World Championship for Single Horses in Munich: Stefan Ulrich crowned World Champion, team gold for Switzerland
On the final day of the FEI World Championship for Single Horses in Munich, the exciting concluding cones competition took place in front of a large crowd and under glorious sunshine.
The challenging, World Championship-worthy cones course designed by Michael Mayer featured numerous reduced-width gates, as well as several oxers, two zigzags and a wave. It was a course that appeared to favour the shorter-legged horse breeds somewhat more than their longer-legged rivals.
‘Tricky Triple’ in the oxer corner
The corner containing the three oxers – gates 12, 13 and 14 – proved particularly busy and difficult to negotiate. Commentator Sarah Dance aptly dubbed it the ‘Tricky Triple’. All three gates were also reduced in width, indicated by blue covers around the cones, while the time allowed of 173 seconds was fairly tight.
Following two eliminations in yesterday’s marathon, there were also two withdrawals ahead of the cones competition.
Two early eliminations for taking the wrong course put the remaining competitors on alert. The first driver to come very close to the ideal double clear – no balls down and within the time allowed – was Switzerland’s Erika Bernhard. She finished 2.5 seconds over the time, but at the very last moment a ball also fell at gate 20, a reduced-width oxer.
The first Dutch driver, Berry van den Bosch, produced a very good round and was well within the time halfway through the course. The second half was slightly slower and he had one ball down, but with 6.66 penalties he still recorded a strong result.
The first double clears
Switzerland’s Lea Spring showed that the time was achievable, becoming the first driver to record a double clear! With her palomino Freiberger Lia, she drove a textbook round, turning tightly in a perfect rhythm and finishing more than two seconds inside the time allowed.
Germany’s Claudia Lauterbach also managed a double clear, although she needed slightly more time. Claire Lefort, driving a marathon carriage, joined them with another double clear.
Guardian angels in Munich
Shortly after midday, individual competitor Xander Tuitjer produced a fantastic round, picking up only 2.44 time penalties. He was extremely lucky at gate 19c, where Luna appeared to pause for a fraction of a second with her right front hoof on top of the right-hand cone. The ball moved – but stayed in place.
Ciara Schubert also appeared to have a guardian angel on board. In the second half of the course, her presentation carriage threatened to tip over in the turn between gates 17 and 18. Fortunately, it landed back on all four wheels and Ciara went on to record an excellent result with only a minimal time penalty of 1.40.
There was no clear round for Nulleke and Saskia Siebers. The former World Champion found the course more challenging with her still relatively inexperienced chestnut gelding. She finished perfectly within the time, but had five balls down along the way.
TeamNL driver Eline Houterman produced a lovely, rhythmic round through the cones at a high pace. Unfortunately, one unlucky ball fell at gate 14, giving her three penalties. Nevertheless, it was a very good first result for the Dutch team.
Both Kim de Groot and Wilbrord van den Broek also maintained a high pace, although at times their rounds looked somewhat rushed. Kim had three balls down and Wilbrord seven, with both finishing inside the time allowed.
The final showdown
After the short lunch break, the final competitors entered the arena, including most of the team drivers. Sweden’s Linnea Kristiansen and Lady Lexington showed that it was possible to go even faster while remaining faultless, increasing the pressure on the rest of the field.
For TeamNL member Larissa Jansma, who was fighting for a podium place both individually and with the team, the pressure proved too much. With three balls down and some time penalties, she finished on 11.51 penalties and dropped down the standings. Fabrice Martin also had a ball down, giving the Netherlands a little more breathing room in the team competition.
Germany’s Anne Unzeitig, however, kept an exceptionally cool head. Driving her marathon carriage, she did both herself and her country a huge favour by remaining clear and setting the second-fastest time behind Linnea.
Then came the incredibly cool Cindy Benschop! Both an individual podium place and the team result were at stake. She drove brilliantly, but picked up the tiniest time penalty of 0.70. That allowed Anne Unzeitig to edge her off the individual podium. A disappointment perhaps, but still an outstanding achievement: fourth place for Cindy Benschop and Liberty.
Both Swiss drivers Mario Gandolfo and Stefan Ulrich then did exactly what they needed to do. Mario produced a double clear with the fourth-fastest time, while Stefan ‘only’ needed to protect his advantage of more than two balls and some time. He kept his head and finished with just a small time penalty.
Gold for Stefan Ulrich! Switzerland takes team gold
And with that, the final result was decided: Stefan Ulrich is the new World Champion! Mario Gandolfo claimed silver, while Anne Unzeitig took bronze, just ahead of Cindy Benschop. Cindy finished fourth, while Laure Philippot was the highest-placed Belgian driver in eleventh.
In the battle for team gold, Switzerland emerged as the new World Team Champion.
The Netherlands claimed team silver thanks to Cindy’s fantastic dressage, the excellent marathon performances of Eline and Larissa, and Cindy’s outstanding cones round. A superb TeamNL performance!
France took the bronze medal in the team competition at this FEI World Championship for Single Horses. Belgium finished fifth, behind Germany.
Source: Hoefnet. Reproduction without permission via info@hoefnet.nl is not permitted.
Photo: Melanie Guillamot
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