Emily Hamel and Corvett. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Welcome to the fourth CCI5* of the 2024 season – and forgive us for a moment for a bit of wildly unprofessional total partiality, because the Longines Luhmühlen Horse Trials really is one of EN’s absolute favourites. Nestled in the almost insultingly pretty heathland of the Lower Saxony countryside, it’s a colourful, bold, and incredibly friendly little haven for the horse-mad, featuring two phases on a surface and a Mike Etherington-Smith course that strikes a sweet balance between continental technicality and galloping, bold questions. It’s not as colossal or stamina-testing as Burghley, nor is it as twisty and go-karty as Pau, but rather, it’s a comfortable medium that sees it attract both big name horses and riders as well as those contesting their first go at the level.
The focus this week is split right down the middle: there’s the feature five-star on the cards, of course, but alongside it, we’ve also got a red-hot CCI4*-S class, which hosts the German National Championships but is also a final selection trial before the Olympic selection deadline, and boy, does the entry list – and the serious course built for it – reflect that.
But enough about that four-star, because this afternoon, it was all about the big one. 42 horses and riders, representing ten nations, came forward this afternoon to present at the first horse inspection, which was presided over by a ground jury made up of Denmark’s Anne-Mette Binder, Germany’s Dr. Joachim Dimmek, and Great Britain’s Sandy Phillips.
The good news? All 42 have been accepted to start the competition, which begins bright and early tomorrow morning with the first lot of dressage tests. The slightly more bum-clenching part? Two of them endured a stint in the holding box en route to that welcomed decision.
Aistis Vitkauskas and Commander VG. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
The first of those was Lithuania’s Aistis Vitkauskas and his seasoned partner Commander VG, who are tackling their ninth five-star together. The thirteen-year-old Danish-bred gelding wasn’t in the box for long, though, and upon re-presentation, sailed through to begin his bid to improve on his best-ever result at the level, an eleventh-place finish here in 2021.
Pietro Sandei and Rubis de Prere. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
The second pair to be held was Italy’s Pietro Sandei and the nineteen-year-old stalwart Rubis de Prere. They, too, were accepted on their second trip up the jog strip, and there was no shortage of support for them in the stands: even before they’d returned to the ground jury and gotten the nod, they were being cheered on by their Italian cohorts.
Sweden’s Christoffer Forsberg also had a slightly nervy moment when he was asked to immediately trot again with his second ride, Hippo’s Sapporo. They were accepted on their second run, though, with no need for further inspection.
One of the biggest crowd-wide whoops of approval came for the very last horse and rider to present. That was locally-based Nicolai Aldinger and his excellent Timmo, and it came with good reason: poor Nico and Timmo have had a bit of rotten luck in their attempts to start at this level. At Luhmühlen last year, they withdrew from the holding box at the first horse inspection after the gelding stumbled on his way down from the stables. Though there was no lasting injury – they were able to reroute to Aachen just a couple of weeks later – Timmo was just sore enough from the stumble that Nico opted to pull him from contention to ensure his gelding’s wellbeing. This year, they had an entry in for Kentucky, but in their final prep run at Strzegom, Timmo pulled a shoe and stepped on the clinch, which cost him a valuable final few days of fitness preparation, and Nico once again had to make the tough call to wait for another day. And now, that day has come: they’re starting at five-star. A thrill for him, a thrill for his compatriots cheering him on, and a thrill, most of all, for Timmo, who responded to the applause with a riotous spook that probably wasn’t what Nico’s stress levels needed in any way at all.
“Can u not plz” – Nico Aldinger, probably. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
Dressage will get underway tomorrow from 8.30 a.m. local time (7.30 a.m. BST/2.30 a.m. EST, if you’re an intrepid sort of dressage nerd), and will see the CCI4*-S take the focus until the lunch break. Our first up to bat in that class will be Australia’s Kevin McNab and Scuderia 1918 Don Quidam, and throughout the session, we’ll see a number of key contenders from a variety of nations as the Olympic race commences, including Tim Price and his Maryland 5* winner Coup de Coeur Dudevin, France’s Gaspard Maksud and Zaragoza and Tom Carlile and Darmagnac de Beliard, Germany’s Dirk Schrader and Casino 80, and US-based Aussie Ryan Wood and Cooley Flight. You can view the starting order and times in full here – just subtract one hour for British time, and six for Eastern US time.
Katherine Coleman and Monbeg Senna. Photo by Tilly Berendt.
The CCI5* will begin after lunch at 14.15 p.m. (13.15 p.m. BST/8.15 a.m. EST), with Tom McEwen‘s first horse, former Pau runner-up CHF Cooliser, leading the way. Some of the class’s key contenders tomorrow include last year’s third place finishers Yasmin Ingham and Rehy DJ, US competitors Katherine Coleman and Monbeg Senna, British-based Kiwis Muzi Pottinger and Good Timing, Belgian superwoman Lara de Leidekerke-Meier and debutant Hooney d’Arville, and fan favourites Alice Casburn and Topspin. The times for tomorrow can be found here.
All the action will be live-streamed via Horse & Country TV, and if you’d like on-the-button access to vital information, including start times, entry lists, course maps, coverage, and more, be sure to bookmark our Ultimate Guide to Luhmühlen for everything you need to make the most of this brilliant week of sport. We’ll be bringing you lots more shortly from Germany, including a packed CCI5* form guide, to keep it locked on EN and, as always, Go Eventing!
EN’s coverage of the Longines Luhmühlen Horse Trials is brought to you by Kentucky Performance Products, your go-to source for science-backed nutritional support across all types of horses, disciplines, and needs. Click here to learn more about what KPP can do for your horse — thank you for supporting our wonderful sponsors!
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