Christian Simonson and Indian Rock Victorious in Ocala CDI3* Grand Prix Special, Benjamin Ebeling on Bellena Wins Freestyle
8 months ago StraightArrow Comments Off on Christian Simonson and Indian Rock Victorious in Ocala CDI3* Grand Prix Special, Benjamin Ebeling on Bellena Wins Freestyle
OCALA, Florida, May 24, 2025–Christian Simonson and Indian Rock were victorious Saturday night in the World Equestrian Center’s CDI3* Grand Prix Special, wrapping up the debut competition with double wins.
Christian and the former Dutch team Olympic and World Championship horse scored 74.277% in the Special after winning the Grand Prix 24 hours earlier.
The score by the 22-year-old Christian, based in Wellington and coached by three-time Olympian Adrienne Lyle, and the 12-year-old Dutch-bred stallion was in the same ballpark as results from Emmelie Scholtens, who developed “Rocky” while representing the Netherlands through World Young Horse Championships, World Championships in 2022 and the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
Indian Rock was bought by Heidi Humphries’ Zen Elite Equestrian Center along with other top horses as the U.S. rebuilds its high performance program after the retirement of horses that brought World Equestrian and Olympic silver medals to American teams in 2018 at Tryon andin Tokyo.
Anna Marek of the Ocala area community of Dunnellen and Fire Fly, 15-year-old KWPN gelding, was runner-up on 70.064%.
Katie Duerrhammer, also based in Wellington and coached by Adrienne, rode Vividus QRE, 10-year-old Swedish Warmblood gelding, to a score of 68.319% in their first international musical performance.
Benjamin Ebeling and Bellena won the CDI3* Grand Prix Freestyle for a double victory for the pair that claimed the Grand Prix a day earlier and moved up to 12th place in the rankings for the $250,000 US Open.
Ben, based in Wellington, and the 15-year-old Hanoverian mare were awarded with 76.190% that brought the pair to 57 points, tied with Adrienne Lyle in qualifying for the 18 finalists in the series to compete at a CDI5* in California in mid-November.
Anna Marek on Fayvel, the 15-year-old KWPN gelding that the pair competed at the 2024 World Cup Final, was runner-up on 75.620%. The placing kept Anna at the top of the US Open standings with 105 points, the first rider to break the century mark.
Christian Simonson and Fleau de Baian, a 15-year-old stallion that was developed by Holland’s Adelinde Cornelissen and bought by Zen Elite, placed third on 72.330% to complete their debut competition.
Results:
| Rank | Competitor | Score | E | H | C | M | B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Christian Simonson (USA) Indian Rock | 74.277% | 75.319 | 72.128 | 76.596 | 71.809 | 75.532 |
| 2. | Anna Marek (USA) Fire Fly | 70.064% | 70.000 | 69.681 | 71.277 | 69.468 | 69.894 |
| 3. | Katie Duerrhammer (USA) Vividus QRE | 68.319% | 69.149 | 68.298 | 69.043 | 65.957 | 69.149 |
| 4. | Charlotte Jorst (USA) Atterupgaards Botticelli | 66.596% | 66.277 | 67.553 | 67.128 | 67.021 | 65.000 |
| 4. | Alexandra Duncan (CAN) Hitmaker | 66.596% | 65.532 | 66.596 | 66.915 | 66.702 | 67.234 |
| 6. | Charlotte Osborne (GBR) Fruhlingszauber | 65.489% | 67.128 | 63.085 | 65.319 | 66.596 | 65.319 |
| 7. | Ivo Jührend (NED) Black Diamond | 63.234% | 64.894 | 63.617 | 61.915 | 64.149 | 61.596 |
| 8. | Megan Shea (CAN) Sir Schiwago | 63.043% | 62.872 | 64.681 | 63.830 | 60.745 | 63.085 |
| 9. | Ellesse Gundersen (USA) Quintessential 4 | 60.574% | 61.702 | 59.787 | 62.021 | 63.511 | 55.851 |
| 10. | Shelly Francis (USA) Dante | 59.489% | 59.681 | 60.000 | 59.894 | 58.936 | 58.936 |
| WD | Karen Lipp (USA) Infinity | scratched | |||||
| WD | Austin Webster (USA) Guildenstern SOL | scratched | |||||
 Find details on Equestrian Hub |
| Rank | Competitor | Score | E | H | C | M | B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Benjamin Ebeling (USA) Bellena | 76.190% | 76.000 | 76.075 | 75.600 | 77.100 | 76.175 |
| 2. | Anna Marek (USA) Fayvel | 75.620% | 76.600 | 74.475 | 75.075 | 75.450 | 76.500 |
| 3. | Christian Simonson (USA) Fleau de Baian | 72.330% | 73.775 | 71.100 | 73.800 | 72.675 | 70.300 |
| 4. | Tiago Ernesto (POR) Hobbit Interagro | 70.575% | 70.875 | 68.500 | 70.275 | 71.100 | 72.125 |
| 5. | James Koford (USA) Hatsjie B | 70.385% | 70.475 | 69.175 | 71.950 | 71.500 | 68.825 |
| 6. | Monica Burssens (MEX) Elfentanz | 68.900% | 69.575 | 68.600 | 69.400 | 67.350 | 69.575 |
| 7. | Chloe Gasiorowski (CAN) Sam Donnerhall | 68.415% | 68.200 | 69.600 | 67.400 | 67.925 | 68.950 |
| 8. | Charlotte Jorst (USA) GPF’s S-Express | 64.990% | 65.850 | 67.150 | 63.225 | 64.825 | 63.900 |
| 9. | Ava MacCoubrey (CAN) Don Camillo-S | 63.835% | 63.825 | 64.975 | 63.650 | 62.550 | 64.175 |
| 10. | Eline Eckroth (USA) Daphne | 62.535% | 61.075 | 64.475 | 59.150 | 63.300 | 64.675 |
| Find details on Equestrian Hub |
