Mount St John Freestyle (VA) by Fidermark/Donnerhall
Year of birth: 2009
Breeder: Stephan Kurz, Zöbingen
Rider: Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour/DEN
When Mount St John Freestyle trotted through the Niedersachsenhalle at the Elite Foal and Broodmare Auction in 2009, nobody could have guessed that the expressive filly would one day become one of the most highly regarded dressage horses in the world. Even then, she was aptly named Freestyle and was one of 298 foals auctioned in Verden on that weekend in August. She came into the possession of British rider Emma Blundell and her Mount St. John stud, who still co-own the bay mare today. Mount St John Freestyle was used for breeding as a four and five-year-old and produced A la Freestyle by Ampere, Dancefloor by De Niro and a colt by San Amour via embryo transfer.
Mount St John Freestyle entered the international stage in 2018. With Olympic champion Charlotte Dujardin she celebrated eight consecutive victories at Grand Prix level, achieving scores of over 80 per cent in the freestyle. She was no longer unknown in Great Britain, having won almost all the titles in the championships for young dressage horses. At the World Equestrian Games in Tryon/USA in the same year, Mount St John Freestyle won individual and team bronze. A year later at the European Championships in Rotterdam/NED, she was one of the favourites, but was disqualified after a sensational Grand Prix due to the ‘blood rule’. Two years later, the partnership between Emma Blundell and Charlotte Dujardin came to an end and things became quieter around the mare. She returned to Mount St John Stud, was given a break and was used for breeding again via embryo transfer. This earned her the title of ‘performance mare dressage’ in the Hannoveraner studbook.
Emma Blundell took the opportunity to show Mount St John Freestyle herself at national competitions from time to time. At the end of last year, it was announced that the Danish world-class rider Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour would be riding the now 15-year-old bay with Paris as her destination. At the open day at Mount St John Stud, this developed from a conversation with Danish rider Lone Boegh Henriksen, with whom Emma Blundell has a long friendship. ‘We were just talking about how I would like to see freestyle back in international sport,’ says the British rider. There was no doubt as soon as she tried it out: ‘I knew straight away that freestyle was something very special. She had her ears forward and wanted to perform. It was love at first ride,’ remembers Cathrin Laudrup-Dufour. Since then, the pair have competed twice at international shows and left the arena as double winners both times. ’When I did the last piaffe on the centre line I had tears running down my face because I couldn’t believe it was really happening. She gave me such a Grand Prix, she really offered all her best,’ said the 32-year-old after her performance in Kronenberg/NED. ‘It’s surreal – I’ve been a Freestyle fan forever – I have to pinch myself that she’s under my saddle now!’ And Emma Blundell is certain: ‘Freestyle is our horse of a lifetime; from being our first purchased dressage foal, to taking me to my first British Dressage finals as a 4yr, then onto amazing memories together with Charlotte Dujardin where at 9yr she won the Bronze individual medal at WEG 2018, we were devastated when she missed out on the Tokyo 2021 Olympics due to being off for the Games.‘
Mount St John Freestyle comes from a truly Olympic line. She goes back to the Hannoveraner half-blood line of Liebeslust, which not only produced the Celle state stud stallions Antibes by Atatürk/Freiherr (breeder: Heinrich Fricke, Sottrum) and Grey Butt by Grey Top/Sunset Boulevard xx (breeder: Bernadette and Kathrin). Bernadette and Kathrin Krage, Spelle-Venhaus), but also Andreas Dibowski’s Olympic horses Leonas Dancer by Solo Dancer xx/Basalt xx (breeder: Bernhard Revens, Gotthun) and FRH Butts Leon by Heraldik xx/Kronenkranich xx (breeder: Friedrich Butt, Bülkau). Born at Stephan Kurz in Ostalbkreis, she was the first foal that the breeder from Baden-Württemberg sent to Verden for the auction. Her dam Donna Gracia, who competed in smaller dressage tests herself, impressed in her mare performance test with a score of 9.0 for her temperament and willingness to perform – qualities that she passed on to her famous daughter. She has produced a total of twelve foals in 17 years of breeding. These include the full siblings Jousephine and Jasper by Johnson, who are successful in advanced dressage competitions. Donna Gracia’s dam Aarona is the right sister of the former Celle state stud stallion Antibes and brought the Liebeslust line to southern Germany. She came to Oskar Ostermaier in Balingen as a show jumper and celebrated numerous victories and placings up to advanced (S) level before being taken into breeding. Today, Queen of Dreams by Quaterback Freestyle’s half-sister is part of Stephan Kurz’ breeding stock.
Although the contact between Stephan Kurz and Emma Blundell is good, the breeder has not yet managed to see Mount St John Freestyle at a show. Once at the Royal Olympia Horse Show in London, the mare was injured shortly beforehand, and at the European Championships in Rotterdam she was disqualified after the Grand Prix. But he was already in contact with Catherine Laudrup-Dufour. ‘I wrote to her on Instagram and it took less than half an hour for me to get an answer,’ says Stephan Kurz happily. ‘I’m glad that she ended up in such good hands. That was only possible via Verden! It would have been difficult in Baden-Württemberg.’
