| Team Beerbaum celebrates three wins at the Riesenbeck Indoors
While Christian traveled to Barcelona last weekend as part of the German team for the Longines League of Nations Final, Philipp, Ciaran, and James competed at the home CSI** in Riesenbeck, where Riesenbeck International traditionally opens the indoor season with the Riesenbeck Indoors on the first weekend of October.
The weekend in Riesenbeck had already started successfully on Wednesday for Team Beerbaum. With two clear rounds, James with Dia Chapila PS and Ciaran with Forlee placed in the opening competition of the U25 Tour. The success continued on Thursday, as in the very first class of the day—the second class of the Youngster Tour—Ciaran and the 7-year-old Ogana Sitte SR secured a victory for Team Beerbaum. Just a few hours later, Ciaran claimed his second win of the day, this time riding Casalla Blue PS. With the 9-year-old daughter of Casallco, he won the 2 Ranking Class*, relegating Abdel Saïd and Alexa Stais to second and third place.
The Youngster Tour Final on Friday was again dominated by the Riesenbeck riders, as Ciaran and Ogana Sitte SR followed up their win the previous day with another victory in the Two-Phase Class, finishing almost two seconds ahead. Philipp Weishaupt and the 6-year-old Unique took second place.
On Friday evening, after a day’s break, the second competition of the U25 Tour was on the program. While Ciaran gave Forlee another day off, James and Dia Chapila PS once again delivered a clear round and finished in fourth place. In the U25 Grand Prix over 1.45 m, both Dia Chapila PS and Forlee jumped clear and qualified confidently for the jump-off. Nine of the 19 pairs advanced to the deciding round. Ciaran went all out with Forlee in the jump-off for victory in the Grand Prix and crossed the finish line with the second-fastest time of all combinations, but had to accept one fence down, which meant sixth place for the Riesenbeck pair. James took a more controlled approach in his jump-off round, not quite matching the leader’s time, but was rewarded with a clear round and fourth place in the U25 Grand Prix, rounding off a successful weekend at home in Riesenbeck.
In Barcelona, Christian competed with Cepano Baloubet and Just Be Gentle for the German team. However, the Longines League of Nations Final was not scheduled until Sunday afternoon. On Saturday evening, Christian started with Cepano Baloubet in the Queen’s Cup over 1.40 m with a jump-off. After a clear first round, the Riesenbeck pair advanced to the jump-off of the best 12. There they had one fence down, but thanks to their fast time still finished fifth in Saturday’s main class.
With Just Be Gentle, Christian then started on Sunday alongside Sophie Hinners, Marcus Ehning, and Richard Vogel in the Longines League of Nations Final. Christian and Just Be Gentle didn’t have a perfect day in Barcelona this time and finished with 8 faults in the first round. As a result, they became the drop score for Otto Becker’s German team. Sophie Hinners and Marcus Ehning each had one fence down in the first round as well. Thanks to a clear round from Richard Vogel, the German team ended the first round with eight faults in total. In the second round, only three riders per nation returned, and Otto Becker decided not to send Christian and Just Be Gentle again. In the challenging second round, the three German riders collected another 13 faults, bringing their total to 21 points. But as other nations also struggled in the second round, Germany still secured third place in the Longines League of Nations Final.
In a jump-off between Great Britain and Ireland, the winner was decided: both Scott Brash with Hello Jefferson for Great Britain and Billy Twomey with Jumping Jack van de Kalevallei for Ireland jumped clear. In the end, the British team led by Di Lampard stood on top of the podium thanks to Scott Brash’s faster time.
We look back on a successful weekend for Team Beerbaum, before Team Riesenbeck International powered by Horse Gym heads to the next stop of the Longines Global Champions Tour in Rome next weekend.
