It gnawed at him – for weeks. “At the Olympic Games in Tokyo, I reached my mental limits for the first time,” says André Thieme, recalling with considerable unease the “little mistakes” that he and his then perhaps still a bit inexperienced and also from the “extravagant environment noticeably impressed” parade horse Chakaria spoiled the Olympic premiere. “Oh god, that’s not how I imagined it. Why am I doing this to myself?” Thoughts that have long since given way to the desire for revenge in two years’ time in Paris. After all, show jumping is not only Thieme’s passion, but also the 47-year-old’s way of earning a living.
“Click effect” after grueling time
But it was by no means as easy as it sounds to erase the self-felt disgrace from one’s head. “My wife can sing a song about it, she knows that it wasn’t all that easy for me,” says Thieme in the NDR Sportclub Story. The time was grueling.
Only the help of a homeopath and probably also loud and hard rock music, which he has always raved about, would have put him back on the road to success. This immense pressure (“Normal people can’t imagine that”) suddenly fell off him. “A click effect, because nothing can actually happen; you don’t lose anything, except a little fame and honor. What is that anyway?”
Chakaria – absolutely not for sale
But then it is a bit more. After all, the trained master horseman from Plau am See is responsible for his riding facility in the district of Karow in the district of Ludwigslust-Parchim and for his employees. This could hardly be financed with prize money and the support of sponsors alone. Thieme therefore also deals in horses and sometimes even has to part with top horses – as was the case with Contanga.
Only Chakaria, with whom he was the first show jumper from the new federal states to qualify for the Olympics, is absolutely not for sale. Thieme: “I know that in Tokyo it was just the little things that made the difference. And I would like to do better.”
A superstar at Thieme’s side
It only took four weeks – and the individual final of the top 30 on the Olympic course in the Equestrian Park, which was missed by a hair’s breadth, was almost history again. At the European Championships in Riesenbeck, the duo showed a perfect performance, won silver with the team and the European Championship title in front of the whole family. “I’m really consumed by ambition,” admits Thieme, “a thoroughbred athlete with this superstar at my side.”
Ambition and a strict teacher
He was probably born with ambition. He learned to ride from his father Michael. He was senior saddle master at the Redefin State Stud near Schwerin. As a dressage rider, he could only dream of a career in East Germany like that of his son after reunification. Nevertheless, he was successful as a trainer and trainer – with his son anyway, who was also said to have great talent on the soccer field. But the father was strict, remembers Thieme Junior.
“I know it was like that for me,” says André Thieme during a cozy and rare get-together with father, wife (and business partner) Corinna and sister Christina. “He can say five times that he wasn’t strict.” Understandable when you learn and work day after day at the same stud and every mistake is corrected and analyzed immediately.
100% trust
Tough times and a long way, but: “In retrospect, it is of course the case that you only get better through a lot of riding, through a lot of training and through constant monitoring.” The perfect horse is part of it – and Thieme undoubtedly has that in Chakaria found, with which he was included in the perspective squad in December 2020.
An almost symbiotic connection, as they say. “Chakaria is very special. She is super skeptical, was extremely shy for the first few months or years,” says Thieme. You could also say, shyly, that it’s difficult to really warm up to her. “But if we didn’t like each other, such successes would never be possible.”
Bet on the right horse
Thieme backed the right horse with Chakaria. And that’s why the chestnut mare couldn’t be missing when Thieme set up his winter camp in Florida – as always in the last 20 years. He rides well-paid tournaments there, collects prize money at the largest equestrian sports facility in the USA in Ocala, which is not available in this country and which, in addition to the horse trade, ensures the existence of the tournament facility in Karow. Last year he won the “Great American $1 Million Grand Prix” for the fourth time.
Chakaria – Thieme’s great animal love
Chakaria rested for a long time after the European Championship, according to Thieme in the NDR Sportclub Story. “Really regenerated.” Of course, she flew across the pond to prepare for the season. Well rested and in the best mood for success, as shown by Ocala’s third place in the World Cup. Thieme also won the $100,000 Grand Prix with Cellisto. Back in Germany, the European Champion and his twelve-year-old chestnut mare continued straight away with the Maimarkt horse show in Mannheim – and winning the Grand Prix.
The next major challenges, with the highlight being the World Championships in August in Denmark, are already waiting: the Derby Wall, for example, Pulvermann’s grave and the other no less tricky obstacles in the German Show Jumping Derby. Thieme won three times in Klein-Flottbek with Nacorde (2007, 2008, 2011). Now also with Chakaria – his great animal love?