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To the home crowd\u2019s delight, the U.S.\u2019s 23-year-old rising superstar Christian Simonson and 13-year-old KWPN stallion Indian Rock brought the crowd to their feet with an explosive freestyle choreographed to the \u201cRocky\u201d movies\u2019 soundtrack to take silver in their World Cup\u2122 Final debut\u2014also on a personal best score of 83.81%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Poland\u2019s Sandra Sysojeva and her 10-year-old mare Maxima Bella rounded out the podium on a score of 80.77%, marking an impressive leap from their seventh-place finish at last year\u2019s World Cup\u2122 Final and underscoring just how quickly the young mare is maturing on the world stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Mighty Moody Showcases Bomb’s Talent<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
When Moody was asked about her goals for the 2026 Zen Elite FEI Dressage World Cup\u2122 Final earlier this week, the world no.-5 and Olympic veteran casually noted she would love to achieve a personal best in the freestyle. She along with the help of her longtime partner indeed achieved that goal with flying colors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Moody and Bomb have been partners since he was only 3-and-a-half, and she notes that as a youngster he was a straightforward ride and very trainable, but he was a little on the lazy side. \u201cI almost sold him when he was 4 or 5, but luckily I didn\u2019t. He\u2019s a big horse and his energy is the biggest thing we have to work on sometimes,\u201d she said. \u201cSo we do a lot of strength training. We don\u2019t train in the arena all that much, maybe three times a week. The rest of our work is focused on his fitness and conditioning. But I\u2019ve done everything with him, which makes this journey even more special. He is the sweetest of sweethearts\u2014and the better the crowds, the more he loves it, so he really had a good time in Fort Worth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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In reflecting on her consistent success, Moody relies on invaluable advice she received from her longtime coach and mentor David Hunt. \u201cHe told me I was better off doing the wrong thing with confidence than doing the right thing without confidence, which I found a really interesting way of looking at things. If you\u2019re doing the right thing, but you don\u2019t believe in it, no one else will either,” she said. “Whereas if you\u2019re doing the wrong thing with confidence, you\u2019ll eventually work out that it is the wrong thing\u2014but then you can turn it around to do the right thing.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n
On another occasion Moody remembers her horse warming up really well around the edge of the arena, but when they went in to do the test, their performance was a bit lazy. “Afterward, David said, \u2018How does the horse know the difference between one side of the whiteboards and the other?\u2019 That was a really big turning point for me,” she said. “It helped me realize I needed to take ownership as a rider.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When choosing music for a freestyle, Moody says it\u2019s important that she and Bomb enjoy riding to it, but she also very much considers her audience when trying to select the right musical mix. \u201cHow the crowd reacts to the music is a big part of my thought process, and pretty much everyone loves the Beatles, so I thought it would be a safe bet,\u201d Moody laughed. \u201cBut in all seriousness, creating a new freestyle to new music is really hard, especially when you\u2019ve had one in the past that people really enjoyed. Trying to live up to that can be quite daunting actually.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Simonson and Sysojeva Clinch Silver and Bronze<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
An emotional Simonson struggled to describe his elation following his and “Rocky\u2019s” freestyle. \u201cI don\u2019t have the right words to describe the emotions I\u2019m having right now. I\u2019m so happy to be here, and I\u2019m so proud to represent my country,\u201d he said. \u201cRocky is one in a million. To take me to the World Cup\u2122 and now a double podium placing\u2014I get teary\u2011eyed just thinking about him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Simonson chose his freestyle music based on the obvious ties to the \u201cRocky\u201d film series, but also to capture the of idea working hard to achieve success. \u201cWe wanted to really show the hero\u2019s journey from the beginning\u2014the struggle, the endurance and the hopeful build-up to success at the end,\u201d he said. \u201cI think that represents not only the journey of horses, but of life in general.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After experiencing the crowd\u2019s enthusiasm at his first World Cup\u2122 Final, Simonson sees this as something bigger emerging in U.S. dressage\u2014fun. \u201cWe need fun in our sport,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m super fortunate that Heidi [Humphries] and Zen Elite have been such a big part of building up dressage in the U.S., and you could really feel that tonight with the excitement in the arena.