Christian Simonson Rides Indian Rock to Victory in Rider’s First World Cup Grand Prix on Highest Grand Prix Score by American This Year
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By KENNETH J. BRADDICK
MYAKKA CITY, Florida, Oct. 17, 2025–Christian Simonson and Indian Rock claimed victory Friday in the rider’s first ever World Cup Grand Prix and a score that was the highest Grand Prix by an American this year.
Christian and the 12-year-old KWPN stallion that he began riding a year ago scored 74.804% in just the duo’s second international event. Christian is based in Wellington, Florida as is his coach, U.S. Olympic team silver medalist Adrienne Lyle.
Kevin Kohmann on his two-time World Cup Final mount, the 16-year-old Hanoverian gelding Dünensee, was runner-up on 70.196%.
Benjamin Ebeling, based in Wellington, Florida as is Kevin, rode Bellena to third place on 69.652%. Ben and the 15-year-old Hanoverian mare won the first of 10 North American qualifiers that could help earn him one of three slots assigned to this region in the Final at Fort Worth, Texas next April.
“I’m super, super proud of Rocky today,” said the 25-year-old Christian after the ride.
“After the U.S. championships in August, we’ve been doing a lot of small tweaks and I’ve been learning a lot from Adrienne. Today, he just put, I think, all of it together and just gave an amazing, amazing feeling. It just makes me really darn grateful for everything.”
When he saw the American score statistics, “my first thought was like, man, how fortunate am I to ride a horse like Indian Rock. I mean, he really is just something else. He really is amazing, so special.”
He feels about the horse that Emmelie Scholtens rode on the Dutch team at the Paris Olympics about the same as he did after his first national competition on Indian Rock in Wellington early this year: “I think it’s all a little surreal if I’m being honest. I think mainly it’s such an honor to be able to compete in a class with people that I’ve really looked up to for a long time. It makes me feel just really, really grateful. And I’m a little bit surreal that I’m on this part of my journey. And I think also it really, I think it wouldn’t have been possible at all without Adrienne’s constant guidance. She’s a great mentor, brilliant at what she does.”
The World Cup has special meaning for him–being in Fort Worth, memories of going to his first World Cup event where he saw Charlotte Dujardin ride Valegro to victory at Las Vegas in 2015 and that the dressage Final in 2026 is sponsored by Zen Elite Equestrian, the owner of Indian Rock.
In the year since he started riding Indian Rock, Christian said, “he came with a preset panel of all different buttons and knobs and switches. And over time, it’s like you move this button here, move this button there, that kind of gets used to your system. And so I think as time progresses, like he just naturally is unbelievably fast. not only physically, but in his brain as well. He just, I’ve never met such a horse that’s so smart and everything.
“But now I think compared to my first show in Wellington, it’s like, I’m more familiar where this button is and where
this button is and how to adjust balance here, here and here. And I think also what makes me so grateful is that in my brain too, I’m learning so much every day from him and Adrienne and the rest of the horses as well. So for me, it’s also fun to kind of build up a repertoire that way as well.”
The Freestyle to determine points toward qualifying for the Final is scheduled for Saturday.
Results:
| Rank | Competitor | Score | E | H | C | M | B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Christian Simonson (USA) Indian Rock | 74.804% | 74.239 | 73.587 | 75.652 | 75.217 | 75.326 |
| 2. | Kevin Kohmann (USA) Dünensee | 70.196% | 69.674 | 69.565 | 70.870 | 70.978 | 69.891 |
| 3. | Benjamin Ebeling (USA) Bellena | 69.652% | 68.587 | 70.000 | 69.783 | 69.022 | 70.870 |
| 4. | Jennifer Williams (USA) Babylon Berlin | 67.891% | 67.935 | 68.152 | 69.457 | 68.370 | 65.543 |
| 5. | Devon Kane (USA) Vamos | 66.456% | 65.652 | 62.935 | 69.565 | 66.630 | 67.500 |
| 6. | Jodie Kelly-Baxley (USA) Grayton Beach | 64.696% | 64.565 | 63.370 | 68.043 | 65.109 | 62.391 |
| 7. | Patricia Ferrando (VEN) Honnaisseur SJ | 64.587% | 60.109 | 64.783 | 65.652 | 65.761 | 66.630 |
| 8. | Erin Nichols (USA) Elian Royale | 64.478% | 63.696 | 62.717 | 66.087 | 64.891 | 65.000 |
 Find details on Equestrian Hub |
