Jérôme Robiné continues to lead in the U25 eventing prize

With four starts and three victories in the U25 special ranking - in Marbach, Wiesbaden and Luhmühlen - Jérôme Robiné is the undisputed leader of the series ranking of the U25 sponsorship award with 170 points. The next and last stop is the Nations Cup tournament in Arville in Belgium on the third weekend in August. After that it will be decided whether the Warendorf sports soldier can successfully defend his overall victory in 2021 and who the three best of the season are who are allowed to travel to the four-star tournament in Lignières in France from September 28th to October 2nd. The U25 Eventing Prize was made possible from the start thanks to the support of Prof. Dr. Bernd Heike.

The 21-year-old Alina Dibowski ranks second in the series classification after Luhmühlen. The daughter of team Olympic champion Andreas Dibowski was also able to hold her own in the front row at her DM premiere, in fifth place. She already competed in her first championship as a junior in 2016 in Luhmühlen and was already riding the now 13-year-old Barbados, who was bred in Poland. For her first senior championship, after a good dressage session, she had resolved to get through the terrain without making any mistakes and put this plan into practice. There was a rumble just before the finish. "I didn't hit the distance that well at the last corner, so he saved me. I lost a stirrup and jumped the last three obstacles with just one stirrup,” she reported. Alina Dibowski passed her exam to become a horse manager in 2019 and is now studying international business in distance learning parallel to her riding. Together with her result from Marbach, she currently has 85 points on the U25 sponsorship account.

For the first time this year, Hanna Knüppel (Elsfleth) was able to score for the series in Luhmühlen. The 25-year-old received 40 points for third place in the special classification and thus ranks seventh in the interim standings. Hanna Knüppel started in the Heide with her young horse Geke Equigrips Levinio and was even ahead after the first day of dressage, she mastered the terrain in a good time without making any mistakes. "It was unbelievable. I thought it would be quite difficult for him because there are real tasks involved from start to finish and the amount of people doesn't make it any easier, especially for a younger horse. But I had the feeling that it still pushed him," she said afterwards. In jumping, however, the young couple had to accept four knockdowns, more than expected. However, she had known that it would not be easy. "We ride and if he makes a mistake, he learns from it," she announced after the event. In the end she was tenth in the German championship.

In third place in the U25 eventing prize is Calvin Böckmann with 80 points. Böckmann, like Jérôme Robiné, a member of the Warendorf perspective group eventing, scored in the two three-star stations of the series in spring, but also in the four-star test in Marbach. However, his goal this year is primarily to take part in the U21 European Championships. Before that, however, he will first go to Luhmühlen, where the German Youth Championships will be held from June 23rd to 26th - one week after the Longines Luhmühlen Horse Trials.