No Retirement for Dalera After Paris Olympics, A Few More Shows Before Her Swan Song

Dressage

Germany

Reigning Olympic champion Jessica von Bredow-Werndl will not be retiring Dalera BB after the 2024 Paris Olympics. She hopes to do a few more shows this winter as her swan song.

Dalera BB is Jessica's career-making horse. The 17-year old Trakehner mare is by Easy Game x Handruk and bred by the late Silke Druckenmüller.

Retirement Rumours

Rumours of the mare's retirement with Paris as her last show began surfacing in May this year. Von Bredow-Werndl refuted them. She told Sport.de that "if I decide now that this (Paris) is her last competition, I would not be able to handle it emotionally." She added, "Dalera will tell me when she does her last test. I won't tell her."

Von Bredow-Werndl added that the fit mare stil has more to give.

"I will decide from show to show," she said.

Rumour Control

With the Olympics happening in two weeks time, the rumour is still not quashed. Werndl reached out to Eurodressage to set the record straight.

"People keep on asking me about the timing of Dalera‘s retirement," Jessica told Eurodressage. She said that the mare has a few more shows in her, but will not be pushed to any target.

"I really don’t know how many competitions I’m going to ride after Paris. I don’t plan anything until after the Olympics. I decide from then on," she explained.

Maybe World Cup, No Europeans With Dalera

When asked if the 2025 World Cup Finals in Basel (SUI) are in consideration, she replied "I don’t exclude the finals in my thoughts, but I really want to decide that after Paris."

As Jessica is no longer the World Cup title defender, she and Dalera would need to qualify the normal way with Western European League world cup points, which means at least three shows plus the Finals.

"If I have no other horse ready, it’s difficult to qualify if I only want to show her 1-3 more shows in total afterwards," said Jessica.

Next year's 2025 European Championships are scheduled to take place in Samorin (SVK) the last weekend of August, but Jessica will certainly not aim for them with Dalera.

"Maybe with another horse if I have one ready, but Dalera will definitely not go to the Europeans," she said. "It’s hard to see that every path comes to an end one day. She‘s so so so special to me."