A little surprise on the so-called long list of German eventing riders for the World Championships in Pratoni del Vivaro, Italy in September: European champion Ingrid Klimke and her mare Siena just do it are only classified in block 3 among the 15 riders.
With ten-year-old Siena, she had two by-runners in the cross-country at the CHIO in Aachen.
Overall, the mare didn’t make the most confident impression – which is not unusual for an eventing horse at this age. “Siena can jump an incredible amount,” said Klimke of the FAZ. However, she still has to learn to relax in the dressage arena. Klimke’s longtime top horse Hale Bob suffered a tendon injury at a World Championships test event in May and was withdrawn from the sport.
The longlist in block 1 is led by Tokyo Olympic champion Julia Krajewski (Warendorf) with her gold horse Amade de B’Neville, three-time Olympic champion Michael Jung (Horb) with Krajewski-trained chipmunk and Aachen winner Sandra Auffarth (Ganderkesee) with Viamant you matz.
Block 2 includes Sophie Leube (Hamm) with Jadore Moi, Dirk Schrade (Heidmühle) with Casino and Christoph Wahler (Bad Bevensen) with Carjatan S. Block 3 includes Klimke, Nikolai Aldinger (Salzhausen) with Timmo, Alina Dibowski (Döhle ) with Barbados, Malin Hansen-Hotopp (Gransebieth) with Carlitos Quidditch and Anna Siemer (Salzhausen) with Butts Avondale.
Block 4 is formed by Arne Bergendahl (Hamm) with Luthien, Andreas Dibowski (Döhle) with Brennus, Heike Jahncke (Ganderkesee) with Mighty Spring and Andreas Ostholt (Warendorf) with Höhenflug. After the last big test in mid-August in Haras de Pin/France, national coach Peter Thomsen announced the shortlist for the World Cup.
The defending champion in Pratoni del Vivaro is the Briton Rosalind Canter, but there is a big question mark over her start after the tragic death of her top horse Allstar B on Saturday in Aachen.