HorseBuff Magazine – Showjumping, Winter Equestrian Festival, WEF #WEF2025
Since he was eleven years old, Tony Stormanns (GER) had aspirations of participating in the International Arena while sitting ringside at the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF). The 17-year-old rode Donjon d’Asschaut from the greatest national grand prix field ever seen at Wellington International to win the $50,000 Palm Beach Equine Clinic Grand Prix during WEF 2’s “Saturday Night Lights,” fulfilling his dream in a spectacular way. WEF, which is highlighted by 12 weeks of straight FEI competition, runs through March 30 in Wellington, Florida.
“This means a lot to me because I’ve spent nearly every winter here since I was 11 years old,” said Stormanns after beating out the likes of reigning Olympic Champion Christian Kukuk, world no. 6 Mclain Ward (USA), and Olympic team gold medalist Harry Charles (GBR). “Now I’m here winning the classes I used to watch with my friends. It hasn’t quite set in yet, but it’s really special.
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“It’s awesome to have this crowd of spectators who are new to horses come and watch,” continued Stormanns of the packed house at Wellington International on Saturday night. “You have this every week and it’s quite impressive and makes it a little more exciting.”
Twelve combinations made it to the final jump-off after a highly skilled first round set by course designer Ana Catalina “Catsy” Cruz Harris (MEX). Stormanns did everything in his power to stop the clock at 37.195 seconds, with four jumps to make behind him.
“The course was very difficult. There were a lot of jumps in the first round that I had to take a lot of care of,” said the young rider who holds two gold medals from the FEI Junior European Championships. “In the jump-off, it was possible for me to keep getting quicker and quicker. I was a bit late on my decision to do six strides after the double because I heard the crowd and thought I had it down. Then I heard them scream ‘go!’, but otherwise I don’t see where I could have done much better.”
Despite their best efforts, Irish Olympian Bertram Allen and Kukuk, the 2024 Rolex Grand Prix winner at WEF, were unable to overtake Stormanns. The Olympic champion finished as runner-up after racing Just Be Gentle over the final timers in 37.337 seconds. In 37.656 seconds, Allen led Qonquest de Rigo to third place.
In just one year, Stormanns has set and achieved significant goals on Donjon d’Asschaut, a 12-year-old Selle Français gelding (Vigo Cece x Nonstop) owned by HS Sportpferde GmbH. “I jumped my first big classes on him; 1.50m, two-star grand prix and we’ve gotten to know each other very well. We won the [Junior] German Championships this fall and now we’re here.”
Regarding the character of the horse, Stormanns responded, “You could compare him to an old grandpa; he’s very kind, very sweet, never takes anything personally and he’ll always like you no matter what mistakes you make.”
Ireland’s Michael Duffy and his mother, Helena Stormanns, a renowned international show jumping rider in her own right, assist Stormanns on the ground.
“My plan over the first course was to stick to whatever mom said,” laughed Tony. “I stuck to the numbers and didn’t try to concentrate on the time. In the jump-off, [the pan] was to not rush jump number one, but make sure to rush everything else.”
Earlier in the day, Stormanns placed second in the BrainJuice Under 25 Welcome, capping off a stellar day. Now, he wants to win a U25 grand prix in Wellington this season.
WeatherTech’s WEF 2 competition comes to a close on Sunday at the grass derby field with the $140,000 WeatherTech CSI3* Grand Prix and the $31,020 BrainJuice U25 Grand Prix.
Major reporting contributions for this article were received from Wellington International in Wellington FL. Please visit Wellington International at https://wellingtoninternational.com.
