December 2, 2023 
Germany’s Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and TSF Dalera BB have got stamina.
On Saturday, dressage’s reigning dynamic duo did what they typically do and won the CDI5* Lövsta Top 10 Dressage Grand Prix at the Sweden International Horse Show. It’s the 30th consecutive win for the current double Olympic, World Cup and European champions, who have been undefeated since the Tokyo 2020 Games.
“I don’t like the word unbeatable because it has the word beaten in it,” said the world no. 1, before adding, “I don’t feel unbeatable.”
The veteran partners were precisely that in Stockholm, dancing to a score of 82.087%. Even with a pair of mistakes, they were two percent better than runners up Nanna Skodborg Merrald (DEN) and Blue Hors Zepter score of 80.000%. German icon Isabell Werth and Emilio 107 took third with 78.717%.
“Dalera feels great, full of energy and athletic,” posted von Bredow-Werndl to Instagram. “Unfortunately we had two bigger ‘hiccups’ but luckily nothing we can’t fix for tomorrow’s freestyle.”
In 72 starts, von Bredow-Werndl and the 16-year-old mare have only missed the podium 10 times to date in their storied international career, the last time was in August of 2019. The pair has a career 86% top three finish average.
“Valera is probably the most intelligent horse I’ve ever worked with, so far in my life,” said the newly minted 2023 Peden Bloodstock FEI Best Athlete told FEI TV. “She is the cuddliest version when we are in the stable and working together. And she can be like a rockstar, or she usually is a rockstar, when we enter the arena.”
This year’s edition of the Lövsta Top 10 Dressage features five of the world top ten ranked riders including von Bredow-Werndl (no. 1), Skodborg Merrald (no. 3 ), Werth (no. 5), and Sweden’s Patrik Kittel (no. 7 ), and Therese Nilshagen (no. 9), plus four world top 20 riders in Morgan Barbançon (FRA), Sönke Rothenberger (GER), Thamar Zweistra (NED) and Daniel Backmann Andersen (DEN). Sweden’s Maria Von Essen is the only rider outside that elite list at world no. 88.
The Lövsta Top 10 Dressage Freestyle streams Sunday at 4:30 AM ET on H&C TV.
