Close-Fought Battle

Saturday’s showcase class, the Grand Prix Special CDI4*, presented by MTICA Farm, was a close-fought battle, with Benjamin Ebeling (USA) coming out on top on February 12 at the 2022 Adequan® Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) in Wellington, FL. AGDF, which hosts seven weeks of CDI competition, runs through March 27.

Ebeling rode Indeed, Vantage Equestrian Group II’s 14-year-old daughter of Hofrat, to 72.255% in the pair’s first grand prix special at their first four-star show. Belgium’s Laurence Vanommeslaghe was just 0.1 percentage points adrift, clocking 72.106% on her own 15-year-old Hotline gelding, Havalon. Sarah Tubman (USA) rounded out the podium, riding First Apple to third place with 70.255%.

Photo – Benjamin Ebeling (USA) and Indeed, a 14-year-old mare by Hofrat, lay claim to the Grand Prix Special CDI4* with 72.255%. (©susanjstickle.com)

Ebeling took over the reins of Indeed — one of only two mares in the 11-strong class — from his Olympian father Jan Ebeling and this is only the new pairing’s second CDI. From penultimate draw in the class order, they climbed from a third-place finish in the qualifying grand prix on Thursday. He attributed his success to a last-minute change of plan.

Click to watch Benjamin Ebeling’s winning test. ©Richard’s Equine Video

Plans Can Change

“Normally we make our schedule the night before,” explained the 22-year-old Ebeling. “We were planning a 30-minute warm up before this test, but as the day wore on it was getting hotter and hotter. Indeed is one that is really on [form] when she isn’t so sweaty and hot. So, we changed our warm-up plan to around 15 minutes and trotting her out, doing a couple walk/canter transitions, and just practicing things that are really hard for her like the changes. I think it really made an impact.”

Ebeling feels the benefit of his father having trained the horse to grand prix and therefore being able to understand everything he is feeling.

“My dad is my main trainer — along with Christoph Koschel — but my dad knows the horse so well and I think that has a major effect,” added Ebeling, who also showed his other grand prix horse, Illuster Van De Kampert, during AGDF 5. “When I have a question like ‘What can I do about this?’ or ‘How can I ride this better?,’ he’s there with an answer. He wanted to give me the ride because he’s focused on his two grand prix rides.

“Maybe I’ll get an invitation with Indeed for the five-star, as I’d like to go to that,” he continued. “She’s really a wonderful mare. She’s super steady, very focused, and I know she wants it bad.”

Results: CDI4* FEI Grand Prix Special, presented by MTICA Farm Place, rider, nationality, horse, horse information: judge E%, judge H%, judge C%, judge M%, judge B%, final score

E, Jane Weatherwax (USA); H, Christof Umbach (LUX); C, Elke Ebert (GER); M, Kjell Myhre (NOR); B, Claudia Thaler (AUT)

1. Benjamin Ebeling (USA) on Indeed, Vantage Equestrian Group II’s 14yo Danish Warmblood mare by Hofrat: 72.021, 73.191, 71.702, 72.021, 72.34, 72.255

2. Laurence Vanommeslaghe (BEL) on Havalon, her own 15yo Hanoverian gelding by Blue Hors Hotline: 71.383, 72.766, 71.702, 73.298, 71.383, 72.106

3. Sarah Tubman (USA) on First Apple, Summit Farm’s 12yo KWPN stallion by Vivaldi: 70.851, 70.957, 70, 68.83, 70.638, 70.255

4. Alice Tarjan (USA) on Donatella M, her own 11yo Oldenburg mare by Fürstenball OLD: 72.234, 68.936, 71.064, 68.723, 69.362, 70.064

5. Katie Duerrhammer (USA) on Quartett, Kylee Lourie’s 14yo DSP gelding by Quaterback: 68.085, 70.319, 68.085, 69.894, 71.489, 69.574

6. Michael Klimke (GER) on Harmony’s Sanrino RHP, Harmony Amateur Sports’s 13yo Oldenburg stallion by San Remo OLD: 69.574, 69.043, 68.404, 67.766, 66.277, 68.213

7. Patricia Becker (USA) on Derk, Lauren Walfish’s 14yo KWPN gelding by Wynton: 65.213, 66.383, 66.17, 66.277, 65.745, 65.958

8. Aaron Janicki (USA) on Heron, his own 10yo KWPN gelding by Glock’s Johnson TN: 64.277, 68.532, 64.489, 64.383, 63.745, 65.085

9. Evi Strasser (CAN) on Déjà Vu Tyme, her own 15yo Hanoverian gelding by Dauphin: 65.851, 63.191, 65.213, 65.319, 65.106, 64.936

10. María Alejandra Aponte González (COL) on Duke De Niro, her own 17yo British Hanoverian gelding by De Niro: 60.851, 62.553, 61.489, 63.617, 61.596, 62.021