Dufour and Mount St. John Freestyle Stroll to Easy Win at 2026 CDI Hagen

In their first outdoor show of the season, European Championship silver medal winners Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour and Mount St. John Freestyle strode to an easy win in the 4* Grand Prix for Special at the 2026 CDI Hagen "Horses & Dreams" at Hof Kasselmann. The Danish duo wielded the axe of power in an interesting field of 16 competitors.

The CDI Hagen on 23 - 26 April 2026 put afoot some glowing names in elite dressage sport in the year in which all revolves around the World Championships in Aachen this summer. The 3* Grand Prix on Wednesday had 30 pairs battling it out, while on Thursday the 4* Grand Prix for Freestyle saw Katharina Hemmer calling the shots in a class of 14 riders. Friday's feature test was the 4* Grand Prix as qualifier for Sunday's Special and Dufour trucked to Hagen for that challenge, albeit in the absence of her three greatest rivals (Wendy, Glamourdale, Zonik Plus) who all opted to show in Fontainebleau a week ago.

A Simple Stroll

With nobody breathing down her neck, Dufour needed very little more than a relaxed, easy Grand Prix test on the 17-year old Hanoverian mare Mount St. John Freestyle (by Fidermark x Donnerhall) to claim victory. She ended up winning the test with a 7% lead as judges Marietta Almasy, Ulrike Nivelle, Henning Lehrmann, Hans Voser, and Maarten Van der Heijden rewarded her with 82.391%.

The crowds packed around the arena in the gardens of Hof Kasselmann to see Dufour display her incredible feeling on a horse. The halt at entry was not entirely square, but a flowing trot extension followed and half passes with very good crossing although the one to the left was more elastic and smooth. The second trot extension was will ridden, but there could have been a more oomph in that lengthening. The first piaffe was on the spot but the transition out via a walk step. Freestyle relaxed easily in the extended walk and achieved plenty of overtrack, the collected was good. The second pi-pa was well ridden with a few unevenly powered steps though and there could have been a bit more energy in those exercises. The mare got rather slow. The extended canter was uphill, the zig zag neatly ridden, the ones easy-going. The pirouette left was small, but the striding could have been more powered, the right one was good and the trot extension the best one. The piaffe at X was on the spot but the right hind swung out from under the body. Overall it was such an effortless test and Dufour made riding the Grand Prix look like child's play. She was coached by Richard White at this show as her regular trainer, Richard's wife Kyra Kyrklund, had to stay in the U.K. for the weekend.

The individual marks between the judges ranged quite a bit with 80.109% as low score and 84.674% as high score.

"It's the first outdoor show of the season so it's really nice to get going today," Dufour said in an interview. The last time she rode in Hagen was with Bohemian at the 2021 European Championships following the Tokyo Olympics."To take small, new things into the arena is always the task to complete. It went well today and she (Freestyle) is amazing. A ride above 82% is quite surreal. She's 17 years old but I guess she's like red wine."

Full Throttle

While Dufour and Freestyle went into cruise control, Ingrid Klimke and the 15-year old Westfalian Vayron went full throttle. With a team spot to loose to what seems to be Charlott Maria Schurmann/Dante's Pearl, Klimke had to put the pedal to the metal and prove their worth. Their first start at the CDI Lier in February produced a 72.848% Grand Prix round, but more needed to be achieve to stay in consideration. 

Klimke had the engine fired of her gigantic horse Vayron (by Vitalis x Gloster). They rode very correct halts with the hindlegs tucked under the body and not stretching out behind. The passage work was bouncy, the trot half passes and extensions were ground covering. In piaffe he still leans on the shoulders and crosses behind but in the second and third piaffe Klimke got the better rhythm going. The collected walk was good, the two tempi changes straight. He changed behind anticipating the flying change at the end of the extended canter diagonal, the one tempi changes were ground covering. The pirouettes are a challenge for this huge horse but Klimke rode them masterfully today. 

They got 75.087% from the judges with scores between 73.913% and 76.630%

Copy Conform

Swedish Maria von Essen, who trains with Cathrine Dufour, rode her sensitive KWPN gelding Invoice (by Jazz x Ferro) to a third place with 73.370%. Their test was copy conform to Dufour's style: easy going, no pressure, simple and soft. The piaffes were on the spot, but could have been more sitting. Invoice flowed through the test as an experienced Grand Prix horse and it seemed he was never asked to break a sweat, which made it all look soft and friendly. There was a mistake in the two's though and both the zig zag and extended canter were rather underpowered, but it was a pleasant ride overall.

Fellow Swede Therese Nilshagen brought a bit more "excitement" to the arena as she has finally made her come back with a new elite horse since the retirement of her fabulous stallion Dante Weltino. Aboard the 10-year old Hanoverian bred Navarro (by Negro x San Remo) she placed 6th with 72.065%. The black chunky lad has a big neck and compact body but looks like a power ball. While in general the hindlegs moved a little out from under the body, they are active and engaged and Nilshagen has put her trademark moves on this horse too: quality canter work: big uphill extended canter,  straight tempi changes, good collection in the pirouettes. The walk is still an easy with not enough relaxation, stretch and overtrack in the extended and a short collected walk, but there is plenty of quality to work with for even higher scores in the future. 

Top Five

German Leonie Richter and Mira Dicso's 10-year old Rhinelander stallion Lord Europe (by Lord Leatherdale x Boston) were the last pair to go in the class and landed fourth place with a personal best of 72.261%. The black stallion has become Richter's breakthrough horse at Grand Prix level after the Richter developed a career first as a youth rider and then as a young horse specialist. They started with a square but stretched halt. The horse got unbalanced in the switch in direction in the trot half passes. The passage was nice. In piaffe the horse leans backwards, stretching the frontlegs and leaning on his hindquarters, which still leaves them far from a correct execution of a piaffe. Also in the walk the rhythm was so so. The trot extensions was impressive, but also in the topline the horse could stretch more to generate even more overtrack. They produced high points in the canter work with a small left pirouette and a fault-free one tempi line.

Danish Anna Zibrandtsen and the 15-year old Oldenburg Quel Filou (by Quaterback x Stedinger) finished fifth. The bright bay has three outstanding basic gaits, but it is in the collected walk in which he has to close the frame and take more weight behind that the task lies for this former WCYH medal winner. The trot work was lovely with nice half passes and the passage was good. There was a mistake in the two tempi changes which affected the score and left them at a more than gratifying 72.152%.

-- Text and Photos © Astrid Appels - NO REPRODUCTION ALLOWED (no screenshots for social media!)

Eurodressage took photos of all CDI riders in Hagen. Contact us if you are interested in buying them for social media (or prints).

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