Riders Tour: Patrick Stühlmeyer is Rider of the year
Hagen a.T.W. (fn-press). There was no getting past Patrick Stühlmeyer (Osnabrück). The 31-year-old show jumper had already collected so many points over the season before the last stage of the Bemer Riders Tour 2021 that he was already "Rider of the Year" before the final in Hagen am Teutoburg Forest. Now he had one more point, so he ended the season victorious with 54 points from five starts. The Belgian Dominique Hendrickx took second place in the final ranking with 37 points ahead of Angelique Rüsen (33 points). Victory in the sixth and final stage went to the Swede Henrik von Eckermann with Glamor Girl after two clear rounds. Second was Dominique Hendrickx with Koriano Van Klapscheut ahead of Janne Friederike Meyer-Zimmermann (Pinneberg) with Messi van't Ruytershof. Both couples also came through the two rounds without any mistakes.
For Patrick Stühlmeyer, a dream came true with victory in the Riders Tour: “I'm super happy. Winning the title here in front of a home crowd makes me incredibly proud. For me, this is the greatest success of my career,” said the man from Osnabrück, who was born in Georgsmarienhütte, i.e. in the immediate vicinity of Hagen a. T.W. He has been the most consistent rider throughout the season, earning at least ten points in each of his five starts. “I had four different horses in five competitions and was clear in each competition. I have to thank my boss for that, he put me in great shape all year,” said Stühlmeyer, who rides for the stables of the Riders Tour organizer Paul Schockemöhle in Mühlen.
The bronze medal winner of the German Championship 2021 was able to watch the jump-off of the last stage in Hagen from the stands thanks to his points cushion. Although Stühlmeyer managed a faultless first round with the Württemberg mare Carmina (by Casall – Cassini I), the two were a little too slow, so they missed the second round with a penalty point for exceeding the time limit. For 15th place there was still another point in the Riders Tour ranking and for the title even a car that he was allowed to test on the lap of honor immediately after the award ceremony. "Afterward, the car was a bit faster than the rider on the course," said Stühlmeyer and laughed. “But my horse did great. I still wanted to get involved a bit here, in the end I took a point and drove home from the final in a great way.”
For Angelique Rüsen (Marl), the podium finish is another milestone in her career. In 2018 she became German champion of show jumping. In the previous two years she had already won the silver medal. She traveled to the last Riders Tour stage as second in the intermediate ranking. The 30-year-old started with the French stallion Atomic Z in Hagen. After a refusal shortly before the end of the first round, the rider gave up and had to watch as the Belgian Hendrickx passed her in the overall ranking. "In the end everything has to fit. Unfortunately I couldn't take my best horse with me to Hagen. Atomic was actually in really good shape, but today just wasn't my day.” Nevertheless, it was something special for her to stand on the Riders Tour podium for the first time. She had won the fourth stage in Donaueschingen with her top horse Arac du Seigneur. “I haven't won that many Grands Prix to say I'm up there every week. I had planned a lot for today and hoped that it would work out. Third place is very important to me.”
After starting in Hagen in April 2021, the Riders Tour season 2021 led back to Hagen via the Redefin Horse Festival, Pferd International in Munich and Donaueschingen-Immenhöfe, where the fifth stage of the European Dressage Championships was held. The final should actually have taken place in Neumünster in February. However, the Corona requirements made it impossible for the organizers to implement this plan. So, as so often in the months before, the plans were changed. Now the Riders Tour final 2021 took place in Hagen at the edition of "Horses&Dreams meets Canada" before the Grand Prix is on the program on Sunday at 2 p.m. This show jumping is also the evaluation and opening test of the Riders Tour season 2022. Luckily for riders and spectators, both the tournament organizers, the Kasselmann family, and the sponsor, the Bemer company, took part. jbc
