THE German crowd at the FEI Jumping European Championships in Riesenbeck last Saturday got the opportunity to see Marcus Ehning ride his longtime partner Comme Il Faut 5 for one last time in the arena before he was retired from the sport.

The 16-year-old Cornet Obolensky stallion jumped in the three-star Grand Prix and afterwards a farewell ceremony was held for the great horse who has been a wonderful servant to the German team.

And it was a fitting place for the stallion to retire as he was bred by Ludger Beerbaum, who owns the Riesenbeck venue. Comme II Faut’s dam is the Belgian Warmblood mare Ratina Z (Ramiro). Ratina Z was a legendary jumper in the 1990s; she won back-to-back team golds at the Barcelona and Atlanta Olympics with different riders. Ratina Z’s most notable rider was Beerbaum who she stayed with until her death in 2010.

Some of Comme Il Faut’s top successes with Ehning in the saddle include winning team silver at the 2019 European Championships in Rotterdam, as well as winning the five-star Rolex Grand Prix in Brussels in 2018. In 2016, he won the five-star FEI World Cup in Madrid and the five-star Global Champions Tour Grand Prix in Vienna.

“You don’t have many horses like him in your life; it’s very special when you do,” an emotional Ehning said.