Dressage-News

By KENNETH J. BRADDICK

WEST PALM BEACH, Florida, Jan. 16, 2026–German Olympic team gold medal rider Frederic Wandres rode the 10-year-old Verrenberg to victory on a dominating personal best score in the CDI3* Grand Prix Friday.

Frederic and the Oldenburg gelding scored 71.326%–four of the five scores above 71%–for the horse’s first victory in the pair’s third international competition, the first two in Europe. Verrenberg qualified for the final of the Louisdor Prize for developing Grand Prix horses in Germany last month but skipped the championship as the horse was already in Florida being prepared for the Global Dressage Festival CDI5* in Wellington next week.

Charlotte Jorst, who began her competition year in California with Zhaplin Langholt but is based in Wellington, was runner-up on 66.500% on the 13-year-old gelding.

Argentine rider Leonardo Antonio Godoy placed third on 66.370%  in the first CDI Grand Prix start on Mundial O C and fourth with 65.978% on Marques do Lis. Both horses are 10-year-old Portuguese-bred stallions.

This was the start of Frederic’s sixth year competing in Florida as a rider for Hof Kasselmann in Hagen, Germany. He spent the winter circuits 2021 through 2024 here on Bluetooth OLD, the gelding that he rode on Germany’s gold medal teams at the 2024 Olympics in Paris and the European Championships last year.

He said he began developing Verrenberg when the horse was eight. Despite missing the Louisdor final, German team coach Monica Theodorescu agreed on the horse being moved up to top sport because he was very secure though green in Grand Prix movements.

“He’s still a youngster in the Grand Prix but very promising,” Frederic told DRESSAGE-NEWS.com.

“I’m really happy to have him and look forward to how we develop and that was also the reason why I wanted to bring him here. Because from my experience in the past seasons when I was competing Bluetooth here and Quizmaster and all the other horses over the years I really got the experience that the horses can really develop here in a good way in the season and then you can take them with you back to Europe.

“The whole conditions like competing a little bit more often than in Europe and not traveling. For example to go to Frankfurt we drive three hours. That’s nothing but three hours is three hours, but normally you have six, seven, eight hours and for young horses then if you compete that is also challenging. So here we drive just 10 -15 minutes and that’s it.

“And he loves the sun.  Lars (Ligus, his partner who takes care of the horses) is here the whole season. I’m coming a little bit back and forth and Lars told me already after two weeks Verrenberg likes it here, he likes the sun. You can see it, how they muscle up, how the skin gets in shape and everything, somehow really positive to it.”

With the retirement of Duke of Britain FRH in mid-2024 and as Bluetooth is now 16 years old, Frederic says he needs another horse for future competition but does not know whether Verrenberg will be it as his role at Hof Kasselmann is to develop and help sell horses.

Results:

CDI3* Grand Prix

Rank	Competitor	Score	E	H	C	M	B
1.	Frederic Wandres (GER) Verrenberg	71.326%	71.957	70.435	71.957	71.739	70.543
2.	Charlotte Jorst (USA) Zhaplin Langholt	66.500%	66.413	66.848	67.826	65.435	65.978
3.	Leonardo Antonio Godoy (ARG) Mundial O C	66.370%	67.283	65.870	66.630	66.522	65.543
4.	Leonardo Antonio Godoy (ARG) Marques do Lis	65.978%	66.304	66.196	67.826	64.891	64.674
5.	Sylvia Gugler (USA) Vulkano 14	65.087%	65.761	65.435	65.761	64.130	64.348
6.	Caleb Scroggins (USA) Villanelle	64.739%	64.022	65.870	65.326	64.239	64.239
7.	Sasha Newman Dubois (USA) Damaris S	64.565%	65.326	64.348	64.348	63.804	65.000
8.	Ellesse Gundersen (USA) Quintessential 4	64.457%	65.109	64.022	64.783	63.261	65.109
9.	Barbara Bertschinger (SUI) Sonnenbergs Solisco CH	63.717%	62.609	63.478	63.913	63.913	64.674
10.	Jacqueline Brooks (CAN) Te Amo Q O S	59.761%	63.587	59.348	57.391	59.783	58.696
Find details on Equestrian Hub