Despite the rainy weather, dressage riders showed up to compete in the WEC Stadium and smiles abounded when the first two classes of the World Equestrian Center (WEC) November Dressage CDI3* sponsored by Hampton Green Farm and Discover Dressage were held on Thursday, November 16, 2023, at World Equestrian Center – Ocala. Christoph Koschel (GER) on Masahiro Kosaka’s Eddieni won the Grand Prix for Freestyle CDI3*, and Allison Zarembowicz (USA) rode her own Happy Khan to win the Prix St. Georges CDI1*. The show hosts Fédération Equestre International (FEI) and USEF/USDF-rated classes through Sunday, November 19.

Photo – Christoph Koschel and Eddieni made the most of their short partnership by winning the Grand Prix for Freestyle CDI3*. (Q2 Photography)

First Time

Koschel, the veteran German dressage rider that has competed at the FEI World Equestrian Games and European Championships and won team bronze and team silver, respectively, has made the trip to WEC – Ocala before as a coach, but this was his first time competing. He started off with a bang by winning the Grand Prix for Freestyle on Eddieni with a score of 68.478% from the judge’s panel of Maria Colliander (FIN), Raphaël Saleh (FRA), Clive Halsall (GBR), Marlena Gruca-Rucinska (POL), and Janet Foy (USA).

It was a return to competition for Losos de Muñiz and Aquamarijn, her 18-year-old KWPN mare by United x I.P.S. Gribaldi – the pair represented the Dominican Republic at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, in October. They scored 67.935% to finish in second.

Kerrigan Gluch and Mejorano HGF, a 12-year-old PRE gelding by Grandioso x Galan XVI owned by Hampton Green Farm, were third with 66.978%.

New Ride

Owned by Masahiro Kosaka, a Japanese dressage rider and Koschel’s student, Eddieni is a new ride for Koschel, who was riding the horse in only their fourth Grand Prix class together.

Kosaka started competing with Eddieri in 2018 in Small Tour; the horse then moved up to Large Tour with Malin Wahlkomp-Nilsson (SWE) and Swedish Olympic dressage rider Patrik Kittel before Masahiro started competing it again. They have shown lightly in FEI competition since early 2020 before Koschel took over the ride in June of 2023.

“He has been at Grand Prix for a couple of years, but it’s my first season with the horse. We share him a little bit. It’s a nice project,” said Koschel of the 14-year-old KWPN gelding by Johnson TN x Negro. “He has had some great results already, so I hope we can still improve and have less mistakes.”

Expensive Mistakes

“He’s a really, really nice horse with super piaffe/passage,” continued Koschel. “Today we had a couple expensive mistakes, but overall, I was happy. We had a piaffe – it’s normally his highlight – but he slipped one time. I rode him a little too big into the one-tempi changes, so I had a mistake there. With the coefficient it costs double, so it’s expensive. Overall, I won, and the horse was great. He loved the Stadium. It’s raining, but the footing is great. I love this place; it’s amazing.”

One of Koschel’s other clients, 2016 Olympian Kiichi Harada of Japan, will compete in Friday’s Grand Prix for Special, while Koschel returns with Eddieni on Friday evening for the Grand Prix Freestyle.

FEI Grand Prix for Freestyle CDI3* Results

FEI Prix St. Georges CDI1* Results

Full Show Results and Ride Times

The World Equestrian Center September Dressage CDI3* continues on Friday, November 17, with the Intermediate CDI1* at 1:55 p.m. followed by Intermediate II CDIU25, the Prix St. Georges CDIAm, the Grand Prix for Special CDI3* at 2:45 p.m. and the Grand Prix Freestyle CDI3* at 7 p.m. For more information, visit www.wec.net.