TerraNova Dressage Delivered 2025's Best Grand Prix Freestyle
What's in the water at TerraNova? Last year's show produced the season's best score and the eventual Final winner. The Series returns Oct 15.
Last October, TerraNova produced the best Grand Prix Freestyle score of the 2025 US Equestrian Open Series. It produced the 10th-best, too.
The headliner was Christian Simonson and Indian Rock. It was the pair's first CDI freestyle, with less than a year together. They scored 81.405%. Nobody else broke 81 all season. Adrienne Lyle (Simonson's coach) and Helix came closest with 80.600 at Adequan Global Dressage Festival 10 back in March, and the rest of the year's top 10 didn't get within a point.
| Rank | Combination | Event | Score | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Indian Rock
|
TerraNova CDI-W | 81.405 | ||
| 2 |
Helix
|
AGDF 10 CDI5* | 80.600 | ||
| 3 |
Helix
|
AGDF 5 CDI-W | 80.325 | ||
| 4 |
Bellena
|
US Equestrian Open Final | 79.930 | ||
| 5 |
Duenensee
|
Palm Beach Dressage Derby CDI-W | 79.240 | ||
| 6 |
Fayvel
|
AGDF 5 CDI-W | 78.785 | ||
| 7 |
Jewel's Goldstrike
|
AGDF 10 CDI5* | 78.520 | ||
| 8 |
Drombusch Old
|
US Equestrian Open Final | 78.260 | ||
| 9 |
Drombusch Old
|
AGDF 1 CDI-W | 78.200 | ||
| 10 |
Bellena
|
TerraNova CDI-W | 78.055 |
Highlighted rows were scored at TerraNova Dressage II - CDIW in Oct. 2025
"To compete in my first CDI-W, let alone have the placing and score that we did today, was just a dream come true," Simonson said at the post-show press conference.
"He's kind of my best friend. He and I are real bros."
Benjamin Ebeling and Bellena scored 78.055 in the same class which became the 10th highest of the year. A month later, Ebeling took Bellena to the Final and won with a score of 79.930.
Simonson's 81.405 has aged well. It's still the fourth-highest score in Series history and one of only six to clear 80%. Isabell Werth (82.660) and Susan Pape (81.745) sit above it. So does Simonson himself, who scored 81.445 at AGDF 1 this year and beat his own TerraNova mark by 0.040.
One class gave us the season's best score and the rider who went on to win the Final. So is there something in the water at TerraNova in October? Or was it just one very good night? The Series heads back next week, and we’ll be able to find out.
Entries aren't out yet, so we don't know who's making the trip. But if Simonson is on that list, you know where I'd put my money.
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