Nicola Philippaerts & Gadget Mouche winnen CSI4* Grand Prix Ocala! “My plan was to try to go as fast as possible!”

Olympic Gold Medalist Laura Kraut (USA) entered subsequent aboard Cherry Knoll Farm, Inc.’s Bisquetta (Bisquet Balou C x Takashi van Berkenbroek), the 12-year-old Zangersheide mare she has partnered with for practically six years. According to Kraut, the mare is aware of her job effectively. “She’s just an amazing mare. I mean, she really knows the sport, she knows she’s not supposed to touch any poles, and she’s just everything you could ask for in a horse.”

Making her first begin again since December 2025, Kraut approached the jump-off with a plan. “My plan was to not go full throttle, because she’s just not fit yet,” she shared. “Once I actually got in there, I got going, probably more than I intended, but not enough to beat them.” The pair crossed the timers in 41.31 seconds to take over the lead. 

Belgium’s Zoé Conter adopted together with her longtime accomplice La Una, a 15-year-old Oldenburg mare she has ridden for the reason that age of seven. “‘La Una and I go way back. I’ve had her since she was seven years old. She’s 15 today. She’s been my loyal partner,” Conter expressed. “We’ve had some bumps in the road when she was young, trying to build the partnership. But for the last four or five years, she’s been my steady partner. She’s more than just my best horse, she’s also my best friend.”

Heading into the jump-off, Conter caught to her strengths. “I’m not the fastest rider, and my horse is not the fastest mare, and I know that about myself and about the horse. So I made my own plan and just wanted to stick to it to see what I can do and what my horse can do.” The pair delivered a transparent in 41.17 seconds to take over the lead by only one tenth of a second. 

Next to return was fellow Belgian Nicola Philippaerts together with his family-owned 10-year-old Selle Français gelding, Gadget Mouche. “He’s an amazing horse. We bought him as a seven-year-old in France. It’s a bit of a family horse, actually. My dad rode him for two or three years as a young horse, then my brother rode him, and I rode him a bit at some other shows. The last two years I’ve been riding him a lot, and last year he really stepped up,” Philippaerts shared. “He’s lovely to ride, and he always gives his best.”

His plan for the jump-off was easy. “Try to go as fast as possible,” he laughed. “My horse naturally is very fast. He doesn’t have the biggest strides, but you can really ride him in the turns. He doesn’t lose much time over the ground. For me, it’s more important that I stay a little bit quiet myself, but I think he jumped great again today.”

Philippaerts executed simply that, stopping the clock in 40.30 seconds to safe the victory and declare the highest spot on the rostrum.

Looking forward, Philippaerts additionally shared his ideas on WEC – Ocala and his pleasure for the upcoming Longines League of Nations™ Ocala. “We come all the way from Europe to show here. I think it’s truly amazing to be able to ride here,” he mentioned. “It’s always nice to represent your country. People are coming from all over the world, and I think it’s going to be very good sport. I’ll be coming back again this year as well,” he added of the Longines League of Nations™ Ocala. “It’s something we always look forward to, and the horses love it here.”

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