IN a perfect round-up to a great year of sport in 2023, Germany’s Christian Ahlmann scooped the honours in the ninth leg of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup 2023/2024 Western European League, in front of an ecstatic audience at the Nekkerhal in Mechelen, Belgium, on Saturday.

There wasn’t an inch of viewing space left around the perimeter of the arena when, from a starting field of 41, just the six who jumped clear over Bart Vonck’s tough first-round course went into battle against the clock, including three from the host country. And, in a real nail-biter, it was the man who claimed the FEI Jumping World Cup trophy on home ground in Leipzig, Germany, back in 2011 who triumphed, his 11-year-old gelding Mandato van de Neerheide giving his all to bring his rider’s tally of Mechelen wins to three.

Ahlmann and Mandato executed a super-tight and beautifully balanced turn to the oxer after the double to set them up for a great run, and the normally stoic German had a smile as wide as an ocean, as he left the arena with a bit fat zero on the board in 34.23 seconds. It would be up to the rest to beat that.

Sweden’s Henrik von Eckermann couldn’t break the beam any faster than 34.67 seconds to slot into second place and Belgium’s Gregory Wathelet gave it everything he had with the 12-year-old stallion Bond Jamesbond de Hay to slot into third place.

Incredible

Ahlmann couldn’t hide his joy with the victory. “It’s fantastic, no doubt about that! Mandato jumped incredible, we took the last risk and everything worked out like I could wish for. We had the fastest riders of the world behind us and still we could make it, so this was our day today!” he said.

“I bought him when he was six, he didn’t do much, jumped a few classes, he’s a huge long horse with a lot of scope and I have the feeling that this year, after three years of jumping, his body is ready and for him every jump is almost the same. So the scope is no question, he’s willing to do everything, but what he did in the second half of this year was really good and he’s a horse for the future for sure,” Ahlmann said of his winning ride.

The Belgian show is on the calendar every year for Ahlmann, who is a driving force in the Zangersheide horse-breeding and production business.

“Mechelen is very important for us because we have the stallion competition here and all the young ones are jumping, so it’s a very interesting show. All the days are sold out here, there’s an amazing crowd and it’s a lot of fun to ride in unbelievable sport every day. I’m enjoying the days here and every year we are really motivated to do something good - we have come many times and three times it has worked out!” he said.

After Saturday, he is in 17th place on the Western European League leaderboard and, with 28 points, could do with adding another 15 or so to ensure his place at the Longines Final 2024 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in April. There are five more Western European qualifiers to go, with Basel (SUI) in two weeks time followed by Leipzig (GER) and Amsterdam (NED) in January, and then Bordeaux (FRA) and Gothenburg (SWE) in February.