With a picture-perfect cross-country round, Rosalind Canter (GBR) and Izilot DHI held onto their Longines CCI5*-L lead (26.9) with Jennifer Kuehnle (IRL) and Polly Blue Eyes in the runner-up position (35.5), closely followed by Lara de Liedekerke-Meier with Hooney d’Arville (35.6).
A morning of rain, storm and brilliant cross-country: Ros Canter, who added only two time penalties to her dressage score on Izilot DHI, was overjoyed after her brilliant cross-country round: “I’m absolutely delighted, Izilot felt so grown up today. He’s brave and he’s genuine, sometimes he gets a little spooky, and he was at the beginning but then he really settled down and he gave me a brilliant ride. He was fantastic all the way around, absolutely on point today.”
Jennifer Kuehnle’s Polly Blue Eyes seemed absolutely unfazed by Mike Etherington-Smith’s influential five-star course, smoothly tackling all the questions, one of only four horse-rider combinations to finish without time-faults: “My horse is just great. I’ve had her for six years and we’ve worked our way up the levels. She’s just the best horse I could ever wish for, she’s just amazing!”
Lara de Liedekerke-Meier, who only added four time penalties to her dressage score, worked her way up the leaderboard into third place. The joy about her brilliant cross-country made her beam: “I’m totally overwhelmed! Hooney d’Arville is now a five-star horse. She is such a fighter, I’m so happy!”
Tom McEwen, who had a brilliantly smooth round as pathfinder with CHF Cooliser and is in fourth place after cross-country (36.0), was full of praise for his 14-year old mare: “She jumped every fence well. The lines rode brilliantly, the ground is absolutely perfect, and we’ve even brought the British weather. She cruised, picked up everything on a lovely line, we had a brilliant flow – I couldn’t be happier!”
British Ladies hot on Michael Jung’s Heels in CCI4*-S
Michael Jung (GER) and fischerChipmunk FRH are at the top of the leaderboard in the CCI4*-S Meßmer Trophy (26.1), followed by Laura Collett (GBR) with London 52 (26.4) and Yasmin Ingham (GBR) with Banzai du Loir (29.3).
Michael Jung added 3.2 penalties to his dressage score and now holds a tiny lead of 0.3 over Laura Collett after a riveting cross-country day. “Today was amazing – pure joy! fischerChipmunk is a real cross-country machine. He was brilliant, supple, attentive and focused, making made my job very easy today. In two lines, I added an extra stride, everything else rode as I expected when I walked it. The conditions were great, despite the rain.”
Laura Collett didn’t take any chances, tackling Mike Etherington- Smith’s intense four-star course with focus and determination: “You can’t not smile when you ride a horse like that. He’s just phenomenal. He seems to love it here, he loves the crowd. It was an absolute joy to ride. I got him when he was seven and he’s 15 now, like a fine wine he gets better each year and I’ve just thoroughly enjoyed every second of that horse. He’s just very, very special. The aim of today was to have a good, confident ride. He covers the ground and the ground is amazing. I was having a real wobble earlier when it was torrential raining. But it was absolutely perfect going, which meant I could just let him run and make sure I set him up for the fences to make sure there are no silly mistakes. He trusts me and I trust him, we’ve built a real partnership over the years. I know how fortunate I am to ride a horse like him.”
With just 1.2 time faults, Yasmin Ingham and Banzai du Loir moved up four places: “This year things have really come together and we’ve had some really exciting top results. To have had such a great round here today is absolutely exciting. He was pretty perfect everywhere, looking for the flags, an absolute pleasure to ride.”
Longinges Luhmühlen Horse Trials broadcast NDR live (German broadcast)
Saturday, 15 June 2024 14.30 – 16.00
Sunday, 16 June 2024 13.45 – 14.45
Horse & Country H&C+ Livestream, all days, both competitions German/English commentary
Start- and result lists: www.luhmuehlen.de
Release supplied by event, Images courtesy of TGL/Annette Dölger
