Fidelio van het Bloemenhof Retired from Competition Sport

Dressage

Great Britain

Fidelio van het Bloemhof, Fiona Bigwood's Grand Prix horse that competed with ex-husband Anders Dahl and their daughter Mette Dahl, has been retired from competition sport.

Fidelio is a 17-year old Belgian SBS registered gelding by Fidertanz out of Ommarilla de la Fazenda (by Jazz x Nooitgedacht).

From Belgium to Germany

Fidelio is bred by Luc van der Heyden and was originally named Decadent van het Bloemenhof. The chestnut gelding was initially started in Belgium in the young horse classes under Manon Claeys in 2013.

Then the horse sold to Michael Stroetmann and was developed by Petra Stroetmann (née Epping). They made their show debut in 2014 at L-level in Germany. In 2016 he moved to S-level and he did his last show under Stroetmann in February 2017 at S-level at a regional event in Una-Massen.

Anders Dahl

With Anders at the 2019 European Championships

In April 2017 the horse sold to Fiona Bigwood in Great Britain.

Her then husband Anders Dahl (DEN) took on the ride and debuted him nationally in the Inter I and Inter II in Hickstead in June 2018. Fiona then showed the horse at two loved showed in September 2018, but it was Anders who debuted the horse internationally at Grand Prix level in March 2019 in Keysoe.

After starts in Hagen and Aachen they were nominated on the Danish team for 2019 European Championships in Rotterdam, where Denmark finished fifth and he landed 22nd place in the Special. Dahl rode his last season on Fidelio in 2022 in Le Mans and Herning.

Mette Dahl

Bigwood and Dahl separated and Fidelio became daughter Mette Dahl's junior rider's schoolmaster.

The new pair debuted in January 2024 at Vale View and four months later did their first CDI in Hickstead. They represented Great Britain at the 2024 European Junior Riders Championships in Opglabbeek and placed 9th in the individual test and 14th in the Kur to Music finals.

Two months later Mette rode him at medium tour level at the CDI Herning, followed by U25 at the CDI Kronenberg. In 2025 they committed to Young Riders level and returned on the team for the European Young Riders Championships in Kronberg, where they were 10th in the individual test and Kur.

They showed two more times in 2026 at Hickstead and Wellington Heckfield.

Retirement

Mette and Fiona have now decided to retire Fidelio from sport.

"It is with mixed emotions to say that Orange has officially been retired," said Mette. "Orange has always had the biggest personality on the yard and never failed to make everyone laugh. He has given me some of the most incredible memories and has been such a huge part of my career. He took me to my very first World Cup show (where I competed in the 2*), took me to two European Championships, was a direct reserve for Dino this year for the Europeans and reached a high of 7th in the world rankings."

Mette continued, "Although he is still extremely fit, healthy and more than capable, I made the difficult decision to retire him now. I would always rather do it a day too early than a day too late. He deserves nothing less than the best retirement, spending his days out in the field with all of his friends, hopefully for many, many years to come."