-- GDF press release, edited by Eurodressage
Australian athlete Jemma Heran and her own Total Recall won their first CDI class together since starting international competition in 2022, topping the 3* Grand Prix Special at the 2025 Global Dressage Festival in Wellington on Saturday 25 January 2025.
Last to go in the class of 10 starters, Heran coaxed a 69.021% performance out of the 13-year-old Totilas x Sandro Hit gelding, and with it a new career high score for the pair in this test.
It was a podium of many colors, with three nations represented. Evelyn Eger flew the flag for Germany, finishing runner-up with Hof Kasselmann’s 11-year-old Grey Flanell mare Gossip Girl on 68.426%. Erin Nichols (USA) was just 0.043 percentage points behind, clinching third with 68.383% on Premiere Sport Horses’ 15-year-old Johnson gelding, Elian Royale.
Heran Looking for Consistency
Total Recall’s famous sire Totilas was well represented at this week’s show, with two other offspring also competing: Eger and Tabledance finished fourth in Friday night’s World Cup Grand Prix Freestyle with 75.34%, while Toronto Lightfoot won a competitive national grand prix under the USA’s Meagan Davis with 71.848%.
Heran, who finished third in Thursday’s qualifying grand prix, said, “this one is a little special as I’ve had Total Recall for a long time, since he was seven, so we’ve been on a journey together. We did a lot of national small tour in Australia. The goal was to do some U25s before I aged out, but with Covid we had no shows in Australia. We did our first CDI in Fritzens in Austria in 2022. At this show his attitude is what has stood out; he was really concentrated whereas he used to be a little silly, so that’s special."
The 28-year old added, “I really want the consistency now. He develops every time I go in the ring. The work at home is incredibly solid—I can do it one handed and everything is super easy—so it’s just about getting him to see the atmosphere, the people and the show scene a bit more as an international horse. Toti is really cute, like a pet dog, in the stable. When it comes to riding, he’s very ‘on’ and knows he’s at a show.”
Horses Instead of Law
Originally from Gold Coast, Austrialia, Heran has a string of horses at Hof Kasselmann in Germany and will fly there on Monday to ride them before returning to Florida for more CDIs with Total Recall. Jemma's trainer Frederic Wandres was in town to help her prepare for this weekend's show while she works with Frederic's partner Lars Ligus on a daily basis in Florida.
“I’ve been living in Germany the past three years and winter here,” added Heran, who graduated as a corporate and commercial lawyer but decided to pursue riding full-time. “It’s great for the younger grand prix horses because you can go show to show; national or international, any weekend and they develop a lot here over the winter.”
Her victory in the Special was her second in her career as a senior Grand Prix rider. Last year in February she achieved her first CDI win in the Grand Prix aboard Saphira Royal (by San Amour x Monteverdi). The mare's last show was in May 2024 in Hamburg.
Related Links
Total Recall, From Record Price Auction Foal to Winning Small Tour Horse Down Under
Jemma Heran Draws Attention of Australian Selectors with First CDI Win at 2024 Palm Beach Derby