Michael Whitaker and Insul Tech Portofino 63 were the second most successful partnership in the world last year, according to the FEI.
Austria’s Thomas Frühmann and The Sixth Sense beat the British partnership to the top spot in the FEI’s best horse and rider combination rankings. The rankings are based on the performances of horse and rider combinations on the FEI/Gandini Jumping Rider’s World Ranking List.
Frühmann picked up an impressive 1910 points during 2006 with The Sixth Sense, proving that an orthodox technique is not the most important element of a successful show jumping partnership. Whitaker and Portofino collected 1539.18 points during their season to snatch second place from Germany’s Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum and Shutterfly.
John Whitaker was the second-highest placed British rider in the rankings in equal 20th place with Peppermill.
Top 10 jumping partnerships 2006
1. Thomas Frühmann (AUT) The Sixth Sense 1910.00
2. Michael Whitaker (GBR) Insul Tech Portofino 63 1539.18
3. Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum (GER) Shutterfly 1505.00
4. Albert Zoer (NED) Okidoki 1380.00
5. Jessica Kürten (IRL) Castle Forbes Libertina 1366.00
6. Beezie Madden (USA) Authentic 1305.00
7. Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum (GER) Checkmate 4 1282.50
8. Mclain Ward (USA) Sapphire 1280.00
9. Jessica Kürten (IRL) Quibell 1215.00
10. Heinrich Hermann Engemann (GER) Aboyeur W 1147.95
