| Ciarán and Little Special in Red M win in Vienna
Last weekend, Ciarán and Philipp W. travelled to Vienna for the 12th leg of the Longines Global Champions Tour. Already on Thursday, the just 8-year-old Little Special in Red M put in a convincing round with Ciarán in the first 5* class. With a clear round, the mare finished in ninth place.
The Global Champions League was on the schedule the following day. Team manager Ludger Beerbaum decided to field Maximilian and Philipp Weishaupt for the team, while Ciarán and the 12-year-old Christian’s Carado competed in the individual class. With 12 penalties, however, the pair missed out on qualification for Sunday’s Grand Prix. In the team competition, Riesenbeck International once again put in a strong performance. With just one fence down across both rounds, the team finished second in the Global Champions League of Vienna. You can find a report on the GCL leg here:
On Saturday, Ciarán once again competed with the 8-year-old Little Special in Red M, this time in a 1.45m 5* class. With clear rounds in both phases and more than a second’s advantage over second place, the pair took the win. Ciarán was also successful in the following 1.50m class. Riding Christian’s Carado, he qualified for the jump-off with a clear round. 15 of the 44 combinations qualified for the deciding jump-off, and the Riesenbeck pair also kept a clean sheet there. In the end, their time was enough for fifth place in the highest class of the day.
On Sunday, Little Special in Red M was back in the 1.45m class and once again put in an impressive round with Ciarán in the saddle. Although the pair had one fence down, their fast time saw them finish in tenth place. Their time would have been fast enough to win, with the clock stopping one and a half seconds faster than that of winner Sanne Thijssen, but the fence down ultimately cost them the victory.
In the Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of Vienna, only Philipp with Oreo D.R. competed for Team Beerbaum, having already delivered a confident clear round for the team in the GCL on Friday. To round off the weekend, however, the pair missed out on the jump-off in the Grand Prix after two fences down.
The next international show is already taking place this week, as Team Beerbaum will head to their home CSI** in Riesenbeck from Wednesday.
