Werth Brings a Special Blend of Riding Magic to Headline Freestyle Night at 0226 CDI-W Wellington

-- GDF press release, edited by Eurodressage - Photos © Centre Line Media

German dressage megastar Isabell Werth stamped her own brand of riding magic on the World Cup™ Grand Prix Freestyle, receiving a 82.66% winning score for her performance as last rider of the night on 20 February 2026. She and Special Blend  were making their CDI freestyle debut during the ‘Friday Night Stars’ sold-out evening showcase at the 2026 Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) in Wellington, FL. 

Flipping the second and third places from the qualifying grand prix class, Brittany Fraser-Beaulieu landed the runner-up spot with a massive new personal best on Jill Irving’s 12-year-old, Jaccardo. The Desperado x Jazz gelding scored 79.25% with a high-energy, maximum throttle performance. Ecuadorian rider Julio Mendoza Loor finished third, meaning the top three athletes represented three different continents. Mendoza Loor rode his 2024 Paris Olympics mount Jewel’s Goldstrike to 78.165%. Riders from six different nations filled the top six places in the high-scoring class. 

Werth Made the Night

Special Blend 3, who is still registered to former owner Helgstrand Dressage but was recently sold to Werth’s student Natalie Stickling-Morzynski, belied his inexperience in the freestyle, dancing enthusiastically to a classical compilation originally designed for Werth’s Olympic team gold medal-winning horse, Emilio. Special Blend only got the call-up to fly to Florida a few days before the show after Werth’s intended horse, DSP Quantaz, got a small swelling on one leg. 

Werth chose her Italian operatic medley music to ride to from the vast collection of freestyles she had made by the late Michael Erdmann over the years.

“This freestyle is really, really difficult and I was not sure what Special would do because he’s not experienced in these kinds of atmospheres, but he was very focused,” said Werth, who was delighted to hear 2,000 spectators clapping along to her final centerline. “This crowd was so supportive and started to clap, which is something special. That end to a test is a feeling I really enjoy, and it’s how you know why you’re still in the saddle in a competition.”

Werth’s test showcased a full piaffe pirouette right after the entry halt, 22 one-time changes on a curving line between canter pirouettes, a transition from a canter pirouette into another piaffe pirouette and a final piaffe pirouette at X at the end. It was a masterclass in her signature fusion of extreme technical difficulty and jaw-dropping ease of execution. Hundreds of people were filming her performance on their phones, and then showed their appreciation with a standing ovation. 

“I’d like to thank the show team because it was pretty impressive here,” continued the seven-time Olympian, who last competed in Wellington a decade and a half ago. “I didn’t expect that it would be like this. There’s a huge improvement in the whole environment here—the horses, the riding—which is great to see. We have to make dressage more global and for sure here there is a lot of energy and enthusiasm, which I love to see and be a part of. I’m pretty sure that I’ll come back next year.” 

It's Britney B***H

Fraser-Beaulieu entered the arena on a mission to finish as the highest-placed rider in the FEI Dressage World Cup™ – North American League in her quest to qualify for the Final in Texas in April—and achieved it with aplomb. She punched the air in delight on completion of her Britney Spears-themed freestyle put together by Tom Hunt. 

“I couldn’t leave anything hanging because I had a lot on the line,” said Fraser-Beaulieu, who trains with Ashley Holzer. “This was Jac’s first Friday night, and he’d never been into an atmosphere like this, so I was a bit nervous because there were so many people, but he came into the arena and was like, ‘Let’s go!’. He was on my aids the whole time.”

Last-minute tweaks to her floorplan added to Fraser-Beaulieu’s apprehension, but the test came together beautifully, with 16 one-time changes down the centerline and piaffe between the two walk sections. 

“This was the first time I actually went through the newer pattern,” she admitted. “I just wanted to be on my music, mistake-free, and show power. I think I accomplished that today. Jill and Ashley insisted on the Britney [Spears] music, and I was a little shy about it at first, but everybody seems to like it, and the crowd gets involved.”

Juliooooooo

Mendoza Loor—who became the first rider ever to represent Ecuador at the Olympics in 2024—wiped away a tear and pointed down at Jewel’s Goldstrike in gratitude after his final halt.  The crowd chanted his name before and after the ride in support of the sympathetic Ecuadorean who had the crowd in his hands.

“Riding ‘Goldie’ is a joy every time,” said the rider from Columbus, NC, who co-owns the Bretton Woods 15-year-old gelding with his wife Jessica Mendoza after Dutch Eliane Cordia-van Reesema couldn't find the buttons on this horse. 

“I paid $20 for this horse, and he’s taken me to the Olympics, taken me here—and every time he gives me 100%. He never lets me down, and that’s why I cry all the time because this horse has made me who I am. There aren’t enough words to explain how good he is and how much I love him.”

U.S. Open

The freestyle class doubled as a qualifier for the US Equestrian Open of Dressage series, now in its second season. This year, it features 24 qualifiers—seven of which are at AGDF—before the final in California in November. Christian Simonson (USA) remains top of the standings with 40 points, and Fraser-Beaulieu is now sitting in second with 35. Great Britain’s Susan Pape is third with 32.

Related Links
Scores: 2026 CDI-W Wellington
Isabell Werth and Jordan LaPlaca Win Grand Prix Tests at 2026 CDI-W Wellington