Stephan Kurz, WBFSH Dressage Horse Breeder of the Year 2025

Breeding

Germany

Stephan Kurz, breeder of Mount St. John Freestyle, has been named the WBFSH Dressage Horse Breeder of the Year 2025.

This award recognises Kurz' exceptional contribution to international sport horse breeding through Mount St John Freestyle.

Based in Zöbingen, Baden-Württemberg, Kurz has quietly built a reputation for producing horses of talent, temperament, and rideability within the Hanoverian breeding programme. His most celebrated success story is Freestyle, the 2009 Hanoverian mare by Fidermark out of Donna Gracia (Donnerhall x Atatürk xFreiherr). Bought as a foal at the Hanoverian elite foal auction in Verden in August 2009 by Emma Blundell for her Mount St John Stud in the UK, Freestyle first rose to global fame under Charlotte Dujardin, earning individual bronze at the 2018 World Equestrian Games.

In 2023, Freestyle began a new chapter with Danish star Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour, and the pair have since become one of the world’s top combinations—scoring over 90 percent in freestyle and capturing major wins in Herning, Stockholm, and Gothenburg. Their success propelled both rider and breeder to the top of the 2025 WBFSH rankings, sealing Kurz’s first-ever world breeding title.

Donna Gracia, Freestyle’s dam, has produced a string of offspring for Kurz, confirming the depth of this valuable mare line. There are 11 offspring recorded, one of them is a licensed son (Fernhall Farouche (by Fantomas Farouche). Offspring Jousephine and Jasper (both by Johnson) competed at national Prix St Georges level. Yet it is Freestyle’s extraordinary blend of power, grace, and heart that has carried her breeder’s name to the pinnacle of the sport.

This award marks the first WBFSH title for Stephan Kurz—a quiet craftsman whose passion and precision have now earned him global recognition. The WBFSH Breeder of the Year 2025 will be celebrated at the beginning of 2026 during the WBFSH Breeder Awards.