Equestrian sport: Double victory for German teams at the CHIO

Two competitions, two home wins: The eventing and dressage teams shone at the CHIO in Aachen on Saturday with victories in the Nations Cups within a few hours. Two days after the disappointing fifth place in show jumping, the fans were able to celebrate the local riders at the world’s largest horse show.

The eventing team got things started on the morning of the penultimate CHIO day. The quartet around three-time Olympic champion Michael Jung prevailed around noon after dressage, jumping and cross-country, just ahead of the US team and Great Britain. In the individual classification, British World Champion Yasmin Ingham on Banzai won ahead of Jung on Chipmunk, whose horse had lost a horseshoe on the course.

Slippery track

The handicap cost Jung the victory. “I lost the iron early on,” reported Jung: “That makes fast riding difficult, so you have to be careful.” Especially since it was raining and the slightly hilly off-road track in the Aachen Soers was slippery. “In the end it was maybe ten seconds” that would have cost him the lost horseshoe, explained the rider from Horb. Had he actually been that much faster, he would have won the individual classification as well.

Christoph Wahler also presented himself strongly. The team world champion from Bad Bevensen rode with Carjatan in fourth place in the individual and, like Jung, should have secured his place in the European Championship team. The German winning team in Aachen also included Malin Hansen-Hotopp with Carlitos Quidditch and Sandra Auffarth with Viamant.

Before the first German eventing rider rode the 3935 meter long course, the first dressage rider was already at the start. After the many mistakes on Thursday, Sönke Rothenberger, who was disappointing in the Grand Prix, wanted to give a better performance with his only nine-year-old Fendi in the Special – and the 28-year-old from Bad Homburg managed to do so impressively. “He did a great job,” commented national trainer Monica Theodorescu: “That was a calm lap, that gave the horse confidence.

The rider was relieved too. “I misjudged the situation on the first day,” explained Rothenberger. Fendi had appeared spooked on his first appearance in the 10,000-seat stadium before remaining calm on the second. “I’m glad that he has found confidence again,” said the rider. He tried “not to put any pressure on”.

Despite mistakes, it is enough to win

The three other couples of the host team started more than four hours later and brought home the lead from the Grand Prix in the Special – although Isabell Werth from Rheinberg with Quantaz and Frederic Wandres from Hagen am Teutoburger Wald with Bluetooth did not ride flawlessly and made some mistakes. Nevertheless, it was enough for victory in front of Denmark and Great Britain. Mainly because Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and Dalera once again showed the best performance despite a small mistake.

After the Grand Prix, the double Olympic champion from Tuntenhausen also won the individual ranking of the Special. The British Charlotte Dujardin with Imhotep and the Danish Nanna Skodborg Merrald with Zepter followed in second and third place. “I’m totally grateful,” commented the winner, who was only briefly annoyed by “the small mistake”. Her conclusion: “The Nations Cup victory is sensational!”