June 4, 2026
Indian Rock, the top ranked American horse, will not be competed by Christian Simonson at the World Championships in Europe this summer, Zen Elite Equestrian Center, the owning entity, announced Thursday.
The 13-year-old Dutch-bred stallion that Christian, ranked 7th in the world, rode to reserve World Cup champion two months ago, will, Zen said, “enjoy a well earned break and some time to simply be a horse.”
Indian Rock was one of eight horses named by the U.S. federation as on the short list for Europe this summer.
The absence comes after Jane, ridden by Marcus Orlob and also considered one of the top U.S. horses along with Indian Rock, is also not going to Europe while recovering from an injury that kept the 2024 Olympic team horse out of the recent U.S. Grand Prix Championships.
Christian will ride Fleau de Baian in Europe and seek a start on the 16-year-old Dutch-bred stallion for the U.S. team at the World Championships at Aachen, Germany beginning in mid-August. He also competed the horse in the national championship.
The U.S. federation has not yet announced a squad that will go to Europe that will center on the CDIO4* Nations Cup in Hagen, Germany the first week of July ahead of selection of the championship team.
Indian Rock has been competed successfully by the 23-year-old Christian with eight wins in eight international starts in Florida and reserve in both the Grand Prix and the Freestyle at the World Cup Final in April.
However, the horse was pulled out of the Freestyle at the U.S. Grand Prix Championships last month after an uncharacteristic sixth place in the Special.
“After a lot of discussion with the team,” Zen said in a statement on its Facebook page, “we’ve decided not to include Indian Rock in our summer championship team plans this year.
), and we want to set him up for continued success in the years ahead.–Meagan Davis of Loxahatchee, Florida and Toronto Lightfoot, 13-year-old Oldenburg gelding, owned by Scott Durkin
–Ashley Holzer of Wellington and Hawtins San Floriana, 14-year-old British Hanoverian mare, owned by Diane Fellows & Ashley
–Jordan LaPlaca of Ledyard, Connecticut and Gold Play, 11-year-old Oldenburg gelding, owned by Nancy Hutson & Jordan
–Anna Marek of Dunnellen, Florida and Fayvel, 16-year-old KWPN gelding, owned by Cynthia Davila
–Kasey Perry-Glass of Wellington, Florida and Heartbeat W.P., 14-year-old KWPN gelding, owned by Diane Perry
–Christian Simonson of Wellington and Fleau de Baian, 16-year-old KWPN stallion, owned by Heidi Humphries, and
–Geñay Vaughn of Elk Grove, California and Gino, 15-year-old KWPN gelding, owned by Michele Vaughn
Since the announcement of the short list, the federation has expressed support for Ellesse Gundersen of Wellington and Quintessential 4, a home-bred gelding now 12 years old, joining European competition. Ellesse and Quintessential won the U.S. championship but did not complete required paperwork to become eligible for the short list.
