Dressage-News

WELLINGTON, Florida, Jan. 28, 2021–The 21-year-old Benjamin Ebeling put in a ride on” Illuster van de Kampert that was worth putting on the mantel above the fireplace to claim the first Big Tour victory by winning the Global Dressage Festival CDI3* Grand Prix Thursday.

Benjamin of Moorpark, California and the 13-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding scored 71.804% in blustery conditions just two weeks after making their debut in the senior ranks at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center.

The duo were showing in the Under-25 as late as December and after two years had taken the duo to No. in the world in the youth division. He is coached by his father, 2012 U.S. Olympic team rider, Jan, and Germany’s Christoph Koschel.

Sweden’s Tinne Vilhelmson Silfvén made her debut on Devanto, a 12-year-old Holsteiner gelding, placing second on 69.022%. Tinne, a seven-time Olympian for Sweden, took over the ride on Devanto from Juliane Brunkhorst of Germany.

Susan Dutta of Wellington and Don Design DC placed third on a personal best 68.609%.

“I thought this ride was much better than a couple of weeks ago,” Benjamin told dressage-news.com. “He was definitely on, given the wind.”

Illuster’s handling of the blustery conditions, he said, “was a big win for his mental stability in the arena and his comfortability, so I was really proud of that above all else.”

While the ride was “the one I hold up on top of the fireplace above the mantel, I do want to replace it a bit later with a new one. On a scale of one to 10 this was like a 7 1/2 for me.”

The development of the partnership for senior Grand Prix was, Benjamin said, was making him “confident in my horse but not over-confident.

“At the moment it’s kind of threading the needle.”

Results:

CDI3* Grand Prix for Special