By Alice Collins for Wellington International 

The pressure is cranked up for two athletes in week eight of the 2025 Adequan® Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) in Wellington, FL, which is Palm Beach Derby week. AGDF8 heralds the last chance for two U.S. riders to clinch the one remaining place available for this year’s FEI World Cup™ Final in April via the North American League. Anna Marek and Kevin Kohmann are bidding to join compatriots Adrienne Lyle and Geñay Vaughn—both of whom have already qualified—in the final in Basel, Switzerland. 

In the FEI World Cup™ Grand Prix sponsored by 3 Graces Dressage, Kohmann put himself in pole position for Friday night’s freestyle, the class that counts toward the final League placings and points allocation. Kohmann topped the qualifying Grand Prix riding Dünensee to a new personal best in this test of 71.522%.

Marek was breathing down his neck in second place, logging 70.152% on Janet Simile’s 15-year-old Fire Fly (by Briar Junior). Jan Ebeling also topped 70% with Jubi’s Tenacity, taking the yellow sash on Ann Romney’s 15-year-old Tailormade Temptation gelding with 70.043%. Marcus Orlob and Jane were also in the mix—at times trending above the leader—but two big spooks meant Orlob ultimately decided to retire Alice Tarjan’s 11-year-old mare by Desperado on the final centerline.

Dünensee, a 16-year-old gelding by Dancier, is owned by Diamante Farms where Kohmann is based with his wife, Devon Kane. Kohmann rode Dünensee as a young horse before he was sold on. Eventually, Kohmann’s trainer Cristoph Koschel was allocated the ride, before persuading Kohmann that he should take him back. Kohmann and Dünensee began competing at international grand prix at ADGF in 2023 and together have contested 22 CDIs around the globe, including the 2024 World Cup Final in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Kohmann credits his rock-solid partnership with Dünensee and the trust they have built over the years for the improvements inside the white boards.

“We’ve found a strong relationship and what we do here in the warm-up and in the competition arena is just what we do at home; we’re not putting on a show,” explained Kohmann. “I cannot thank ‘Dünee’ enough. He makes me confident so that I can focus on actually riding the test. I am not nervous any more in the arena with this horse.

“It’s such a nice feeling when you know your horse trusts you. Before we go to the arena I scratch him for 15 minutes in the stall,” added Kohmann of his show preparations. “He gets carrots and apples all day long—I think he likes it better at the show than at home because I pay more attention to him.”

At home, Dünensee goes in the field seven days a week and Kohmann rides him six times a week, consisting of one stretching day, work days, a trail ride, and Sundays, when Kohmann puts on his freestyle music and has fun. Dünensee is “part of the family” and has earned his forever home. 

“Nobody else will ride him after me, he’s not going to be given to other people to learn on,” explained Kohmann. “When he’s done doing his job with me, he’ll stay with us, be in the field, and live his best life. Although I think right now he’s pretty much living his best life! After a show I give him a few days just hacking, but after two or three days he always tells me that he wants to go back to work.”  

Despite the apparent pressure to qualify for the World Cup Final, Kohmann is approaching Friday night’s freestyle with a cool head and a horse-first attitude. 

“I just want the same ride I had the last freestyle at AGDF,” he stated, referring to his 77.545% performance during AGDF 3. “I don’t want to do anything better. Dünee did an amazing job last time and I was very proud of him. Just being able to do the same thing a couple of times in a row is difficult enough in this sport, so there’s no pressure on the horse.”

Click here for full results from the FEI World Cup™ Grand Prix, sponsored by 3 Graces Dressage.  

Grand Prix Girl Power

In the day’s other top tussle, the CDI3* FEI Grand Prix sponsored by Mission Control, female athletes filled the top five slots. The British anthem rang out during the prize-giving ceremony for Susan Pape’s victory after she rode the 14-year-old Jazz x Flemmingh mare Harmony’s Giulilanta to a new combination high score of 71.304%. 

