Susan Pape & "Miracle Mare" Harmony’s Giulilanta Dance to First 5* Wins

You’d be forgiven if the name Harmony’s Giulilanta doesn’t ring a bell.

The Dutch Warmblood mare (Jazz x Flemmingh), piloted by Great Britain’s Susan Pape, has a lighter FEI record than most international grand prix horses in her age bracket. At 15, the mare has made just 16 FEI appearances—10 of which were last year.

Pape and Harmony’s Giulilanta were poised to step up to the Grand Prix level in 2022 when the mare sustained an injury that relegated her to the sidelines for two years. They returned to international competition in June 2024, making their Grand Prix debut in a CDI3* at Hagen a T.W., Germany.

“I wasn’t even sure she would ever come back, but she did it so beautifully,” said Pape. “She had such a long break, and now she’s stronger than ever. She’s a miracle and a fighter, this horse.”

On Thursday, the pair danced to their first five-star win at the Adequan® Global Dressage Festival in Wellington, FL, topping Thursday’s 3 Graces Dressage CDI5* FEI Grand Prix with a new personal best of 73.63%. It was just 0.043 points ahead of U.S. Olympian Marcus Orlob and Jane.

“It’s very exciting to be honored with a score like that—we keep climbing up,” said Pape. “There’s a lot of commotion, so she was a little tense, but I know how to cope with that. She’s still hot, but she’s focused. I think the high points tonight were the collected work, like the passage, transitions and pirouettes. Giulilanta does a lot of things very well.”

On Friday, it was ride, rinse, repeat. Pape and Harmony’s Giulilanta rode to another personal best score of 81.745% with their Tom Jones-themed test in the 3 Graces Dressage CDI5* Grand Prix Freestyle.

As her winning 81.745% personal best score was announced, she cried happy tears in front of the 2000-strong crowd of enthusiastic fans and spectators.

“I wasn’t sure how she was going to cope with the audience because they were very excited. But as soon as I started the test, I felt she was with me. We’re a total partnership, and it makes it so very special,” said Pape.

“This horse amazes me every day. Even though she’s already 15, she hasn’t got so much experience under her belt, but it seems that she just gets better and better. I’m so grateful to John and Leslie who let me ride this incredible horse.”