Photo Gallery: A Sizzling Day of Dressage in Luhmühlen’s CCI4*-S

EN’s coverage of Luhmühlen is brought to you in part by Kentucky Performance Products. Click here to learn more about Kentucky Performance Products and its wide array of supplements available for your horse.

While we’re all waiting on the edge of our seat’s for Luhmühlen’s CCI5* class to kick off properly tomorrow afternoon, the vibrant German mainstay has hardly been short of action and excitement. Today was the first day of dressage in the CCI4*-S class, which incorporates the hotly-contested Deutsche Meisterschaften (or German National Championship, for those of you who haven’t got the hang of all those extra consonants yet) and is the final selection trial for continental riders vying for a spot on their respective Olympic teams before this Sunday’s deadline.

Though the Luhmühlen team are masters of the big tease and are saving their spiciest entrants, Michael Jung and fischerChipmunk, for tomorrow, today’s competition was a veritable smorgasbord of transcontinental talent.

Sandra Auffarth and Let’s Dance 73 take a healthy lead in the CCI4*-S. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Ultimately, though, the top spot at the end of the day stayed with the horse and rider who had nabbed it at the very start: Germany’s former World Champion Sandra Auffarth and Let’s Dance 73 were the first in the arena at 11.00 a.m. this morning, where they delivered a 22 that no one throughout the day would even threaten to usurp.

“He went so well today,” says a typically modest Sandra of her fourteen-year-old Holsteiner by Lancer II. “He was fresh and still very correct with many highlights. The flying changes were also great. I am very pleased with my result and looking forward to cross-country day.”

This was a significant personal best at the level for the gelding, who has dipped as low as 22.4 at CCI3*-S but tends to score in the higher 20s at four-star. His last CCI4*-S at Baborowko saw him put a 30.9 on the board – but Sandra, who excels under pressure, has fine-tuned the process of producing a test with the horse, who she took the ride on in 2019.

Malin Petersen and Charly Brown 311. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

Second overnight — by some margin — is Sweden’s Malin Petersen and Charly Brown 311, who put a 29.8 on the board as the only other pair to go sub-30 in today’s competition.

“My horse was very supple and relaxed – it was so much fun in the arena today,” she says, before turning her focus fully onto Saturday’s intense cross-country challenge: “The motto of the course is challenging and fair! As the competition is the German Championships and a qualifier for the Olympic Games, this was to be expected. The tasks are all fair and clear so that the horses should be able to read them well. The jumps look so beautiful – you just want to get going.”

Sophie Leube and Jadore Moi. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

The rest of the top five is fully occupied by German competitors: Sophie Leube, whose riding has often drawn fair comparisons to Ingrid Klimke, sits third on 30.6, while Anna Siemer and her Kentucky mount FRH Butt’s Avondale are an achingly close fourth on 30.7. Felix Etzel continues to impress as one of the country’s serious up-and-coming superstars, and his compact and classy Stalliwa T strode to 31.3 for overnight fifth.

Anna Siemer and FRH Butt’s Avondale lie fourth after a sweet test. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

There’s plenty of movement to be expected during the course of tomorrow’s dressage session, with heavy hitters such as the Netherlands’ Tim Lips and TMX Herby, Tim Price and Vitali, Germany’s Emma Brüssau and Dark Desire GS, fresh off a win at Renswoude CCI4*-S, Julia Krajewski and her Saumur winner Amande de b’Neville, Andrew Hoy and Vassily de Lassos and, of course, that pesky Mr Jung among the star-studded line-up.

Felix Etzel impresses again, this time with Stalliwa T, fifth overnight on 31.4. Photo by Tilly Berendt.

You can take a look at the full running order here — and to follow along, make sure you’ve got your H&C+ subscription. A subscription costs less than two coffees and will give you unfettered access to every phase of both classes here, both live and on demand — and plenty more besides.

Tomorrow’s CCI4*-S dressage will run from 8.30 a.m. local time/7.30 a.m. BST/2.30 a.m. Eastern until 12.45 local/11.45 a.m. BST/6.45 a.m. Eastern. After that, we’ll dive straight into our compact CCI5* class, with tests running from 13.50 local/12.50 p.m. BST/7.50 a.m. Eastern until 17.05 local/16.05 BST/11.05 a.m. Eastern.

The top ten after the first day of dressage in the CCI4*-S.

Longines Luhmühlen Horse Trials: Website, EN’s Form Guide, Entries, Timing & Scoring, CCI5* Friday Dressage Ride Times, CCI4* Thursday Dressage Ride Times, CCI4* Friday Dressage Ride Times, Live Stream, EN’s Coverage, EN’s Instagram, EN’s Twitter

EN’s coverage of Luhmühlen is brought to you in part by Kentucky Performance Products. Click here to learn more about Kentucky Performance Products and its wide array of supplements available for your horse.

Longines Luhmühlen Horse Trials: Website, EN’s Form Guide, Entries, Timing & Scoring, CCI5* Friday Dressage Ride Times, CCI4* Thursday Dressage Ride Times, CCI4* Friday Dressage Ride Times, Live Stream, EN’s Coverage, EN’s Instagram, EN’s Twitter