By Alice Collins for Wellington International 

Australian athlete Jemma Heran and her own Total Recall won their first CDI class together since starting international competition in 2022, topping the CDI3* Grand Prix Special, sponsored by Donato Farms on Saturday, January 25. 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.

The class was the highlight of the third day of competition in week three of the 2025 Adequan® Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) in Wellington, FL, which hosts seven weeks of CDI competition and weekly national shows over three months, finishing March 30.

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 9 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. 

Total Recall’s famous sire Totilas was well represented at this week’s show, with two other offspring also competing: Eger and Hoff Kasselmann’s Tabledance 3 finished fourth in Friday night’s FEI World Cup™ Grand Prix Freestyle with 75.34%, while Toronto Lightfoot, owned by Scott Durkin, 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.

“I really want the consistency now,” added the 28-year-old. “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.” 

Heran has a string of other horses at Hof Kasselmann in Germany and will fly there on Monday to ride them before returning to Florida for more AGDF CDIs with Total Recall. 

“I’ve been living in Germany the past three years and winter here,” added Heran, who gave up her career as a professional corporate and commercial lawyer 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.”

Click for full results from the CDI3* FEI Grand Prix Special, sponsored by Donato Farms.

Click for full results from AGDF 3. 

Para Power

Para athletes were also in action in the main arena during AGDF 3, with Kate Shoemaker showcasing another classy test with her own Paris 2024 Paralympic bronze medal partner, the nine-year-old mare Vianne, by Vitalis. They scored 76.937% in the CPEDI3* FEI Para Grand Prix Test B Grade IV to clock up their second personal best of the week at their first show since the Games last summer. The pair is currently ranked third in the world for their grade.  

Helen Claire Merrill-McNulty continued to cement her relationship with Shoemaker’s former ride, Fiona Howard’s 17-year-old Son De Niro gelding Colijn, at their first CPEDI, securing the CPEDI2* FEI Para Intermediate Test B Grade V with 67.071%. 

Career high scores were the flavor of the day, with Cynthia Screnci laying down her own personal best of 69.912% on her eight-year-old For Memory 4, by For Dance, in the CPEDI3* FEI Para Grand Prix A Test Grade V. It was Ellie Brimmer’s turn to demonstrate her best in the CPEDI3* FEI Para Grand Prix B Test Grade II class, securing a career high score of 65.667% on her own 15-year-old Fürst Romancier mare, My Moment, whom she has been competing internationally for less than a year. 

Another partnership at its debut show, Hannah Kingsley and Cynthia Screnci’s 18-year-old Sir Chipoli (by Sir Donnerhall) led the CPEDI3* FEI Para Grand Prix B Test Grade III with 67.166%. Kingsley also rode another of Screnci’s horses, the 16-year-old Eragon VF into second. She has been riding the Don Romantic gelding for a year, and they scored a new personal best of 63.555% in this test. 

Shoemaker, Screnci, Brimmer and Kingsley (on Eragon VF) made up the winning Perrigo U.S. Para Dressage Team in the team competition. The team was led by chef d’equipe Michel Assouline and team leader Laureen Johnson.

Dressage competition in AGDF 3 hosted by Wellington International concludes on Sunday, January 26, with a CDI2* Intermediate II, Amateurs, U25s, and Para freestyle tests in all grades. Sunday also hosts the opening round of the Buffalo Wild Wings Future Challenge FEI Prix St. Georges, with 14 horse-and-rider combinations vying for a start in the final, held in week 12. For more information, results, and to watch the free live stream, visit www.globaldressagefestival.com.