Emotional win for Christian Ahlmann

Germany’s Christian Ahlmann has pulled off a back-to-back win in the sixth leg of the Longines FEI World Cup Jumping League in Madrid.

Emotional win

Last weekend he rode Codex One to victory on home turf, but this time his was on board his long-time partner Taloubet Z.

Christian was clearly emotional after his second win, not least because he lost his father-in-law Leon Melchior, owner of the world-famous Zangersheide Stud, a few weeks ago.

“We’ve had some very, very hard days not so long ago, but now we are having some very nice days, and Taloubet was jumping fantastic this afternoon,” he said.

“He’s always a very good horse, but today felt special because I was thinking and hoping that Mr Melchior was looking down and watching him win, and that he would be feeling proud once again.”

Double clear

Only five combinations made it through to the jump-off, with just the top two achieving a double clear. In second place was Colombia’s Carlos Lopez and Prince de la Mare, who won the class last year.

Belgium’s Pieter Devos was third, with Sweden’s Henrik von Eckermann in fourth and Germany’s Marco Kutscher taking fifth place.

World Cup Driving

Madrid also hosted the FEI World Cup Driving for the first time. Once again Boyd Exell came out on top, to secure his second win in as many legs.

The Australian driving machine is already on target for his fifth consecutive series title.

Koos de Ronde from the Netherlands finished second ahead of Swiss driver Jérôme Voutaz in third.

World Cup Vaulting

In the opening leg of the World Cup Vaulting, Switzerland’s Simone Jäiser and Germany’s Daniel Kaiser came out on top in the Individual Female and Male competitions, respectively.

All but one of the athletes were competing on borrowed horses. French vaulter Anne Sophie Musset, who came third, was the only one to travel with her own horse and lunger.