Felicitas Hendricks Extends Unbeaten Streak on Opening Day of Week Three at 2024 Adequan® Global Dressage Festival
A nail-bitingly close class heralded the start of week three of the Adequan® Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) in Wellington, FL. AGDF hosts seven weeks of CDI competition over three months and runs through March 31. The top five combinations in the CDI4* FEI Grand Prix, sponsored by US PRE Association, all topped 70%, and just 0.044 percentage points split the winner, Felicitas Hendricks, from the runner-up, Susan Pape (GBR).
Hot off her double of World Cup™ wins in week 1 of the AGDF, the 23-year-old Hendricks (GER) once again showed her widely praised, quiet and effective riding to nab a new personal best score. She and her own 13-year-old Oldenburg gelding Drombusch OLD scored 72.457% from first draw.
Pape’s performance with the 10-year-old Harmony’s V-Plus was also richly rewarded by the judges (72.413%), while Sweden’s Caroline Darcourt piloted the 14-year-old Lord Django to third with 70.196%.
Hendricks is now unbeaten at the 2024 AGDF on the Destano x Dimaggio gelding, whom she bought through her trainer and uncle, Christoph Koschel.
“The horse is just getting better and better and I’m really glad that our scores are reflecting that,” enthused Hendricks. “And the best thing is that there’s still room for improvement. I feel like the sky really is the limit for this horse because he wants to do it, and I know he will.”
Last summer, the pair won team and individual golds at the Under-25 European Championships in Hungary, and since then have only competed in senior ranks despite still being eligible for under-25 classes. The tactic is paying off as Hendricks is more than holding her own in senior company.
“We’re doing a lot of work on the details to get everything super smooth and on point,” she added. “I’m glad that we’re making that progress and developing so well; it makes me unbelievably happy to show him off like that and to know that I’ve got such a happy horse underneath me who’s willing to give everything for me in the ring.
“The score was amazing and I was very happy with my changes. They were straight, uphill, and he was really focussed waiting for my aids. That made it possible for me to give very light aids,” she added.
The next stop for this talented duo is the ‘Friday Night Stars’ CDI4* Grand Prix Freestyle, sponsored by US PRE Association, on Friday evening. They will surely have their previous best freestyles score of 79.105% — set in July 2023 — in their crosshairs.
Jennifer Williams (USA) topped the FEI Grand Prix CDI3*, sponsored by ProElite®, putting herself in pole position heading into Saturday’s Grand Prix Special. She and Joppe K led the 18-strong field on Thursday, claiming the winner’s sash with 68.848% despite the horse’s sensitivity to noise.
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