Mar. 9, 2026
By KENNETH J. BRADDICK
Kevin Kohmann needs a victory on Dünensee and a score higher than 73.85% in the Global Dressage Festival World Cup qualifying Freestyle this Friday night to claim a third straight start in the annual championship Final.
If he wins, his total of qualifying points will be 57, the same as two other contenders and if the score is higher than 73.85% he will get an invite to the Final in Fort Worth, Texas April 7-12.
Otherwise, Geñay Vaughn on her mother’s Gino will join Christian Simonson on Indian Rock and Brittany Fraser-Beaulieu of Canada on Jaccardo to fill the three spots allocated to North America.
Kevin is the only World Cup contender entered in the qualifying event. His top two qualifying scores are 77.305% in a first place finish for 20 points, and 77.005% for 17 points as a runner-up. He needs to replace one other second place result with a top placing for a North American to earn another 20 points that would tie the two already with 57 points. A score of more than 73.85% would give him an invite to Fort Worth.
Four other Americans are entered in the World Cup qualifier: Susan Dutta on Don Design DC; Eline Eckroth on Daphne; Ashley Holzer on Hawtins San Floriana and P.J. Rizvi on Vanilla Ice.
An invitation to Kevin and Dünensee would make the pair only the second North American horse and rider combination to perform in three straight Finals this century. The other was Laura Graves on Verdades, reserve champion in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
The battle for an invite to be among the 18 riders and horses from around the world for this year’s dressage Final in Fort Worth has come down to the last of 10 competitions that began in September. They have included events in the three major North American nations of Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Christian, based in Wellington, was the first to qualify in North America with three victories for 60 points on the 13-year-old stallion Indian Rock, owned by Zen Elite Equestrian. The wins were among the eight undefeated starts since the pair began international competitions a year ago that have boosted them to rank ninth in the world.
Brittany Fraser-Beaulieu earned her start on Jaccardo, the 12-year-old gelding owned by Jill Irving that she began competing at Small Tour in 2023 and moved up to Grand Prix last August. The Canadian Olympic rider and Jaccardo have accumulated 57 points with two wins and one second place–the same total as Geñay and Gino.
Ties are broken by the higher average of the three scores that count. Brittany’s average is 77.295%.
Geñay on Gino, the 15-year-old Dutch-bred gelding and based in Elk Grove, California also has 57 points from two wins in California and runner-up in a Wellington qualifier to stand third. The duo that competed in the 2026 Final in Switzerland last April has an average in this season’s qualification results of 76.053%, below that for Brittany.
Kevin and Dünensee, 17-year-old gelding owned by Diamante Farms, competed in the 2024 Final in Saudi Arabia and 2025 in Switzerland.
