3 US horse/rider combinations set to contest elite annual international competition
By Jennifer O. Bryant | Photographs by Amy Dragoo/AKDragooPhoto.com
It’s always a nail-biter when a horse is “held” at a pre-competition FEI horse inspection, meaning that the veterinary delegates want to see the horse jogged in hand a second time before determining whether it is fit to start in the competition.
Returning to the FEI World Cup Dressage Final for the second year in a row, Duenensee, ridden by Kevin Kohmann, surely gave the rider, owner Diamante Farms, and everybody at the US Equestrian Federation (USEF) a few heart palpitations before the 2009 Hanoverian gelding (Dancer x Davignon I) passed “the jog” on reinspection.
Duenensee, as well as the other two US combinations, will contest the 2026 Final title at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. A total of 18 combinations representing leagues from around the world will vie for the prestigious international honor.
The FEI World Cup Dressage Final is an individual championship competition—no teams. Horse/rider combinations qualify within geographic leagues. The Final, which was created to showcase dressage freestyle, consists of the Grand Prix and the Grand Prix Freestyle, but the GP serves merely as a qualifier for the Freestyle, the results of which decide the medals. The Grand Prix is set for Thursday, April 9; the Freestyle final will be held Saturday, April 11.
Also representing the US in Fort Worth are Christian Simonson on Indian Rock, a 2013 KWPN stallion (Apache x Exquis Vivaldi) owned by Zen Elite Equestrian Center; and Ben Ebeling on Bellena, a 2010 Hanoverian mare (Belissimo M x Wellfair) owned by Vantage Equestrian Group II LLC.
Several top international competitions will give them all a run for their money in Fort Worth, including Great Britain’s Becky Moody on Jagerbomb and the 2024 FEI World Cup Dressage Final champions, Patrik Kittel of Sweden on Touchdown.
