Andrew Nicholson shares his thoughts on Germany’s mega show at CHIO Aachen and Luhmühlen's five-star
The great German show CHIO Aachen is always top-class. This was Giuseppe Della Chiesa’s first year there as course-designer, having taken over from Rüdiger Schwarz, and I thought he did a very good job. He definitely gave it his own imprint, while respecting Rüdiger’s many years in the role and the feel he gave the track.
Giuseppe was quite clever; he gave us an idea of what to expect at next year’s FEI World Championships without mapping it out too clearly.
No one made the time, and on first walking the course it was clear that they wouldn’t. I don’t think Giuseppe made the time difficult by making it so twisty that riders were struggling to turn the corners – it was just very cleverly done.
There were six jumping efforts in the last 30 seconds or so once riders came into the main arena, including the water, so they had to be up on the clock by the time they entered the ring. One of those obstacles was a gate into water, which raised a few eyebrows but jumped well.
It was exciting, compelling sport to watch, and the right horse – Tim Price’s Vitali – won. To be able to go anywhere near the time, you needed a seasoned horse well used to galloping and to the big atmosphere of Aachen.
When you see the quality of the field there, you realise how seriously countries – and riders – take Aachen; the team competition as well as the individual placings. It was important for the New Zealand squad to have a good result at that level, and they selected hardened five-star horses to help ensure that.
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It was significant that the US sent their top combinations, flying four horses and rides over from the States, and they finished second. The Brits, third, were also on very good, highly experienced horses.
I was there in my role as Swiss cross-country coach. Our team were fifth, which was a good result in A-list company, and if one of our riders hadn’t had a late run-out, that would have been third place.
Upgrading at Luhmühlen
I was at Longines Luhmühlen a few weeks ago with the Swiss, and I thought course-designer Mike Etherington-Smith had done well to upgrade the CCI5*. It was quite a bit tougher than in the past few years. I liked the new Irish bank, which rode well but got the riders thinking – the majority of them wouldn’t have jumped one before.
The second half of the track was quite intense, which is what was needed – proper jumping and turning lines. It was difficult for riders suddenly to storm home in the last two minutes – they had to be on it all the way and to ride in a good, even tempo, rather than jog around then pick up the pace and go flat out to the finish.
I know why Mike puts fences in the main arena for both the CCI4*-S and the CCI5* in the way he does – it’s entertaining for spectators. But I thought this year they were a little too gimmicky in their placings; big, angled jumps tucked into the corner next to all the tradestands and the crowds.
It was a shame that Laura Collett and London 52 had a showjump down and didn’t win the CCI5* for the second time. Neither Laura nor the horse did anything wrong – that’s just life. Ros Canter looked very good on her winner, Izilot DHI, and he didn’t seem as spooky as he can sometimes be.
Some younger riders looked good. Australia’s Isabel English rode very maturely, and while the US’s Cosby Green was a bit harum-scarum on her first horse, she was much better on her second, and you can’t get better without doing the mileage.
New Zealand’s Samanatha Lissington, the runner-up, is on a hot streak – she obviously took stock after her Badminton retirement and has been in the front line since.
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New Zealand five-star event rider Andrew Nicholson has won Burghley five times and took top honours at Badminton in 2017. He has won two Olympic team bronze medals and a team silver and is currently cross-country coach to the Swiss eventing team.
