National Rides Draw the Attention at the 2026 CDI Wellington

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2026 CDI Wellington

-- Text and Photos © Astrid Appels - NO REPRODUCTION ALLOWED (no screenshots for social media!)
This article expresses Eurodressage's' eye-witness account and opinion about the competition.

On the second day of competition of the CDI 4* Wellington during week five of the 2026 Global Dressage Festival, it were the rides in the national arena that drew the most attention from the spectators.

The Action in the National Ring

U.S. team riders Adrienne Lyle and Endel Ots presented their horses - My Vitality and Bohemian - in the Intermediaire II, while other talented horses as well as familiar faces made an appearance in the national Grand Prix (Vioretta, Forrest Gump). A new trend has caught on to ride "Hors Concours", which means riders get judged and can see their own score, the public cannot. And then as usual there were plenty of scratches of pairs people were longing to see compete, such as Rebecca Cohen premiering Chris von Martels' Canadian Olympic team horse Eclips or Canadian team rider Jill Irving on Delacroix.

The combination that drew most eyes to the sideline was Adrienne Lyle on the KWPN bred licensed stallion My Vitality (by Vivaldi x D-Day), the full brother to breeding sensation Vitalis. Seasoned Olympian Adrienne Lyle has given up the ride on her 2025 World Cup Finals' mount Helix and the horse has been returned to sender. Her second GP horse Lars van de Hoenderheide has been long-time sidelined due to an injury and very little is spoken of a come back, so everyone is eagerly waiting to see which Grand Prix horse will put her back in team contention, especially in a World Championship year. The 9-year old My Vitality seems to be her choice. Since being acquired by Heidi Humphries' Zen Elite in June 2025, My Vitality has been further produced to Grand Prix by Lyle and today was their show debut.

The tall chestnut stallion is long-legged and long-lined and fits tall Adrienne very well. He fills the arena with his presence and is particularly standing out with his shoulder freedom and reach in front. The trot extensions were ridden very conservatively with a lot of flash in front and not enough tracking up behind, but the half passes were scopey and ground covering. The extended walk could have had more overtrack. The piaffe and passage are certainly the most eye-catching movements of this horse. He really has a lot of airtime and lift and has the hindlegs reaching under, and in the pirouettes the stallion showed great ability to take the weight behind. The tempi changes needed more uphill oriented in stride and frame. The entire ride Adrienne consistently had the stallion with a long neck, but rather deep behind the vertical. It was a confidence-building ride which got an generous, winning score of 76.176% from American 5* judge Janet Foy.

The second highest score in the Intermediaire II was 73.971%, ridden by Erin Nichols on the 11-year old KWPN gelding Kind Pleasure (by Governor x Zack). A student of Christoph Koschel, Nichols presented the compact bay gelding in a very sympathetic way, but if they are to aim for the big sport, the horse needs to begin showing a bit more power and oomph in general to stand out amongst the pack.

Charlotte Jorst rode her tall 11-year old Danish warmblood GPF's S-Express (by Sezuan x Sir Donnerhall) in the Inter II, but was not yet able to convince. The horse ground his teeth and was not very happy with the job. He is long in the back and like many Sezuans has hindlegs that stay too far out to have any carrying power in the piaffe and passage. The rider went off course, which affected the final score (64.176%).

After a 1.5-year old break from competition and what was expected an early retirement from sport, the 16-year old Westfalian gelding Bohemian (by Bordeaux x Samarant) returned to sport with Endel Ots last December. The pair has been competing in several national Grand Prix classes since then, most of the time Hors Concours. Ots has switched from Albrecht Heidemann to Charlotte Bredahl for coaching. Today the liver chestnut looked like a veteran Grand Prix horse: super secure and solid in all the Grand Prix movements, playing by the book, but he is not so muscled anymore, the neck was held much tighter, and overall the horse's facial expression was not very relaxed with his teeth showing. Ots needed to motivate Bohemian more while the horse used to be sharp with plenty of go. They produced a very polish, consistent test but it lacked joie de vivre.

