By KENNETH J. BRADDICK
FORT WORTH, Texas, April 7, 2026–All 16 horses in World Cup dressage, including three competed for USA, passed veterinary inspection to start in the championship Grand Prix Thursday.
Horses with riders from 13 countries are scheduled to start in the World, Cup the annual global championship focused on the Freestyle that was first staged in 1986.
Kevin Kohmann will be competing Dünensee, the 17-year-old gelding that he has already competed in the Finals at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 2024 and Basel, Switzerland last year. Laura Graves on Verdades is the only other American dressage combination to compete in three straight World Cups.
Dünensee is owned by Diamante Farms, of the family of his wife Devon Kane, also a dressage Big Tour rider.
Christian Simonson is the highest ranked American rider and 12th in the world.
He earned a start in his first senior championship after topping the North American League on Indian Rock, the 13-year-old stallion that was ridden by Emmelie Scholtens on the Dutch team at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
The horse is owned by Zen Elite Equestrian that is also sponsor of dressage at Fort Worth.
Christian is coached by Adrienne Lyle, a three-time Olympian for USA.
Benjamin Ebeling is the third American rider with Bellena, a 16-year-old mare.
Benjamin competed on another horses in the World Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 2024.
All three American riders are based in Wellington, Florida.
The dressage World Cup that focuses on the Freestyle, first came to the U.S. in Los Angeles 10 years after its creation.
Since then, Fort Worth brings to seven the number of times the event has been in the U.S.