German rider Evelyn Eger continued her streak of good form during her first AGDF season, picking up second place on the youngest horse in the class, Hof Kasselmann’s Dancing Darkness 4. The 11-year-old mare by Dancier x Sandro Hit scored 70.609%, with two judges placing her first on her CDI debut.

Callie O’Connell (USA) posted a new combination best on Ruling Cortes LLC’s Eaton H to take third on 69.283%. The 16-year-old Eaton H is another horse formerly campaigned by Koschel until O’Connell took the reins and began under-25 CDIs with the Wynton x San Remo gelding in 2023.

Harmony’s Giulilanta picked up a smattering of eights across her test, including for piaffe, passage, and canter pirouettes. This was just the mare’s third big tour CDI, as her career was put on hold due to injury when she was 11.

“I’m over the moon because it’s been such a long journey with Giulilanta,” enthused Pape. “She was ready to go grand prix and then she had a pretty severe injury at home which meant she was out for two years. I’m so happy she’s back and doing so well. She was much more relaxed than in her first AGDF CDI last week.  

“She doesn’t have very much mileage in the grand prix, but I’m very confident that if she relaxes even more then I can ride her more out,” continued Pape. “She has so much elegance in the collected work. Maybe she’s a little weak in her changes because she doesn’t have the biggest canter, but she doesn’t make mistakes. You’ll see other horses that are more powerful, but her elegance makes her special.”

Giulilanta will contest the CDI3* Grand Prix Special on Saturday afternoon, before flying back to Europe the following week for a break.

“I never plan far ahead with the horses—I just go month by month,” added Pape, who is a regular on the AGDF circuit with her Harmony Sporthorses team. “People say, ‘Oh, she’s a chestnut mare!’ But she’s actually the sweetest horse. Giulilanta isn’t pushy, and she’s relaxed in the barn; she sleeps and eats anywhere. She knows what she’s doing, so now it’s about getting her mind relaxed. She’s really taught me how to ride and be very patient and calm because that’s what suits her.”   

Click here for full results from the CDI3* FEI Grand Prix, sponsored by Mission Control.

Palm Beach Derby Gets Underway

In the opening round of the Palm Beach Dressage Derby, now in its 42nd year, each of the three selected horses performed a Prix St. Georges test, sponsored by Buffalo Wild Wings, with their usual riders. Croatian rider Karen Pavicic topped the class on her own and her husband Thomas Baur’s 13-year-old Totem (by Totilas x Donnerhall) with 71.471%. Australia’s Jemma Heran claimed second, riding Carrie and Bernd Schopf’s 11-year-old Destano mare Despacita to 70.392%. Kelly Layne—who recently declared for the USA having previously ridden for her native Australia—filled third. She rode Eva Levy’s 16-year-old mare Drisdal’s Co-Co Chanel (by Tailormade Temptation) to 66.961%.   

In the knock-out rounds on Friday night, in which top riders team up with unfamiliar horses and tackle a Prix St. Georges under test conditions, in the first semi-final Paula Matute Guimón (ESP) and Mathilde Blais Tétreault (CAN) will each ride a test on Despacita. In the other semi-final, both Endel Ots (USA) and Evelyn Eger will ride Drisdal’s Co-Co Chanel. The riders with the highest score from each semi-final will go head-to-head in the final, both riding a Prix St. Georges on Totem to determine the 2025 champion.  

Dressage competition in AGDF8 resumes on Friday, 28 February, with nine classes, including the FEI World Cup™ Grand Prix Freestyle and the final rounds of the Palm Beach Dressage Derby during “Friday Night Stars”, the evening session under lights. The gala evening is free for spectators to watch, both in person and on the live stream. Daytime action features the Intermediate II Lövsta Future Challenge for developing grand prix horses, starting at 3.35pm. Wellington International hosts seven weeks of CDI competition and weekly national shows at AGDF, running through March 30. For more information and results, visit www.globaldressagefestival.com.