Isabell Werth's Dream Horse

Just a girl with her "dream horse": German superstar Isabell Werth and her 2014 and 2018 WEG mount, Bella Rose, before the 2018 WEG dressage horse inspection. Photo by Jennifer Bryant.

The five-time German dressage Olympian Isabell Werth is one of our sport's greats. She has almost too many gold medals and championship titles to count, and deep-pocketed sponsorship has kept Werth, 49, in top international horses for 25 years.

So when Werth calls a mount her "dream horse" and says she wanted to bring this special one to the FEI World Equestrian Games Tryon 2018, naturally I was eager to learn more. After a phalanx of German journalists had their way with the 2018 German WEG dressage team yesterday, I finally got the chance to take a deep breath and (in English) ask Werth about Bella Rose.

Werth's bond with the 14-year-old Westfalen mare (Belissimo x Cacir AA), owned by Madeleine Winter-Schulze, was evident four years ago at the 2014 WEG in Normandy. The pair completed the team Grand Prix test but then withdrew from the remainder of competition. Werth is reluctant to discuss details ("Sorry, but you know how dressage is"), saying only that Bella Rose was injured "around three years ago." 

"It was in the bone; it was not easy to find, that was the reason it took us so long," Werth says. "We really built her up slowly and step by step and took a long time to bring her back into the sport because she’s really, really full of temperament, so to keep her calm step by step was the most difficult thing."

Bella Rose resumed her competition career just this year, Werth says, and did well enough to be selected as one of three potential WEG mounts with Werth. (The other contenders were Emilio and Werth's 2016 Olympic Games and 2017 and 2018 FEI World Cup Dressage Final gold-medal partner, Weihegold OLD.)

Choosing Bella Rose for Tryon "doesn’t mean it was a decision against Emilio or Weihegold," Werth says. "It’s just a decision for Bella Rose because she’s really my dream horse, and everyone knew this horse had outstanding potential, and this was my dream after four years, to bring her back for a championship. 

Bella Rose has been in Werth's stable since the age of three, and Werth has brought the mare up to the international Grand Prix level. 

"A groom of mine said there was an interesting horse" at a breeder's farm," Werth recalls. "I came and watched, and from the first second I was electrified. The whole horse is full of charisma, full of power, full of lightness and elegance. She combines all things: All of my other great horses have one or two or three things, and she has an outstanding piaffe and passage, super movement, the whole thing."

With construction noise a constant at the Tryon International Equestrian Center in the hours before the opening ceremony, competitors were rapidly becoming accustomed to being quizzed about their horses' reactions to the sights and sounds. According to Werth, "the atmosphere is not a problem" for Bella Rose; "it’s the power. I have to calm her down and keep her concentrated on herself. It’s not a question of some buildings or noise or the arena, or a hurricane! She has no problems with the weather. Day by day I try to make her more supple, more calm."

Werth and her "dream horse" ride in the team Grand Prix competition tomorrow, on day 2, as the anchor pair for Germany. According to Werth, even if Bella Rose doesn't bring home gold, the experience will be a dream come true.