Hannah Bressler Jaques and Jim Win Lovsta Future Challenge Qualifier at 2025 CDI-W Wellington

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2025 CDI-W Wellington

--- Text © Eurodressage (this article expresses Eurodressage's' eye-witness account and opinion about the competition)

Hannah Bressler Jaques and the 11-year old Jim became the winners of the second Lovsta Future Challenge qualifier for developing Grand Prix horses at the 2025 CDI-W Wellington on Friday 7 February 2025.

The Lovsta Future Challenge

The Lovsta Future Challenge is a national level show circuit held annually at the Global Dressage Festival. It mimics the German Louisdor Cup for developing Grand Prix horses with five qualifiers and a final.

The challenge is sponsored by Swedish Antonia Ax:son Johnson's dressage and stallion station Lovsta Stuteri. They endorses a similar circuit in Sweden and an international U25 tour on the Western European League world cup circuit.

This is the sixth year that the challenge has been held in Wellington. The entry fees for the classes are waived and horses get an opportunity to compete in the international arena at Global. There is also an award of $3,000 euro for the grooms of the top three placed combinations in the final. The top two finishers of each of the five qualifier are eligible to compete in the final at the end of March. There is $15,000 in prize money up for grabs.

Hannah and Jim Win

Topping the board in a field of nine combinations were Hannah Bressler Jaques and the 11-year old KWPN bred Jim (by Ferdeaux x Spielberg). The pair gave a very consistent, quiet, overall impression. Bressler sits nicely and quietly in the saddle and never rushed her horse. The bay has a big paddle with the right front leg but Bressler never overpushed him or made him look hectic. The half passes could have been more elastic, but the passage that followed with floaty and off the ground. The hindlegs could move a bit more under the body. In piaffe he doesn't really drop the hindquarters, but kept a nice rhythm. The collected walk was ok, the extended canter and flying change at X the highlight of the test. The two's were very nice, the ones were not straight. The left pirouette was the best one. The transition down from canter to trot was a bit difficult, but the trot extensions were nicely ridden.

Judges Mariette Sanders-van Gansewinkel, Debbie Rodriguez, Joyce van Rooijen-Heuitink, Stephen Clarke, and Knut Danzberg rewarded the duo with a 70.353%, the winning score and the highest qualification score achieved so far in the Lovsta challenge this year.

Naughty Jim

Jim is bred by A. Soethout in Belgium and was presented at the first phase for the 2017 KWPN Stallion Licensing but did not get selected. As a youngster he sold to California but proved to be a handful for his new owner and rider, who sent him for re-training to Dana Glass (husband to US Olympian Kasey Perry). He tipped Bressler, who became serious about dressage as a student of Yvonne Losos de Muniz in the mid 2010s and who was an assistant rider to Australian Olympian Kelly Layne at the time she first heard of Jim. With only 10,000 USD to spend she bought "naughty" Jim.

"He learned some naughty things as a young horse.. doing all the things he’s not supposed to do," Hannah told Ken Braddick of Dressage-News. “He’s broken many things: fingers, equipment, gazebos, dressage rings, fences. So it took a long time to get him sort of like enjoying and understanding his job.”

Jim turned out to be money-draining as he had stomach issues which got him in the equine clinic three times. “I completely ran out of money. Finally we were like, ‘Jim, there’s no more clinic bucks. You’re gonna have to choose life," she told Dressage-News and disclosed that he lived on a liquid diet of SureGuard Gold for four years. "I’ve got scars on my finger. I was hand chopping hay with scissors and a paper cutter," she said.

Bressler and Jim moved to Mettawa, ILL for two years and were able to place sixth at the 2023 U.S. Developing Prix St Georges Horse Championship and win silver in the same division in 2024. Since the summer of 2024 they moved to Wellington, Florida, riding for Helgstrand Dressage and training with Lars Petersen.

Flirtfaktor S

The runner-up in the Lovsta class was James Irwin (CAN) riding his own and his wife Tina Irwin’s 10-year-old Hanoverian Flirtfaktor S (by Fürsten-Look x Fürst Romancier) to 67.059%. Bred by Johannes Sabel, the chestnut reminds heavily of Donnelly.

The 10-year old chestnut has much freedom in the shoulder in the half passes but seemed to cross more behind in the half passes to the right than to the left. The passage was quite floaty, but lacked a bit of engagement. Irwin carefully rode the gelding, but overall the horse should be more weight bearing behind as today his tendency was rather downhill. In collected walk he paced. The sweet horse is really soft footed, did good two tempi changes, but the ones seemed shorter behind. As he is being developed further at Grand Prix level it would be nice to see him more carrying from behind.