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sysojeva and \u201cMaxima\u201d have been together since the mare was a 2-year-old and their stellar freestyle on Saturday night proved the depth of their partnership. \u201cI cannot believe it. We did not expect this, but my horse behaved so well today with no big mistakes. I\u2019m really, really happy and very proud of her,\u201d she said. \u201cI was afraid of the atmosphere\u2014it was so loud and everybody was clapping. Usually she gets too excited, but today she was happy and liked it. She\u2019s still young and getting experience at shows like this. This was very special for me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Saturday\u2019s freestyle, Sysojeva opted to use some of the soft, subtle melodies from their freestyle at the 2024 Paris Olympics because they’re evocative of Maxima\u2019s refined elegance and graceful movements. But for the Fort Worth World Cup\u2122, she decided to add a splash of Texas for a crowd-thrilling finale to her freestyle with Beyonce\u2019s “Texas Hold \u2018Em.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n This week also marked Sysojeva\u2019s first\u2011ever trip to the United States. \u201cIf it wasn\u2019t for the show, we would never have come to Texas,\u201d she laughed. \u201cBut the people are very friendly, and we\u2019ve really enjoyed our holiday here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Simonson\u2019s fellow U.S. riders Kevin Kohmann and Ben Ebeling also had strong performances in front of the home crowd, finishing in the top 10 of a star-studded field. Kohmann rode Duenensee to a ninth-place finish with a score of 76.730%, and Ebeling partnered with Bellena to finish in 10th<\/sup> place on a score of 74.965%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kohmann was thrilled with his ride with Duenensee, calling it one of their best rides ever. He admitted that he thought the scores would be higher, but nothing could dim his smile after his freestyle. 17-year-old Hanoverian gelding \u201cDenzel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOf the three World Cup Finals [we have done], this was the World Cup finals was now my absolute favorite ride,\u201d Kohmann said. \u201cThe crowd was right there riding with you. I know they sometimes started getting loud and I got nervous that they’re going to hurt the scores. I had seen it with some other riders whose horses got nervous. But my horse liked it. My horse just got better.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He was happy that he was able to follow through with plans he had set for the freestyle. A last-minute adjustment in his choreography paid off for his 180-degree turn in the piaffe. \u201cI decided today I was going to start it a little bit earlier,\u201d he explained. \u201cI put 10 straight steps [of piaffe] in and then started turning my horse. It worked perfect with the music.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kohmann also got a bit of redemption after with his tempi changes. After having a miss for one half of a change in Thursday\u2019s Grand Prix, all of his changes were clean on Saturday night. He had a \u201cjoker line\u201d in his choreography where he could add another line of tempi changes if he felt he needed to redo anything, but he felt good with what he and 17-year-old Hanoverian gelding \u201cDenzel\u201d accomplished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI just did another extended canter [in the joker line]. I played it safe. We’re in Texas and the horse is Texan-owned, so I didn’t want to embarrass her by messing up the changes,\u201d he said with a laugh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ebeling couldn\u2019t say enough nice things about his ride on Bellena. He explained the music for his freestyle was actually made for his former mount Indeed, who he rode in his first World Cup Final in 2024 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. \u201cWe were trying a different freestyle that didn’t really work out for [Bellena], and I said, \u2018You know what? Maybe I’ll go ahead and try Indeed’s old freestyle.\u2019 And it was right away just a perfect click.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The freestyle also clicked due to the 16-year-old Hanoverian mare\u2019s star quality. Ebeling noted that she delivers when it counts on a big stage. \u201cShe just shines in the freestyle,\u201d Ebeling said. \u201cShe shines under the lights when everybody’s watching her. She’s a real girl\u2019s girl. She knows when to show off and she definitely did that tonight and I’m just so proud of her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ebeling enjoyed the enthusiasm of the crowd, and people being excited about watching dressage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere’s really nothing like watching horses dance, and it’s an art form. For sure, it’s not the easiest thing to understand, but I think everybody can understand the beauty of it and the time and the training that comes into this particular discipline. Just to have that crowd behind us was incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the World Cup Final is an exciting event to make as a goal, Ebeling relishes in the day-to-day experience of training horse. \u201cThis is now my second World Cup final, but at the end of the day, it’s the training that I’ve fallen in love with and I’m just hoping to bring that into the arena,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wp-s3-dressagetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/12161709\/Christian_1-1024x682.jpg\")
Top-10 Finish for U.S. Riders Kevin Kohmann and Ben Ebeling<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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