Jane Karol presented a very interesting horse in the Grand Prix: the 11-year old Oldenburg mare Vioretta (by Vivaldo x Don Schufro). The bay mare has a spectacular piaffe - with real sit and climbing in the withers - but in passage she still stays a bit long in the frame, not truly engaging the hindlegs towards the point of gravity. Vioretta is bred by Paul Schockemöhle and a very interesting horse to watch.They scored 66.522%.

A familiar face was the 15-year old Hanoverian Forrest Gump (by Fidertanz x De Niro), who competed in Europe with Ema Kopuleta and Remy Bastings. The almost black gelding sold to the Atlanta based lawyer Phyllis Sumner as a Grand Prix schoolmaster. Bastings was on the sideline helping her out.

Developing GP Horses in the Lovsta Challenge

Back in the main stadium the national level "Lovsta Future Challenge" took place around noon for developing Grand Prix horses. It's one of the more interesting classes of the week and featured 10 combinations. The Challenge follows the concept of the Louisdor Cup in Germany with a finals at the end of the season.

Swedish multi-Olympian Tinne Vilhelmson Silfven has a stellar new Grand Prix prospect in the former licensed stallion, now gelding, So Perfect (by Sezuan x Sir Donnerhall). This 9-year old Hanoverian is also by Sezuan but has the engine behind for power and carriage. He appeared more than a developing Grand Prix horse, all ready for the classic GP test. Sold to Lovsta Stuteri in June 2025, So Perfect should ground covering half passes, lovely passage work with much lift and balance, the piaffes had nice potential although he still leaned a little on the shoulders. At times he got a little croup high in canter, but he showed great ability to collect in the pirouettes and nice two tempi changes. In the ones the last one seemed a bit shorter behind. The final trot extension was a bit short-long in front, but overall it was a very high quality test, ridden in a snaffle with a pleasant contact withe mouth. They scored 70.941% for their Intermediaire II.

Ashley Holzer rode the 10-year old KWPN bred Liberty L (by Toto Jr x Charmeur) to a second place with 69.235%. The chestnut looks all Charmeur in front (and in his brain) and all Toto Jr in the hindquarters. He's sharp, has big eyes and appears spooky, but Holzer piloted him expertly through the test. There was good crossing in the half passes, the piaffes were on the spot, the flying changes were lovely: uphill and straight and there is good ability to collect in the pirouettes. In the passage he stayed rather long in the frame and keeps the hindlegs too far out at the moment. In walk he is prancey with his left front leg.

Sarah Tubman was the first rider to go today as she had two horses to present. She finished third with the 10-year old Danish bred Gorklintgaards Smarties (by Gorklintgaards Santos x Michellino) who was ridden rather short and tight in the neck and could have been more supple overall to develop into a muscled Grand Prix horse, but he showed good rideability and willingness for the work. He got 67.677% from the judges. Tubman's probably more talented horse is the 10-year old KWPN bred Barton VDL (by Bordeaux x Sir Donnerhall). He's the more flashy mover, with a lovely side silhouette and plenty of lift and articulation in his joints, but he was not thoroughly ridden from behind, over the back, to the front. The passage looked like a careful slowing down of the pace instead of an epitome of collection and self carriage in trot. It looked as if Tubman was afraid to step on the gas pedal with this horse. The flying change was not executed out of a medium canter on the diagonal. The two tempi changes were okay but the line of one tempi's had hiccups. They scored 66.412% for 7th place.

Chris Hickey presented Cecilia Stewart's 11-year old KWPN bred Kobus (by Lord Leatherdale x Negro), which his previous owner and rider Elizabeth Bortuzzo had advertised for sale on Eurodressage's equimarket less than a year ago ;) The black Kobus is a bit long in the back which makes it no so easy for him to close from behind, but the piaffe showed good quality and potential. The one tempi changes were very straught. Hickey and Kobus were fourth with 67.117%.