Team Germany Wins Gold in Wellington FEI Nations Cup For Fifth Straight Victory, USA Takes Silver
By Alice Collins for Wellington International
The Starpoint Dancesport FEI Nations Cup CDIO3* Grand Prix was the feature competition on Thursday, February 20, to open proceedings in week seven of the 2025 Adequan® Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) in Wellington, FL, hosted by Wellington International.
Five countries lined out for the Nations Cup CDIO3* Grand Prix, with Germany taking the gold medal for the fifth consecutive year with 207.022 points. The silver went to the U.S. team with 201.565 points, while Sweden’s tally of 190.761 points secured the bronze. For the second year, the format only allowed grand prix level combinations, in line with the four remaining legs of the 2025 Nations Cup dressage series, all to be held in Europe.
The victorious German team was made up of Lars Ligus, chef d’équipe Michael Klimke, Felicitas Hendricks, and newcomer Evelyn Eger, who topped the class with a new personal best of 70.435% on Tabledance 3. Klimke has been chef d’équipe for each of Germany’s five consecutive victories.
“I’m very proud because year after year we plan this and try to have a good team,” said Klimke, who rode the 11-year-old Harmony’s Fado to 63.435%. “My horse was not in the best form, but I was lucky to have three very good teammates. Evelyn, Felicitas and Lars all had really good performances and the key to success is teamwork.
“I’m 55 now and have a lot of experience,” he added. “Team spirit is very important, and we all have the feeling we can rely on and trust each other.”
Eger, who works for Hof Kasselmann and is in her first year competing at AGDF, rode the 12-year-old Totilas daughter Tabledance 3 to her first CDI victory in the three years the duo have been competing at the level.
“She felt really good in the warm-up, so I could go into the test very relaxed,” said Eger. “I finally got the canter work where I want it to be and finally got the one-time changes clean, which I struggled with at the last shows.
“It’s always a big honor to be on the team, and this year is very special because I’m the new one. I was a bit shy, because the team was already super close, but I felt perfectly included from the beginning and that contributed to the success today,” she added.
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