W Motesice in November."

**First Ever 4* in Poland**

Paula Przybylska and show host Daniel Karpinski

Dutch judge Mariette Sanders Van Gansewinkel commented on judging for the first time in Poland at Bialy las

“It is my first time in Poland and I’m happy coming here. A very nice show, lovely venue, good riding, nice colleagues. It really deserves more riders in my opinion," said Mariette. "We really had a good World Cup Grand Prix and Freestyle – good tests and nice horses. What we need for the future is more riders – we had a good scoring system, good judges if we look at the results. The timing is a bit complicated right after Aachen and the beginning of September which was a bit of clash for junior classes with the beginning of school year. This venue has a great potential and needs to grow. It will host next year's Junior and Children Europeans and I’m looking forward to it.”