WELLINGTON, Fla.--Germany has won the Dressage Nations Cup at the Global Dressage Festival for the past four years, and it is favored to win again this year when the competition begins Thursday, Feb.20.
Felicitas Hendricks with Drombusch OLD (Photo by Shannon Brinkman)Opposing Germany are teams from the U.S. Australia Canada and Sweden.
For the past two years, Germany has ended the season as the Dressage Nations Cup champion, and each year it has begun with its win in Wellington.
The 2025 season kicks off Thursday at the Festival, which could be considered a home away from home for the German Dressage squad.
Germany will be among four nations looking to start their seasons strongly in the FEI Grand Prix test.
But it will be a tall order for Australia, Canada, Sweden and the home nation United States to dethrone the two-time defending series champions, as their reign over Wellington has been even lengthier.
Germany has won this event in each of the last four years.
Michael Klimke has been a pillar of Germany's Wellington squad, contributing to all four victories between 2021 and 2024, when he also doubled as the team's chef d'equipe.
HE RETURNS in 2025, this time with the 11-year-old Oldenburg gelding Harmony's Fado.
With just eight international starts, the beautiful black gelding will make his third start at Grand Prix in his team debut.
"Yes, we won, not one time," said Klimke. "We've won four times in a row. For me, it's an honor to be here and all of these years."
Evelyn Eger, Felicitas Hendricks, and Lars Ligus complete the German team.
The trio is a group brimming with young talent, as all three riders are under the age of 30.
Despite being the youngest of the group, Hendricks, 24, has the best recent form with her longtime partner, Drombusch OLD.
The duo posted the leading score for Germany in last year's Wellington leg, and they kicked off the 2025 season with an FEI Dressage World Cup victory in January at the same venue.
"Every time, he just leaves his heart in the ring. I can tell he's very happy to be back," said Hendricks.
The United States finished second in last year's season opener, with Kevin Kohmann coming closest to Hendrick's top score; he finished second individually in the Grand Prix test on his top mount Duenensee.
Kohmann is one of three riders from last year's U.S. squad that return in 2025, as Erin Nichols and Jennifer Williams will also be back, but the notable addition is Devon Kane, Kohmann's wife.
While Kohmann focuses on pursuing the FEI Dressage World Cup Final with Duenensee, he will ride Kane's former mount in the Nations Cup, the 14-year-old KWPN mare Guilietta, that he rode in December.
Sweden and Canada are back to compete again in 2025 after finishing third and fourth, respectively, last year, while Australia is the newest addition to the lineup for the one-test competition.
Teams will be classified based on their collective scores from the Grand Prix: Each team's top three scores are added up for a total score, with the winning team tallying the highest percentage.
Teams may compete with four riders, with the lowest score dropped from the team total, but if a team has only three athletes, there is no drop score.
In 2025, five legs make up the FEI Dressage Nations Cup season, which will go from Wellington to Europe, with the remaining legs taking place at Compiegne, France, Lier,Belgium, Rotterdam, Netherlands, and Falsterbo. Sweden.
Teams will earn points based on their placings at each event that will determine the series champion, with a maximum of four events to count toward the standings.
