Last year's CCI4* winner Tim Price is returning to defend his crown
Entries have closed and Luhmühlen is once again preparing to welcome the world’s top-class athletes as six riders of the top ten FEI World Eventing Athlete Rankings have declared their entries. With four weeks to go to the event, Course Designer Captain Mark Phillips, Technical Delegate Martin Plewa, German Chef D’Equipe Hans Melzer and World Champion Sandra Auffarth have explained some general changes and added safety features.
Course changes
The direction of the cross-country is reversed this year, giving the course a completely new look and some significant changes. Captain Mark Phillips explained “It is a completely new approach. The DHL Water Complex doesn’t come up so early in the course, giving the horses and riders a better chance to warm up and get into the rhythm. Furthermore, we have increased the use of frangible devices approved by the FEI and are going to use the English Frangible Pin and the Swedish MIM systems. If a system triggers, it will be fined with eleven penalty points. Essentially, I think the penalising makes sense – for the most important safety aspect is the riders’ respect for the jumps. Therefore we are always trying to find the balance between forgiving fences and tasks that are taken seriously by the riders.”
Capt Mark Phillips
Technical Delegate Martin Plewa shares this view saying “The use of frangible devices at certain obstacles certainly makes sense – but we cannot depend on them for all fences. It has to remain our absolute priority that the training of horses and riders enables them to jump solid obstacles safely. Another safety device that is often overlooked is the ground. To my mind, the conditions here in Luhmühlen are fabulous, it’s like walking a golf course.”
The redesigned Meßmer water illustrates another safety aspect with clearly identifiable tasks and good light conditions. The water seems much more open now thanks to some trees being cut to reduce shadows.
Entries
Meanwhile event director Julia Otto is delighted with the high-profile entries: “If the next few weeks go according to plan, the world number one and Kentucky winner Michael Jung (GER), the world number two and Badminton winner William Fox-Pitt (GBR) and the world number three, Jonelle Price (NZL) are going to compete here in Luhmühlen. Her husband Tim Price (NZL) last year's CCI**** Luhmühlen winner has also entered. And obviously we’re looking forward to welcoming Pau winner and Badminton runner-up Ingrid Klimke and Andrew Nicholson, to name only a few famous riders.”
Hans Melzer commented on the German entries: “Michael Jung, Andreas Dibowski and Niklas Bschorer have entered two horses each. Ingrid Klimke, Peter Thomsen and Dirk Schrade plan to ride one horse. Depending on the qualification status for the Olympics, the riders are either entered in the CIC*** or the CCI****. Due to the good results in France last year, we are already qualified for Rio as a nation but some horse-rider pairs still need a qualifying four-star result.” World Champion Sandra Auffarth is not going to compete in Luhmühlen as she is going to spend the next few weeks training and competing in England: “This year, you will only see me on foot here in Luhmühlen. On Monday, I will travel to England to train with Chris Bartle and compete in a few events. This trip was planned last year and I am now looking forward to some new challenges – Opgun Louvo knows all the German showgrounds by heart” joked Auffarth.
