The German rode Special Blend to an 82.66% score in their freestyle debut, while the Canadian scored a new personal best on Jaccardo.
Despite losing a shoe in the first extended trot, the pair prevailed in the German Olympian's first trip to Wellington in 15 years.
Swiss rider Charlotta Rogerson delights fans with a strong personal-best performance with Bonheur de La Vie to clinch second place.
The German seven-time Olympian and world #2-ranked rider last competed at the Global Dressage Festival in 2010 with Satchmo.
There were some spooky surprises, an elimination and plenty of drama at the Dressage European Championship in Crozet, France.
Norway makes history with its first-ever World Cup Final podium finish thanks to the Totilas son Total Hope OLD, ridden by Isabel Freese.
The seven-time Olympian says the multiple frames-per-second capability of modern cameras can misleadingly convey that open mouths are a constant state of affairs.
Researchers provided a large number of images from the recent Amsterdam and Neumunster horse shows of top-placed dressage riders and horses.
The German rider piloted DSP Quantaz to score 83.735% at the Swiss venue that will host the World Cup Finals in April.
The pair scored an impressive 86.745% in the Grand Prix Freestyle; five of the top six spots were claimed by Germans on their home turf.