Trainer Jan Ebeling and Student Sienna Harris-Gissler On Winning Form at 2023 CDI-W Ocala

Fri, 12/08/2023 - 21:51
2023 CDI-W Oxala
Jan Ebeling and Jubi's Tenacity win the Grand Prix for Special at the 2023 CDI-W Ocala :: Photos © Q2 Photography

American 2012 Olympian Jan Ebeling and student Sienna Harris-Gissler were on winning form on the second day of competition at the 2023 CDI-W Ocala Friday 8 December 2023.

Jan Ebeling and Jubi's Tenacity Win Grand Prix for Special

Olympian Jan Ebeling and Jubi’s Tenacity, a 13-year-old Danish Warmblood gelding by Tailormade Temptation x Blue Hors Don Schufro, recorded their fourth straight GP victory on Friday in the Grand Prix for Special 3*. They were the only pair to break the 70% mark, receiving a 70.739% from judges Clive Halsell, Michael Osinski, Cesar Torrente, Carlos Lopes, and William Warren.

“It’s been a good month,” said Ebeling with a smile. “The training has been going really well. I think the horse has become more and more confident. There is still more room for improvement, but I’m really happy with him. He performed great.”

With his longtime friend Christoph Koschel, Ebeling has been working to get “Jubi” to be more in front of his leg, and they accomplished that in the grand prix while knowing that the horse can do more.

“Partially I think it was better and partially I wish he would have been a little more in front of me, like in the one-tempis he was not as forward as I wanted him to be,” he explained. “It’s just one of these things. You have to get it all together in the test. He really didn’t have any mistakes. We are always striving to get better.”

With 17 horses in each grand prix class at this week’s show, the veteran rider remarked on how nice it is to compete with such a strong field. Ebeling, who grew up in Germany cleaning stalls and grooming horses before working his way up to ride as an apprentice for the late Herbert Rehbein, feels that the sport has made strides to bring riders up from the lower to upper levels of dressage, especially in the U.S.

“It’s fantastic,” he said. “I hope it means that the sport is growing.  It’s great to see that many riders, and that many good riders, in a grand prix. Growing the sport at any level is important. Grassroots is super important too. That’s how I started. Our federation has a really good system, getting a hold of junior and young riders, making it interesting and challenging, and having programs for those kids. That’s how my son came to grand prix, through that pathway. That’s really important. I think that has improved our dressage sport a lot.”

2023 Pan American team gold medalist Anna Marek (USA), who also took individual Pan Am bronze with Fire Fly, a 13-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding by Briar Junior x OO Seven owned by Janet Simile, finished second in the Grand Prix for Special CDI3* with a score of 69.804%. Third place went to Pablo Gómez Molina (ESP) riding Servus Ymas, a 10-year-old Hanoverian stallion by San Amour x Depardieu owned by Cristina Danguillecourt, Javier Bacariza and Yeguada de Ymas S.L. They received a score of 69.196%

Sienna Harris-Gissler Records Second International Win

With a personal best score of 68.726%, Siena Harris-Gissler of New York, NY, and Electra DDJ topped the Intermediate I  1* in front of judges Clive Halsell, Michael Osinski and Carlos Lopes. It marked their second FEI victory together in a seven-year partnership.

Sienna Harris-Gissler on Electra DDJ
“She was my junior and young rider horse,” explained Harris-Gissler, who graduated this past May from Emory University. “I was in college and took a break from riding. I graduated school and was really lucky to spend the summer training in Europe with my coach Jan Ebeling. Being in Europe and surrounded my so many top riders, I was able to watch and learn and see so much.

“It was really amazing being able to do that, come back and do a couple of competitions with her, and ultimately come here,” she continued. “It’s been really fun to have this long span of a relationship with my horse and be able to go from the juniors to this. We’ve really been working on our pirouettes. That has really improved over the past year. She also has a lot of talent in extensions, trot and canter. It’s really rewarding to feel how much she has progressed over the years.”

Of their victory together, Harris-Gissler remarked, “It's so amazing. I’m still in shock. I’ve had this horse for so long, so it’s really a big deal for me and her and our relationship together.”

Second place in the Intermediate I CDI1* went to Jennifer Williams (USA) and Babylon Berlin, her own eight-year-old Oldenburg gelding by Bordeaux 28 x United, who scored 67.726%. Erin Walker (USA) and Belniro, a 12-year-old Oldenburg gelding by Belissimo NRW x De Niro 6 owned by Craig McCallum, placed third with 63.774%.

-- WEF press release, edited by Eurodressage. Photos © Q2 Photography

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