Double Victory at 2026 CDI Flyinge Stokes Rebecca Mauléon's Fire to Dream of More

Shows

2026 CDI Flyinge

Eight years after her international show debut at the 2018 World Young Horse Championships in Ermelo, Swedish Rebecca Mauléon has clinched her first CDI victory and made it a double whammy at the CDI Flyinge on 20 - 22 March 2026.

After a 6-year break from hosting a regular international dressage competitions - the last edition was in 2019 excluding the Nordic Baltic in 2022 - the former Swedish state stud in Flyinge opened its doors again for a CDI 3*, aptly titled "New Era International Dressage."

In a field of 16 combinations, Rebecca Mauléon rode Helene Frisk's 12-year old Johnnie Walker into the winner's circle in the Grand Prix with a score of 70.391%. She went on to win the Kur with 75.495%.

"Winning my first international competition together with Johnnie, whom I’ve had since he was 4 years old, means so much to me — it’s been a dream for many years," Rebecca told Eurodressage. "He felt incredible. He was relaxed, confident, and completely focused on me throughout the entire test."

Johnnie Walker

Johnnie Walker is a 2014 born KWPN gelding by Johnson out of Diva Reina (by Dayano x Hurricane). He is bred at Stal Timmers in The Netherlands, where he received his original name, Johnsons Son. He descends from the same dam line as Nurnberger Burgpokal winner Samba King (Matthias Rath) and Grand Prix horse Chicago (Elizaveta Troshenkova).

He was presented at the 2017 KWPN Stallion Licensing in Den Bosch, but not accepted. He sold to Agusti Elias in Barcelona, Spain, was renamed Johnnie Walker and gelded. Lucas Elias competed him at one show in Barcelona in May 2018 as a 4-year old.

In 2019 he sold to Helene Frisk in Sweden. The ride was allocated to Rebecca, who rode her first national show with him in May 2019 when the horse was five.

"Johnnie is the horse with the biggest heart, and he’s just getting better and better," Rebecca said about Johnnie.

Working Her Way Up

The 38-year old Mauléon used to compete in judo when she was younger, but it were horses that pulled the strings of her heart.

"I started riding at a riding school when I was young, and when I got my first pony, it was a Fjord-Arabian cross that I mostly jumped with," she explained. "I actually began dressage by chance in high school at Strömsholm. In the mornings and on weekends I helped my dressage trainers by mucking out their stalls — in return, I got lessons from them. So I probably competed in my first dressage show at around 17, scoring 57% with my Thoroughbred, Tornado."

Mauléon debuted internationally at the 2018 WCYH with Christina Olsson's mare Athena (by Tailormade Temptaion x Master) with whom she made her first major claim to fame by winning gold at the 2018 Swedish Young Horse Championships. While Athena has been retired from sport and is a broodmare, Rebecca's Hanoverian mare Havanna II (by Hotline x Donnerhall x Weltmeyer) filled Athena's shoes and took her into the international small tour ring in 2019.

Three years later, in November 2022, she debuted Johnnie Walker at small tour level at the CDI Randbol in Denmark and took him to Kronenberg and Lier that winter. With Havanna she rode her first international Grand Prix in Herning in March 2024, while Johnnie Walker premiered at big tour level at the Nordic Baltic Championships in Ypaja in June 2025. They were eliminated though.

After Ypaja the pair gained mileage at CDI's in Falsterbo, Neustadt Dosse and Herning before beginning the 2026 show year in Flyinge, where they collected two trophies.

Dreaming of the Olympics

Over the years Rebecca got coached by Louise Nathhorst, Pether Markne, Juliette Ramel, Morten Thomsen, and Daniel Bachmann. At the moment she trains with Patricia Florin.

Mauléon runs her own training business, Österlen Equestrian Center, in Smedstorp, Sweden together with her partner Cia Sundh, who is also her eyes on the ground. She has worked hard over the winter to further establish Johnnie at Grand Prix level.

"Johnnie has made huge progress this winter — he has become more confident, stronger, and most importantly, our partnership has grown even stronger," she said.

The double victory in Flyinge has put oil on her fire and stoked her ambitions to dream of more.

"My goals for this year are to aim for a spot at the World Championships in Aachen this autumn, but above all, our big goal is the Olympic Games in Los Angeles," she said.