Two five stars in the same country on the same weekend - one north, one south - both vying for entries to bring the competitive edge to the show grounds. The CDI Munich and CDI Hamburg traditionally take place the same weekend and particularly this year Germany's WEG team contenders split up in two camps to ride for selectors' attention.
The 2026 World Championships will take place on German turf in Aachen and the stakes are high for the Germans to go for gold. The German team candidates have made themselves known at the first outdoor spring CDI's ahead of the official team trials in Balve and Hagen.
After Fontainebleau and Hagen it became clear that Crozet team riders Werth (Wendy), Wandres (Bluetooth) and Hemmer (Denoix) are almost certain of a team spot, but the race for that coveted fourth place is wide open.
Munich: Kismet vs Dante's Pearl
In Munich two hopefuls for that fourth spot came face to face for the first time: Jessica von Bredow-Werndl on Times Kismet and Charlott Marie Schurmann on Dante's Pearl.
Werndl and EE Invest's 11-year old KWPN bred Times Kismet (by Ampere x Lord Leatherdale) have been a combination for 1.5 years but Jessica needed to take her time to tune Kismet's buttons to her training and riding school after Charlotte Dujardin trained the Peter Belshaw bred mare to schooling Grand Prix level. They first competed internationally in March and April 2026 at smaller CDI's in Italy away from the attention, winning all classes. After Ornago and Bedizzole, they headed to Mariakalnok in Hungary to place second twice. Leading up to Munich their GP personal best score was 73.804%.
In Munich, however, the two went head-to-head for the first time at it was the more experienced Jessica von Bredow who shone at this home show, as she lives only a stone's throw from the competition grounds. Jessica was unsure whether she was going to ride that morning, feeling ill and nauseous, but with the help of some medication she toughened up an went for it. Jessica and Kismet topped the 5* Grand Prix with 74.522%, while Schurmann and Dante's Pearl were fourth with 72.609%.
In the special the tables were turned though as Schurmann won with a personal best of 77.191% while a still ill Jessica and Kismet landed third place with 73.489%
Hamburg: Double Werth
Up north in Hamburg, Germany's living legend Isabell Werth had free reign in the 5* tour with no real rival breathing down her neck. Instead the Hamburg CDI provided her an opportunity to introduce her second Grand Prix horse, Viva Gold, to 5* level exposure.
Isabell brought Madeleine Winter-Schulze and Bolette Wandt's 14-year old Danish mare Wendy (by Sezuan x Soprano) and convinced all five judges of her supremacy. They won the Grand Prix with 81.043%.
"We managed to bring the calmness and concentration from our training at home into the arena, which makes me especially happy," Werth said about her ride on Wendy. "Viva Gold (...) is now gaining more experience at 5* level at his second major show. We still need to continue improving our harmony and partnership, but for a young horse and only his second big tour test, I really couldn’t be happier."
Coming closest to Isabell's scores in Hamburg was German based Norwegian Isabel Freese on the 14-year old Oldenburg stallion Total Hope (by Totilas x Don Schufro) with 73.978%.
Photos © press - Stefan Lafrentz
Related Links
Scores: 2026 CDI Munich
Scores: 2026 CDI Hamburg