Jessica von Bredow-Werndl's Diallo BB Has Passed Away

The promising, young horse of German Olympic dressage rider Jessica von Bredow-Wendl was put down after the onset of a sudden illness, dashing hopes and breaking hearts.

Diallo was one of two recipients of the 2025 Otto Lörke prize in Frankfurt, an award given to the most successful rising Grand Prix horses of the year in Germany.

The rider expressed her heartbreak on her Facebook page on January 6:

"I had to let you go this morning, Diallo.

And no word feels big enough for what has just broken inside me.

We danced together just this past weekend; it all felt so easy.

And then this disease came like a storm, silent, merciless and unstoppable, eating its way through your body in hours and tearing my heart out of my chest.

The investigations are still ongoing; the suspected cause is the Borna virus.

You fought. We fought together. We had to let you go with broken hearts because yours couldn't go on any longer.

Now it is quiet and I know that you are no longer in pain, that you are free.

But your place is empty. And yet you are everywhere. In this love that can no longer find a body.

Thank you, Diallo.

For your love.

For your strength.

Thank you for your trust.

For every moment we spent together. You were a tremendous gift.

I will continue to carry you in my heart.

In everything I am."

Borna disease is a rare but potentially fatal viral neurological disease affecting mainly horses and sheep. The Borna virus causes severe inflammation of the brain and spinal cord.