New World No. 1 Crowned in Dressage: Kristina Bröring-Sprehe & Desperados FRH

With world dressage standings recalculated as of January 31, the 30-month reign of Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro finally came to an end: meet Kristina Bröring-Sprehe and Desperados FRH.

(left) Kristina Bröring-Sprehe (GER), team silver medalist at the London 2012 Olympic Games, is the new world Dressage number one with Desperados FRH. Bröring-Sprehe is pictured here with International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach during his visit to FEI Headquarters in Lausanne (SUI) last November. (Liz Gregg/FEI, via FEI press release)

The points have been counted as of January 31st, and there’s a new world number-one partnership in dressage: Kristina Bröring-Sprehe and Desperados FRH. Global favorites and record-setters Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro fall back to second place after 30 months at the top.

This is the first time Bröring-Sprehe and Desperados FRH have been in the number-one position: the 29-year-old rider and the 15-year-old Hanoverian stallion, however, are certainly no slouches. In 2015, the pair won nine competitions in a row and then placed second to Dujardin and Valegro in Aachen in December (with one third in Aachen as well to Carl Hester and Nip Tuck).

Bröring-Sprehe and Desperados FRH helped clinch a team gold for their native Germany at the 2014 World Equestrian Games, where they also earned individual bronze. The pair also performed on Germany’s silver Olympic medal team in 2012. (Fun fact: Kristina’s husband Christian Bröring made a deal with her that if she qualified for the 2012 Olympics, he would ride his bicycle to London. The trip took him six days.)

So what does the new world number one look like? Here’s the parternship’s freestyle performance from the 2015 FEI European Championships:

The pair holds a 68-point lead over Dujardin and Valegro. As Valegro took a three-month hiatus to catch some R&R, dressage fans are waiting eagerly to watch this friendly rivalry develop in 2016: will Dujardin and Valegro reclaim their position? Or will Bröring-Sprehe and Desperados FRH keep the throne?

Go riding!

[Kristina Bröring-Sprehe and Desperados FRH new world dressage number one]