-- WEC press release edited by Eurodressage
Benjamin Ebeling and Alexandra Duncan claimed the blue ribbons in the 4* and 3* Grand Prix on the opening day of competition at the 2025 CDI Ocala on 10 - 14 April 2025.
The World Equestrian Center has been hosting three indoor CDI's through the winter but for this 4* the organizing committee laid the arena in a more convention position in its huge main grand outdoor arena in front of the hotel. Instead of centering it in the middle, the ring was now placed nearer to side and closer to the bleachers to create a more intimate feel for the audience. A decision that paid off.
Ebeling Theme
The Grand Prix 4* had an Ebeling theme, with son Benjamin and father Jan taking the top two spots. Benjamin Ebeling (USA) and Bellena, owned by Vantage Equestrian Group, furthered their short partnership together with the win, while Jan Ebeling (USA) and Jubi’s Tenacity, owned by Ann Romney, took the second-place spot.
In only their seventh CDI class together, Ben Ebeling of Wellington, FL, and 15-year old Hanoverian mare Bellena (by Belissimo M x Welser) delivered a smooth test for a score of 68.717% from the judges’ panel, which included Dr. Sven-Günter Rothenberger (NED), Agnieszka Majewska (POL), Magnus Ringmark (SWE), Peter Holler (GER), and Debbie Rodriguez (USA).
Jan Ebeling and Jubi’s Tenacity, a 15-year-old Danish Warmblood mare by Tailormade Temptation x Don Schufro, were close behind with a score of 68.065%. Denielle Gallagher (CAN) and the 13-year old Lusitano Come Back de Massa (Galopin de la Font x Quixote SDS), owned by Gallagher and Ellen Lazarus, were third with 67.630%.
A Marriage
For Ebeling it was a back-to-back victory coming right off winning two trophies at last week's CDI Myakka City. While Ben has only been showing with Bellena since February 2025, they have been in the top five in every class since their debut in Wellington.
Small Tour in Germany, Grand Prix Confirmed in the USA
Ebeling took over the ride on Bellena from his father Jan, who has ridden the mare since she was an 8-year old. Bellena had already been successfully competed in Germany on the Bundeschampionate circuit and was produced by Esther Maruhn, who competed her up to small tour level in Germany through September 2017 before selling her to the States.
Ben noted it was a “group decision” for him to take over the reins.
“He’s done a really incredible job with Bellena — I have to say, I think it was the best job he ever did, and I’m really lucky that we’ve got that pipeline between me and my dad,” remarked Ebeling. “As he gets a little bit older, he’s transitioning to more of a coaching role and a developer-of-horses role and less of a competing role. Of course, he did fantastic tonight, and it was just so fun to be competing with him. I think our riding styles are very similar, and I think that’s why this horse and I are working very well together early on in our career."
Riding Bellena, he has had to adjust his riding to her way of going.
“She’s a different ride than I’ve been used to,” he noted. “I think my job up there is to really just settle her into a slower rhythm than she wants to do, and it takes a lot of focus on my part in a different way than I’ve felt in the past. Normally I'm focused more on connection and access to the hind leg but she offers that to me already. It’s about staying really steady with my body and maintaining balance all the way throughout the test.
“She’s a really hot horse; she’s a chestnut mare,” he added, “but if you ride everything very easy and slow down her tempo, her mind stays very calm. That’s a little bit about what we've been working on and what she’s teaching me.”
Duncan Has a Hit in Hitmaker
Ivo Jührend (NED) and Black Diamond, an 11-year-old Hungarian Warmblood gelding (Vezér x Undigo) owned by Savannah Show Stables LLC, placed second with a score of 63.978%. Third place with a score of 63.609% went to Charlotte Jorst (USA) and her own GPF’s S-Express, a 10-year-old Westfalian gelding by Sezuan x Sir Donnerhall.
Originally from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, Duncan runs both a dressage training and sales business as well as a jumper sales business in Wellington, FL. She found Hitmaker in Holland where the horse was a breeding stallion and competing at the grand prix level with Dutch rider Jennifer Sekreve. Duncan is based at the Palm Beach Equine Sports Complex, adjacent to the Palm Beach Equine Clinic, which handles all of the breeding and reproduction needs for her three stallions, and the stallions’ breeding programs are managed by Brass Stables in Kentucky.
“I saw his quality, and he just had that ‘it factor,’” said Duncan of the 13-year-old KWPN stallion by Wynton x Cabochon. “I saw him, tried him, and I said, ‘This is it.’ He's got a lot of good babies in Europe, and it will be nice to start producing some here. Breeding is a big passion of mine. I really want to be able to have top stallions and access to them here.”
While their partnership is brand new, Duncan knows that she has something special in Hitmaker. “We're developing a really close bond,” she said. “I’ve been spending a lot of time with him, we are getting to know each other, and taking training quietly. We've created this bond that really I don't have words for.”
“I'm still getting to know him in the ring,” she continued. “I took a little bit more risk where I could, but he still needs to get a little bit stronger after traveling and everything. I felt like the lead changes were a highlight, his piaffe/passage was really super, and his pirouettes. I'm not pushing him yet for the full power because everything's still new, but he really stayed with me and gave me a nice feeling in there.”
Duncan has been training for two months with U.S. Olympic dressage medalist and past team Chef d’Equipe Robert Dover. She expressed, “He has been so positive, enthusiastic, and he has attention to detail. It's a really good partnership, him and I.”
Photos © Andrew Ryback
Related Link
Scores: 2025 CDI Ocala