He scored 67.059% for a second place, which earned him a ticket to the finals.

The Rest of the Pack

The rest of the pack scored in the 65% marker and below, but that doesn't mean the horse power was there. Many riders made mistakes and it pushed the score trend considerably downwards.

Third place went to former Under 25 rider Hope Cooper (USA) on her mom Jane Karol’s 11-year-old Destar, a DSP registered gelding by Descolari x Quaterback bred by Jessica Gühne. The gorgeous 11-year old black gelding has the prettiest face and truly makes a lovely ladies horse. The walk was the highlight gait with very nice overtrack in the extended walk and a clear rhythm in the collected walk. In trot he could have achieved more overstep in the extensions and the hindquarters trailed a bit in the half passes. The passage lacked collection and was more a slow trot. The second piaffe was the better on. The extended canter left and flying change were lovely and the tempi changes went well. Overall the horse needs to take more weight behind. They scored 65.912%

Fourth place went to Argentinian Micaela Mabragana on the talented 9-year old Lusitano Marlango PH (by Cervantes), who probably showed the best piaffe-passage of the class, but overall was too tense and too strong in the contact. The very talented grey had super lift in the legs in piaffe and passage, but due to tension did not walk properly. The extended canter and flying change on the diagonal were big, but in the pirouettes he did not sit behind but executed small voltes. Marlango showed he is truly lovely but was in need of a chill pill today. They scored 65.618%.

Probably the most consistent picture of the day came from Portuguese Tiago Ernesto on the rather heavy 11-year old KWPN gelding Jack Daniels (by Desperado x Burggraaf). The horse lacked impulsion in general, but Ernesto piloted the horse quietly through the test without stressing his horse. In the piaffe Jack Daniels stays too wide in the base and he lacks bending in the half pass right. The extended walk had a clear rhythm. The extended canter with flying change at X was not really ridden from an extended canter and there was a bobble in the flying change at F. Overall it was a lovely presentation but the horse needed a bit more pep in its step. They scored 64.235%

Ashley Marascalco and Roel Theunissen's 9-year old Westfalian gelding Dracarys (by Don Nobless x Self Made) were a lovely combination to watch with the passage work developing in a good way. The first piaffe was barely shown, the second better but the hindlegs were too far out. The horse has good tempi changes but the rider is swinging too much in the saddle, throwing her horse from left to right, which led to mistakes. It's work in progress but Dracarys certainly had the qualities. They posted 63.559% for 6th place.

Austin Webster presented two talented horses in the class but both experienced the same problems: too much tension and they were both far too hand held. Samantha Kidd's gorgeous 9-year old Trakehner stallion Guildenstern Sol (by Ivanhoe x Imperio) resisted in the first piaffe and lacked jump in the pirouettes, but the black showed super elegant trot half passes and a good extended canter.

Webster's second horse, Jackpot Zee T (by Ampere x Jazz), is super gifted in piaffe and passage but was ridden too forward. The 11-year old bay did not cross the legs enough in the half pass left. The horse was tense in the rather noisy environment (they were emptying the porter potties during his ride, lo and behold) and Webster held the gelding tight throughout the test. The extended trots would have been so much more if only Jackpot was allowed to lengthen in the frame too. The two tempi changes were good but the horse was deep. There was a mistake in the one's but Jackpot can execute the line straight in the body. The Dutch warmblood certainly gave his calling card as a talented hore, but he needs to be developed with more lightness and self carriage for higher marks. Today it was 62.882%

Taryn Anderson closed the ranks with the 11-year old Oldenburg Furst Romanov (by First Choice x Romanov), bred by Inge Bastian (the breeder of Weihegold!). The tall dark bay gelding is a bit old fashioned looking but he has a good extended walk. In passage he lacked power and push from behind. Mistakes in the tempi and flying changes seriously affected the score today and it was 61.323% for 9th place.

If interested in photos, please send me an email. Florida rates apply for this horse show as our colleague Sue Stickle is the official photographer

Taryn Anderson on Furst Romanov

Ashley Marascalco on Dracarys

Right frontleg paddle

Jaimey Irwin on Flirtfaktor S

Tiago Ernesto on Jack Daniels

Austin Webster on Guildenstern Sol