Freak weather causes delay to start of Luhmühlen cross-country

Overnight thunderstorms and heavy rain has forced the orgainsers of the Longines/Meßmer Luhmühlen Horse Trials to postpone the start of the cross-country today (15 June).

A statement released by the organisers shortly before 8am (BST) said: “Due to the weather conditions, the cross-country times are changing.”

This means that the Meßmer Trophy CCI4*-S will commence first at 11.15am (BST). The Longines CCI5* competition had been due to start at 9.15am (BST), but this has now been rescheduled to run after the four-star, and will now commence at 2pm (BST).

Parts of the course are waterlogged and the fire service is helping to pump water off the course and out of the water complexes in an attempt to make the course safe to run. The weather forecast currently predicts that there is a chance of further rain and thunderstorms until 11am (BST). Pictured top is the overnight five-star leader Kazuma Tomoto (left) and fellow Japanese rider Kenki Sato as they inspect the course.

Riders have been sharing their experience of the weather across social media:

Andrew James, who is due to be the first rider out on the five-star course, shared this video of the lorry park area:

Irish rider Sam Watson made this assessment this morning:

Tim Price, who is in second place with Ascona M in the five-star class after the dressage had this to say this morning:

These were the conditions as the public started to arrive at the even earlier this morning:

British rider, Sarah Bullimore, who has two horses competing in the five-star competition, shared this video of her lorry area:

Australian five-star rider Warren Lamperd, tries to make the most out of a less-than-ideal situation:

Young British rider and five-star first-timer Eliza Stoddart at her set-up in the horsebox park:

Don’t miss the full report from Luhmühlen in the 20 June issue of Horse & Hound magazine

Gemma Redrup

H&H features, racing and point-to-point editor

Gemma is an experienced journalist, having been part of the H&H team since 2014, who is passionate about all equestrian sports, including racing and point-to-pointing. She has enjoyed riding out for top trainers Nicky Henderson and Charlie Appleby and took part in a charity Flat race at in August 2018. Gemma’s reporting talents have taken her to numerous five-star events around Britain and Europe, as well as European championships.