Ingrid Klimke and SAP Hale Bob OLD at Strzegom. Photo by Leszek Wójcik.
Ingrid Klimke wasted no time in setting the standard for this year’s German Eventing Championships in at Luhmühlen, where the federation’s top riders are competing for the honors in the CCI4*S division. It was Ingrid’s stalwart partner, SAP Hale Bob OLD — who even at 16 years young today looked to be feeling himself as the pair prepared to enter the arena — with whom she would cement the spot at the top of the board on a blustery day. This experienced pair earned a 21.8 nod from the judging panel of Christian Steiner and Edith Schless-Störtenbecker to take the lead following the dressage phase of competition. Click here to watch a replay of Ingrid’s test, thanks to ClipMyHorse.TV.
Michael Jung and his sole entry in the CCI4*S, fischerChipmunk FRH, kept the pressure on with a score of 22.3 for an overnight second place. Interestingly, the judges showed a distinct differential in their scores for Ingrid (75% from Christian Steiner at C and 81.46% from Edith Schless-Störtenbecker at B), giving the razor thin advantage to Ingrid when all was said and done.
Naturally, both of these pairs have proven many times over that they’re capable of catching the time even on a quick CCI4*S track and this competition will certainly come down to quickness across the country and an ability to leave the rails where they belong come Sunday.
Christoph Wahler and the 11 year old Holsteiner gelding Carjatan S will round out the top three following dressage after an expressive test earned them a score of 22.4. This horse has flashed some brilliance in the past and pulled out a handful of ultra competitive scores; this will be a personal best for the gelding at the CCI4* level to date. He’s also proven capable of cleanly grabbing the time in both the Long and Short formats, which makes tomorrow’s contest that much more thrilling.
Ingrid will have two horses in the top five heading into cross country tomorrow; the 9 year old mare SAP Asha P, with whom Ingrid took silver in the 2019 German championships here, bested her 2019 score and recorded a 22.9 in today’s dressage test. You can view photos from the action in this report from Buschreiter.
The top 10 will each take a score below 30 penalty marks into the cross country, making for some tight competition from some of the most experience riders in the world. As a reminder, you can watch the live stream of the action on ClipMyHorse.TV all weekend (for those of you who prefer to sleep, the rides seem to be populating for on-demand viewing quickly). You can sign up for a free trial of ClipMyHorse.TV here to tune in.
Michael Jung is in possession of the lead in the CCI3*L division with Star Connection FRH, taking a score of 21.0 into the second phase of competition.
Another incredible storyline from Luhmühlen comes to us from the CCI2*L class, the German Junior Eventing Championships, where Ingrid’s 18 year old daughter, Greta Busacker, has taken the lead aboard Scrabble 15 on a score of 24.4. Greta began her international eventing career in 2014 and most recently this year has advanced to the CCI3* level with two primary horses in her string: Scrabble 15 and Coco Maurice 2. You can watch her lovely ride in the video below.
Posted by buschreiter.de on Thursday, October 1, 2020
Timetable – CCI4*S:
Cross Country: 1:00 p.m. local / 7 a.m. EST on Saturday October 3
Show Jumping: Following CCI2*L, which begins at 9:30 a.m. local / 3:30 a.m. EST on Sunday October 4
German Eventing Championships at Luhmühlen: [Website] [Schedule] [Dressage Order of Go] [Live Scores] [Live Stream]
