Podium at the The Grand Hotel Les Trois Rois FEI Dressage World Cup™ Finals 2025 Basel.

L-R Isabell Werth (GER) - Lottie Fry (GBR) - Isabel Freese (NOR)

 © FEI/Benjamin Clark

The FEI Dressage World Cup™ Western European League is set to begin its 2025/2026 season in Herning (DEN) from 17 -18 October, with a strong field of 19 horse-and-athlete combinations. Just six weeks after the FEI Dressage European Championship in Crozet (FRA), Europe’s leading athletes are back in action for the indoor season. Host nation Denmark and their Scandinavian neighbours Sweden arrive in full force, bringing nearly their entire FEI Dressage European Championship line-ups to the Jyske Bank Boxen Arena.

Danish bronze medallists return to home ground

Three combinations from Denmark’s bronze-winning team in Crozet are entered for the Herning qualifier. Among them is World No. 3 Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour, who took individual silver at the FEI Dressage European Championship and won last year’s FEI Dressage World Cup™ leg in Herning. With her 16-year-old mare Mount St John Freestyle (owned by Laudrup-Dufour & Zinglersen ApS and Mount St John Equestrian LLP), she has maintained consistent Grand Prix scores above 80% and will once again start as one of the clear favourites for victory on home soil.

Laudrup-Dufour will be joined by her fellow European Championship team members Nadja Aaboe Sloth with Favour Gersdorf (owned by the athlete), who also qualified for the Freestyle Final in Crozet, and Rikke Dupont with Grand Galiano (owned by Gert Buchhave and Allan Hansen). Olympian Carina Cassøe Krüth will also make her return with her Tokyo partner Heilines Danciera (owned by Poul Thøgersen).

Swedish squad at full power

Sweden fields its complete European Championship team for Herning. Patrik Kittel, winner of the FEI Dressage World Cup™ Final 2024 in Riyadh (KSA) with Touchdown (owned by Sommarkvarn AB), leads the line-up. He is joined by Maria von Essen with Invoice (owned by Alexanders Hovslageri & Häst AB), Tinne Vilhelmson-Silfven with Hyatt (owned by Lövsta Stuteri AB) and Sofie Lexner with Inoraline W (owned by Christinelund Dressage).

Also travelling to Herning is Caroline Darcourt with Lord Django (owned by Lövsta Stuteri AB), who already secured an FEI Dressage World Cup™ Central European League qualifier victory last weekend in Tallinn (EST).

Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands also represented

A number of leading combinations from Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands will join the Scandinavian nations in Denmark. For Germany, Carina Scholz will compete with Soirée D’Amour OLD (owned by CBK Pferdezucht GmbH & Co. KG), the mare she also rode at the FEI Dressage World Cup™ Final 2025 in Basel (SUI). The pair have already secured a World Cup qualifier win this season in Dunajský Klátov (SVK) as part of the Central European League. Germany’s entry list further includes Dorothee Schneider with First Romance 2, 2024 Finalist Raphael Netz with Great Escape Camelot, Fabienne Müller-Lütkemeier with Valencia AS, and Moritz Treffinger with Cadeau Noir.

Belgium will be represented by Isabel Cool with Herr Charmeur Coolhorses and Alexa Fairchild with Fairplay.

For the Netherlands, Rowena Weggelaar, just 21 years old and a member of the Dutch European Championship team in Crozet, starts with Don Quichot. She is joined by compatriots Geert Jan Raateland (Gladiator) and Jonna Schelstraete (Ironman).

Season 39 heads towards Texas

Now entering its 39th season, the FEI Dressage World Cup™ will conclude in the United States from 8-12 April 2026. Three years after the Finals in Omaha (USA), the 2026 Final will return across the Atlantic for the seventh time in the series’ history, and for the first time ever will take place in Fort Worth, Texas (USA).

It has been 17 years since an American athlete last claimed the FEI Dressage World Cup™ title: Steffen Peters and Ravel in Las Vegas (2009). The only other U.S.-winner remains Debbie McDonald with Brentina in Gothenburg (2003).

The North American League (NAL) began its 2025/2026 campaign last month in Devon (USA), where Benjamin Ebeling and Bellena (owned by Ann Romney) took the first victory, perhaps signalling the start of a home-turf journey towards the Fort Worth Final. The NAL calendar continues with qualifiers in Canada, Mexico and several events across the United States.

Western European League calendar

This year’s FEI Dressage World Cup™ Western European League features ten qualifiers rather than eleven, following the cancellation of Madrid Horse Week in late November. The season opener in Herning will be followed by Lyon (FRA) at the end of October, and Stuttgart (GER) in November. December will host London (GBR) and Mechelen (BEL), before the series moves on in January to Basel (SUI) and Amsterdam (NED). February brings Neumünster (GER) and Gothenburg (SWE), while the last qualifier once again takes place in ’s-Hertogenbosch (NED).

The top nine combinations from the Western European League will earn their place at the FEI Dressage World Cup™ Final 2026 in Fort Worth (USA). Defending champion Charlotte Fry (GBR) automatically qualifies for the Final, provided she competes in at least two qualifiers this season. Fry claimed the 2025 title in Basel with the black stallion Glamourdale.

All set for the FEI Dressage World Cup™ season

The 2025/2026 FEI Dressage World Cup™ series will officially begin on 17 October at 14:00 (local time) with the Grand Prix in Herning, followed by the Freestyle to Music on 18 October at 12:00 (local time).

With top athletes from across Europe and beyond lining up, the opening leg promises an exciting start to what looks set to be another thrilling season of FEI Dressage World Cup™ action — from Scandinavia to the heart of Texas.

The latest information, results, and standings throughout the 2025/2026 season can be found here.